The Animated Mythologies of Tribal India: from Tales of Origination to Multimedia Technology

Indigenous cultures worldwide have long held distinctive beliefs that ascribed a living soul or anima to biological and non-biological entities including plants, particular inanimate objects and to natural phenomena.   To the people who belonged to these traditional social groups, organic matter was vibrant, sentient and existed in dynamic relationship to Humankind.  Anthropological studies seek to decode the nuances of tribal rituals and the traditional practices of ‘other’ cultures; however, the underpinning of objectivity is challenged by indigenous research, to question the underlying authority.   For these societies, the merit is present in the interconnections and relationships.  In India, liminal local perspectives have been largely excluded from mainstream media and this project investigates ethnographic film and animation as participatory media practice by indigenous storytellers in collaborations with the film-maker. The aim is to also present the contemporary experiences recounted by the participants as we revisit their timeless narratives. In the process this becomes a transformative experience that reconnects us with the social function of the artistic practices that have sustained traditional societies

Verrier Elwin as the presenter of the Tales of the Tribes films

Scholars of the indigenous folklore traditions of India invariably encounter the work of Dr Verrier Elwin, who documented a vast number of folktales from across Central and Northeast India. Now Elwin’s published volumes have provided source material for the Tales of the Tribes collection of films. Elwin’s work as advisor to the Government of India was influential for establishing the policies for the integration of the tribal areas of North-East Frontier Agency, present day Arunachal Pradesh and his philosophy was that development must take the strengths of the tribal cultures into account. Now that popular mass media entertainment reaches the more isolated areas, this has also seen the decline of traditional storytelling. Elwin (1960: 259) wrote that: ‘I am not one of those who would keep tribal art “as it is” and would discourage change and development. Our approach to everything in life must be creative and dynamic’. This has inspired the experimentation with the medium of animation as a tool to sustain indigenous narratives and as a way to communicate tribal cultures to wider audiences in the Tales of the Tribes project. Little is known about Verrier Elwin’s contribution to the knowledge about tribal cultures in India outside the discipline of Indian anthropology. A graphic representation of Elwin as the Master-of-Ceremonies for the animation programme provides a cross-cultural link to introduce the films in the Tales of the Tribes collection, and he also invites young audiences to choose their favourite story. This paper reviews Elwin’s approach to the tribal cultures of India to illuminate his role as the presenter of the Tales of the Tribes films.

Tales of the tribes: animation as a tool for indigenous representation.

In India animation practice is almost completely dominated by commercial production. Much of this is outsourced to India by foreign companies, but even the animation that is produced for national broadcast shows characteristics of animation design of Western origination with regard to content, presentation and art style. Consequently, modes of commercially driven animation are dictating the expectations of the medium in India, and have become widely regarded as the normative standard. The forces of global expansion have accelerated the arrival of commercial media entertainment into the various peripheral regions of India. The indigenous communities there have been represented by outsiders since colonial times and have no representation of their own in the medium of animation. As a consequence, young indigenous people are growing up with media entertainment that has no cultural relevance to them. It is challenging their identities and through this process, they are losing touch with their own cultural heritage. In this research I set out to investigate whether animation is a medium that can be used to retell indigenous folktales and reconnect young indigenous audiences to their traditional narratives. The development and production of a sample collection of short animation films, Tales of the Tribes through participatory film-making practice presents case studies of the process of collaborating with indigenous artists and cultural practitioners from selected communities to examine these issues of representation and to investigate how adaptation can be negotiated from oral to audio visual forms of cultural expression. The contribution to knowledge that has emerged from this research shows how the medium of animation can have a significant role for communication within and between cultures. Young indigenous collaborators are receptive to adapting their traditional narratives to the animation medium and participatory practice based on local content engages their contribution. The practice has demonstrated that the possibilities for experimentation with local content and art forms can work to reconnect the young generation with existing cultural forms and practices. In addition, the research shows that young animators in India also appreciate opportunities to experiment with little known Indian content and folk art forms. My research delivers a practical model for animation practitioners to collaborate ethically with local communities and organisations within the context of media representation. For indigenous artists to work alongside animation practitioners to re-imagine their narratives through animation film-making empowers the voices of indigenous young people in India to tell their own story

Verrier Elwin as the presenter of the Tales of the Tribes films

Scholars of the indigenous folklore traditions of India invariably encounter the work of Dr Verrier Elwin, who documented a vast number of folktales from across Central and Northeast India. Now Elwin’s published volumes have provided source material for the Tales of the Tribes collection of films. Elwin’s work as advisor to the Government of India was influential for establishing the policies for the integration of the tribal areas of North-East Frontier Agency, present day Arunachal Pradesh and his philosophy was that development must take the strengths of the tribal cultures into account. Now that popular mass media entertainment reaches the more isolated areas, this has also seen the decline of traditional storytelling. Elwin (1960: 259) wrote that: ‘I am not one of those who would keep tribal art “as it is” and would discourage change and development. Our approach to everything in life must be creative and dynamic’. This has inspired the experimentation with the medium of animation as a tool to sustain indigenous narratives and as a way to communicate tribal cultures to wider audiences in the Tales of the Tribes project. Little is known about Verrier Elwin’s contribution to the knowledge about tribal cultures in India outside the discipline of Indian anthropology. A graphic representation of Elwin as the Master-of-Ceremonies for the animation programme provides a cross-cultural link to introduce the films in the Tales of the Tribes collection, and he also invites young audiences to choose their favourite story. This paper reviews Elwin’s approach to the tribal cultures of India to illuminate his role as the presenter of the Tales of the Tribes films.

Animated mythologies of tribal India: from tales of origination to multimedia technology

Indigenous cultures worldwide have long held distinctive beliefs that ascribed a living soul or anima to biological and non-biological entities including plants, particular inanimate objects and to natural phenomena. To the people who belonged to these traditional social groups, organic matter was vibrant, sentient and existed in dynamic relationship to Humankind. Anthropological studies seek to decode the nuances of tribal rituals and the traditional practices of ‘other’ cultures; however, the underpinning of objectivity is challenged by indigenous research, to question the underlying authority. For these societies, the merit is present in the interconnections and relationships. In India, liminal local perspectives have been largely excluded from mainstream media and this project investigates ethnographic film and animation as participatory media practice by indigenous storytellers in collaborations with the film-maker. The aim is to also present the contemporary experiences recounted by the participants as we revisit their timeless narratives. In the process this becomes a transformative experience that reconnects us with the social function of the artistic practices that have sustained traditional societies.International Journal of Film and Media Art

Analysis of Outcomes in Ischemic vs Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation A Report From the GARFIELD-AF Registry

IMPORTANCE Congestive heart failure (CHF) is commonly associated with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), and their combination may affect treatment strategies and outcomes