THE SANGAM

Founders In 1990 a group of seventeen Kattaikkuttu actors and musicians decided to join together. The Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarchi Munnetra Sangam (the Sangam for short) now has more than two hundred members. The foundation of a union to promote the economic and artistic interests of the players originated through the work of P. Rajagopal and Hanne M. de Bruin. P. Rajagopal is an actor, director and playwright. He comes from a family of Kattaikkuttu actors and musicians. Hanne M. de Bruin is a Dutch Indologist, who has published a number of essays and books on Kattaikkuttu and other Tamil theatre genres. She supports the work of the Sangam actively through fund raising, facilitating the Sangam's activities, making of theatre costumes and co-producing new plays. Organization The Sangam is a grassroots level association that promotes Kattaikkuttu as a theatre form in its own right and that serves the interests of professional Kattaikkuttu actors, actresses and musicians. "Professional" in this instance means that a performer is dependent on the theatre for his or her livelihood. The organization is run for and by local exponents of Kattaikkuttu. It provides a framework within which professional actors, actresses and musicians can come together, participate in artistic activities and training, teach, develop new artistic ideas and discuss professional needs and expectations. The Sangam is governed by an executive board whose members are democratically elected from among the members of the Sangam for a period of three years. The executive board meets about five times a year to decide on important policy matters. The implementation and day-to-day monitoring of the activities of the Sangam are supervised by an executive director and a facilitator appointed by the executive board. In spite of the fact that most Kattaikkuttu performers are poor and have little formal education, they seek recognition of their performance skills, not their poverty. The Sangam uses the artistic expertise of its members and their access to informal communication and contact-networks as its principal assets to implement its activities. These local networks exist between performers, patrons and spectators. They provide for regular performance opportunities and guarantee the basic income of professional Kattaikkuttu performers. The Sangam believes that the efficient and innovative use of locally available performance expertise will ultimately result in the improvement of the social and economic position of professional Kattaikkuttu performers and their dependants. Recognition of the theatre as a valid artistic and communicative medium will enhance not only the status of the theatre, but also the self-confidence and artistic self-determination of the performers and the rural population that considers Kattaikkuttu its vehicle of expression. In addition to facilitating and strengthening the contacts between professional performers, the Sangam has initiated new working relationships with other performers in India and abroad. In doing so the Sangam wishes to explore novel ways of making qualitatively high theatre and to establish novel performance opportunities that, in turn, can help to generate additional income for the performers. Objectives The principal objectives of the Sangam are to: promote the general interests of professional Kattaikkuttu performers on the basis of their own needs, requirements, and visions of the future, while guarding the democratic functioning of the organisation; improve the economic and social status of professional performers; stimulate the co-operation and exchange between rural performers at the organisational and the artistic level; explore the artistic potential of Kattaikkuttu and to improve the quality of Kattaikkuttu performances; stimulate the exchange of dramatic expertise and theatre praxis between Kattaikkuttu performers and representatives of other theatre styles in and outside India; involve the younger generation in the theatre so as to ensure the continuity of the tradition; promote the use of Kattaikkuttu as an effective medium to stimulate awareness of and discussion about themes relevant to Indian society; strengthen culture at the basis; raise sufficient funds so as to realize the above activities. Membership Membership of the Sangam is voluntary and on an individual basis. Even though most performers have a below-minimum income, they pay a small contribution. Of the local performers who know about the existence of the Sangam a considerable number has joined the association. The Sangam members live in villages and provincial towns in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu and the southern part of bordering Andhra Pradesh. Funding The Sangam is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, which has been registered in Kanchipuram under number 91/90 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. From 1996 to 2006 the Sangam received a structural subsidy from the HIVOS Cultural Fund (the Netherlands). Since 2006 it receives structural funding from the DOEN Foundation (The Netherlands), in addition to incidental grants from the Government of India. In order to realize special projects, such as the Kattaikkuttu Youth Theatre School, the construction of its own Centre for Performing Arts Centre or the Kuttu Festival 2005, the Sangam is dependent on funds coming from various local, national and foreign sponsors and individual donations. At present the following donors enable the Sangam to realize its objectives: Overall funding: DOEN Foundation, the Netherlands HIVOS, the Netherlands Kalai Manram Foundation, the Netherlands Youth Theatre School: JRD Tata Trust, Mumbai Sarva Siksha Abhyan (Education for All) Programme, Tamil Nadu Mission, Government of Tamil Nadu Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, Government of India Mama Cash, the Netherlands (Girls' education and All-Girls Theatre Company) Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Netherlands (preparation of bilingual teacher-student book) (applied for) Construction Centre for Performing Arts: NCDO, the Netherlands International Flavours and Fragrances India, St. Thomas Mount, Chennai (Construction) Some of the activities undertaken by the Sangam, such as the running of its own Repertory Company, performances commissioned by outside patrons, international tours and subscriptions to the life insurance scheme, generate a modest income that is reinvested into the Sangam and used to achieve its goals. The Sangam welcomes donations of individuals and organizations. It has been registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, under number 075820199 the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976. This registration entitles the Sangam to receive foreign contributions provided that these are utilized towards the achievement of the objectives of the Sangam. Local donations to the Sangam are eligible for tax deduction under provision 80G (5) (vi) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (vide the Sangam's registration number 2039(140)/93-94/TN-V, valid up to 31 March 2009). Co-operation In 2000 the Sangam entered into a strategic alliance with Kattaikkuttu performers in the Viluppuram District and established a local branch in Gingee, in addition to its head office in Kanchipuram. The Sangam maintains friendly contacts with the Dharmapuri District Terukkuttu Training Association in Krishnagiri, the Village Arts Association in Tirupattur and with unorganized Kattaikkuttu performers in the region. Representatives of both these groups are invited regularly to participate in workshops and theatre festivals organized by the Sangam. The Sangam has worked together with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and Voicing Silence, the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram and the Department of Culture (Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai), the South Zone Cultural Centre (Thanjavur), the International Institute for Tamil Studies (Chennai), Rangayana (Mysore), Prithvi Theatre (Mumbai), Prakriti Foundation (Chennai), ASEEMA Foundation (Chennai), Contact Theatre and the Contact Young Actors Company in Manchester (U.K.) and the Royal Tropical Institute/KIT Theatre in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) for the production of new plays, performance tours and/or the organization of public event and discussions about the theatre. The Kalai Manram Foundation supports the activities of the Sangam through financial contributions. It helps to mediate (artistic) expertise desired by the Sangam and promotes Kattaikkuttu outside India.