From rxpgnews.com
My art speaks out against violence, conflict, killings: Ratan Thiyam
By Jasmine Kshetrimayum, Indo-Asian News Service,
Nov 19, 2006 - 3:23:22 PM
New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) Manipuri theatre director Ratan Thiyam, whose latest acclaimed work was staged in five places in the United States, says the tour was a 'great experience' that helped him to express the need for a 'healing process' to do away with conflicts and violence in his native state of Manipur and the world at large.
'We cannot remain aloof from the problems happening around the world. We cannot ignore what is happening in Afghanistan just because it is geographically far away,' Thiyam told IANS in an interview.
'I believe through art I can express myself, the way my heart bleeds when I see the killings and poverty in Manipur, around the world, everywhere.'
With a milieu of diverse knowledge and experience as a director, writer, painter and actor, Thiyam is considered one of the most prominent theatre makers on the international panorama.
On his second visit to the US earlier this month, with his 26-member Chorus Repertory theatre group, his latest work 'Nine Hills, One Valley' was staged in five locales - Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, twice in the University of California, Carolina Performing Arts in North Carolina and at Lawrence-Kansas.
''Nine Hills, One Valley' is about contemporary aspects of life, where the wisdom of tradition, peace and harmony are fading with the passage of time, and the urgency to revive it, before it gets extinct,' the ace director says.
'It examines the history, tradition and contemporary life of Manipur and the need for a healing process to do away with the conflicts and violence prevailing in the state as well as the world.
'I belong to a small community, a remote state in India not known or highlighted to the world. However, the conflict-torn situation in Manipur also prevails everywhere in the world. Our suffering is the same though geographically we are far away.'
Chorus Repertory Theatre was founded in Manipur in 1976 and made its successful debut in the US in 2000 in its original production 'Uttar Priyadarshini' - the Final Beatitude, gaining many appreciative reviews including The New York Times, quoting Thiyam as a 'genius' and his work as 'transcendent'.
During his US visit, Thiyam says he was very happy to see the interest and awareness of art among the students as well as the professors in the many universities and academies he visited.
'It was a great experience, awareness of art is definitely there.'
Art lovers in the US know Thiyam and there are few who have visited his native place after getting inspired by his work.
'The people in the theatre world know me because of my work. However, I always put up a huge map of Manipur as they haven't heard about this small place in some corner of the earth. In fact, few of them have come down to Manipur after watching my plays.'
When Thiyam returned the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 2001 as a mark of protest against the government, many questions were raised.
'I did not dishonour anything, the political issues at that time were of more concern. When you see many young people dying, I felt that was the least I could have done or should have reacted at that time.
'I want to be remembered as a person always against violence, conflicts and killings.'
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