In her book Performing Heritage: Art of Exhibit Walks, Navina Jafa examines heritage walks as an artistic narrative involving culture, history and people. She tells Sumati Mehrishi that the walking trails require dramatic expression to become a strong facet of oral tradition and indigenous identity.
What prompted you to write a book on cultural representation and art in heritage walks?
Heritage walks have become a common phenomenon in global cities as medium of expressing the indigenous identity of the city in tandem with the contemporary global identity. However, little thought has gone or any recognition given to this medium. I have presented the ‘paramparas’ (flowing heritage) of cities and regions through walks for two decades. Following this, I worked with Dr Richard Kurin as a Fulbright Scholar at the Smithsonian and realised the critical importance of presenting cultures through the medium of Heritage Walks. It was a new perspective a field not explored in India and hence the book.
Can heritage walks help in creating multiple cultural identities?
I would like to debate the very word ‘heritage’ in comprehending the two characters of a global city. ‘Heritage’ communicates something that is inherited from the past; there is certain frozenness about the term. A more appropriate word could be ‘parampara’. The challenge of the presenter is to bring in both the past identity of the elements of monuments and living traditions and most importantly to create an understanding of their present status.
How should heritage walks be ‘designed’ and a ‘narrative’ built to help a two way interaction?
The title produces a focus, it also guides the presenter to research much more than the obvious historical content of the chosen monument or walking trail it is this elaborate research that is developed as the script or narrative. The presenter is similar to a ‘sutradhar’ (in theater) and her responsibility is to link the audience with the elements presented in the walking trail with a dramatic presentation. Only then an emotional content called ‘rasa’ is produced and is experienced by the audience.
Can the clash between ritualistic aspects, conservation drives and aesthetics be resolved by ‘involving’ a particular community?
On one level, the walking tours are travel experiences, and on another level, pedagogical. It is a medium of expression that is executed in a liberal democratic environment and community participation. For example, while presenting a walk at the Hijron ki Kanqah in Mehrauli in Delhi, the walk is titled ‘Human Rights: Heritage of Transgenders’. The narrative builds the historical perception of the transgenders as a community, description of the monument, the present state of the community and finally one or two representatives from the community who tell their perspective, dilemmas and problems they face and provide a solution to the problem of basic human rights.
Not all heritage walks conducted in Delhi are done with a sense of audience-artiste perspective. They are not always treated as ‘performance’. Do you agree?
The category of the presenter is a type of a guide. Notwithstanding, there is enough space to accommodate all kinds of guides; but those who claim to be professional and who do ‘heritage walks’ want to be viewed as the ‘study leader’. But, they need to be researchers on Indian studies covering art history, archaeology, anthropology, economics and much more. They need to be great dramatic communicators. Government officials as managers of monuments, or museums are given the responsibility to present the image of India. They may be great scholars, but they are not trained to be presenters.
Could good heritage walks be documented to help create oral history?
The documentation of heritage walks definitely can form a part of oral history. The Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation, Government Of Delhi, creates walks for raising public awareness on heritage. They document the walks in videos. Currently, one of the videos is being used by CBSE for their Parampara/Heritage Education website.
Tell us about your experience at the ‘Smithsonian Journeys’.
It was remarkable. I was able to use my training as a Fulbright scholar and as cultural historian to present various parts of India on the train Deccan Odyssey. Prior to joining the train, it was about the merging of a private experience on the cultural identity of Chennai, Bengaluru, places in Karnataka — the Nagarhole Sanctuary (I had given a presentation on the heritage of honey collecting, and heritage of butterflies) and Mysore. I have presented lectures on Chennai temples, Chola bronzes, the Theosophical movement, Kalakshetra, the 2004 Tsunami, Colonial history and the exporting of Indian culture to Sri Lanka and South East Asia.