eJournal | State sponsored tribal festivals: New visibility, modernization and commercialisation of indigenous culture – Odisha

DEATH RITES AND DANCE PERFORMANCE AMONG THE SAORAS OF ODISHA: A FUNERAL MARCH AT THE FESTIVAL OF INDIGENOUS CULTURES?

In his article, Stefano Beggiora examines a funeral dance of the Soara [Sora] in Odisha, which traditionally is a renewal of the alliance between the living and the dead, but today changes rapidly on stage in the context of the contemporary performances held on the occasion of the capital’s state sponsored tribal festival (Ādivāsī Melā). Today, the funeral dance in the metropolis Bhubaneswar becomes a yearning for identity on the part of an indigenous culture that is endangered by market forces and modernization. This new visibility has brought to Adivasi art the problems of commercialisation and market demands, while attempts to include Adivasi art in modern art exhibitions have tended to perpetuate the perception of indigenous artists as exotic others.

Source: Irish Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 19(2) 2016 Autumn/Winter
EDITORIAL NOTE, LIDIA GUZY, MARINE CARRIN, HARALD TAMBS-LYCHE
http://www.anthropologyireland.org/images/2016_2/2016_2_1_Editorial%20Note.pdf
Accessed: 17-12-17