Adam Pushkin, Head of Arts, British Council India
What arts festivals have you funded or supported in the last 2 years?
As a matter of policy, the only festival that we directly fund (i.e. pay money directly to the festival) is the Hay Festival in Kerala – and that’s because it’s part of a global network of literary festivals that we support across the world, and it’s also specifically linked to the UK. We have also paid sponsorships to Jaipur Literature festival and the NH7 Weekender music festival in Pune; in those cases it was because it was logistically easier for our support for UK artists and companies to be routed through the festival.
There are more festivals that we have supported indirectly, i.e. by helping UK artists and companies to appear there and meeting those costs or putting in staff time directly. They include:
- NSD Festival (Delhi)
- Kala Ghoda Festival (Mumbai)
- Ahmedabad International Arts Festival
- Jodhpur Folk Festival (RIFF)
- Jaipur Heritage Festival
- Ahmedabad International Arts Festival
- Attakkalari Contemporary Dance Biennial (Bangalore)
- IGNITE! Festival of Contemporary Dance (Delhi)
- India Art Fair (if you call that a festival)
- Kolkata Book Fair (ditto)
- International Women’s Film Festival (Chennai)
- Kashish Queer Film Festival (Mumbai)
- International Film Festival of India (Goa)
- Magic Lantern Festival (Delhi)
- Unbox Festival (Delhi)
Do you have a separate funding policy for arts festivals specifically - is there an application process specifically for festivals or is it the same as for any artist or arts body? And are there specific criteria you use for festivals to identify the ones you would support?
We don’t aim to support arts festivals in India specifically – but one of our aims is to help the best of the new of UK arts reach new audiences in India, and festivals are one way of doing that. So there are no criteria: it’s more about whether it works logistically (i.e. cities and dates), whether the festival is well-run and looks after artists properly, and whether it will reach the audiences we want to reach.
What is the level of funding you offer? And what other forms of support do you offer?
It varies hugely, from a few hundred pounds (e.g. one person’s international flight ticket) to several thousand pounds (e.g. for a touring performing arts company). We also put in our knowledge and networks in the UK: e.g. for the International Film Festival of India this year, we are putting in very little financial investment, but our knowledge and networks in the UK are meaning that the festival can put together a package and attract people that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.
How much does funding impact the curatorial decision making of an arts festival? Hugely, in my experience. Ultimately every arts festival has to achieve a balance between what they want to achieve curatorially, and what they can get funded. The skill is in finding things that can do both! But invariably, it involves compromises between what you really would like to do and what’s fundable.
What are the key differences in festival-making approaches in India vs the UK?
The biggest difference is the subsidy system – in the UK, most serious arts festivals receive funding from the state, via the Arts Council and via local authorities, to cover their core costs (i.e. salaries, office costs, the bulk of the programming, etc). Secondly, most UK festivals – although not all – charge for tickets, and that is an important part of their income. This means that sponsorship, while important, is only one part of the funding mix: so festivals are usually able to take more artistic risks.
Also, the decision-making about government funding is more transparent in the UK: the arms-length (from government) decision-making process is hugely valuable, and ensures that even if you don’t like the decision, you’ll normally respect the process through which it was made.
Festivals are in a state of boom in India, as so many new ones are starting up: this to some extent mirrors the situation in the UK a few years ago, which has now started to retreat because of the economic downturn.
Some festivals in India have a very sophisticated approach to programming, while many others simply want to put on a lot of work with little quality control. One key difference is the importance of international cultural institutes (like the British Council, Max Mueller Bhawan, Inko Centre, Pro Helvetia etc); some festivals simply write to all the embassies and international cultural institutes asking for ‘an act’, which I would see as a very basic approach to programming. But many others have relationships with us that are more of an ongoing two-way conversation about potential ideas and opportunities, which is more healthy.
In your opinion, are Indian arts festivals adopting European models of festival making? Or do they have a distinct approach?
Well the main difference is that many festivals in India are still completely free of charge. This means that they are very accessible of course, although from an audience development perspective, you might argue that the attendees are still overwhelmingly from more affluent backgrounds and could easily afford to pay. It does make it difficult to develop a sustainable creative economy if the core audiences / regular arts attenders are in the habit of not having to pay for their arts.
Otherwise, many of the same patterns exist in India: some festivals work as ‘umbrellas’ (i.e. they encourage other people to do stuff around the same time, publicise it all together and call it a festival); some work as fully curated festivals (e.g. the Jaipur lit fest); and some are somewhere in between.
There are a number of organisations, both public and private sector, that are looking to encourage the development of ‘mega festivals’, that drive cultural tourism. While this ambition is welcome, I do think it’s important to recognise that festivals like Edinburgh, or the Venice Biennale, have grown over several decades: they didn’t become mega festivals overnight, and it takes many years to develop the serious reputation amongst media, sponsors, government, and most importantly artists and audiences, to really create a sustainable mega festival.
The British Council has published resources that chart the Indian arts scene. How important a role are arts festivals playing in the Indian context?
Increasingly important – certainly for us, they are among our key partners. But they will only ever be one part of the mix: it also requires venues, companies, promoters, curators, entrepreneurs and so on.
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