Anubhuti has formed and is mentoring a youth cultural group named Badlache Parv Kala Manch since 2018. This group has members from diverse backgrounds – nomadic & denotified, Adivasi, Bahujan, young women, young men, and across different locations. They are all in their adolescence or early youth. Since the beginning they have been participants and supporters in various campaigns by other groups too. Being very young, till date they were mostly performing songs, poems and plays created by other artists.
In a residential training camp on18-19 December, the initiative was taken for them to create their own content; modern and contemporary art forms such as Doodles, Memes, Cartoons, Reels, and Rap were used to create content around issues of Right to Food, Right to Safety, Right to Dignity, Right to Information, Right to Education and so on. The results were very creative and moving. The actual history behind the emergence of these art forms were discussed – these arts have been created and developed by grassroot activists globally such as by Black artists to put across their messages of justice, dignity and agency in democratic, accessible, easy to understand ways. However, later they got appropriated and misused for profit by the capitalist market and its performers.
Similarly, older and more traditionally art forms were also discussed such as Laavani, Bharud, Kirtan, Owi, Powada, Jatyavarchi Gaani and others which had also been created and nurtured by grassroot artists. Some of them have been used to massive effect by ground leaders such as Sant Tukaram, Bahinabai, and Kabir for widespread social change. This camp proved to be a milestone in the development of this budding Cultural Movement Group.
