Culture important for arts, society to flourish

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Culture is important in sustaining a feasible climate for arts and society to flourish, said author Nayantara Sahgal, opening the first session on day two at the Hay Festival Kerala in Kanakakkunnu on Friday. The panel, comprising Urvashi Bhutalia, founder of the feminist publishing house Kali for Women, former Minister for Culture M A Baby, and director of Koodiyattam Kalakendra K K Gopalakrishnan, was chaired by Bisakha De Sarkar, features editor of ‘The Telegraph’. Expressing her disappointment about archives being looted, paintings destroyed and artists forced to go into exile, Sahgal said that she resented the increasing religious intolerance in the country. She welcomed the foray of private sector into the culture terrain, “if it proves to be nourishing rather than patronising”.Bhutalia expressed concern over the scrutiny of the state on cultural developments. She said that although culture demands support from the authorities, unchecked intervention is detrimental. She also observed that the survival of independent publishers, which is often a relevant and strong voice, is at stake with an overflow of international publishers. She attributed the growth of publishing houses in Kerala to the huge number of libraries in the state which have independent purchasing power.  To the question whether culture was a matter of significance when it comes to the state’s political agenda, M A Baby answered in the affirmative adding that it has been so till now. He agreed with Nayantara Sahgal on the idea that a democratic government should strive to provide a climate for culture to flourish. K K Gopalakrishnan was more articulate about the need for efficiently managing the cultural scene of the state. He opined that those who knew the pulse of arts should be appointed as heads of cultural institutions. At another session titled ‘Ingenious’,  English novelist Andrew Miller spoke with English fiction reviewer Lorna Bradbury and discussed the factors that influenced his writing. Miller, whose first novel ‘Ingenious Pain’ was critically appreciated, has based most of his novels on 18th century France. The conversation focused on his ‘Pure’, from which he read out. The novel is based on the life of John the Baptist.