Track 2 Imageries of cities: The role of cultural policies and activism in self-representations of cities and

citizens

Sushmita Kashyap, MA Research Student,

Freie Universität, GeoCampus Berlin (Germany); Association Mitrajectoires, Lille (France)

sushmita.kashyap3@gmail.com

Reclaiming the Creative City for women : Two case studies from Delhi.

Linking up the Creative city to the Right to the city debates

•  Argument runs counter to R. Florida, whose creative city model is primarily for the “creative class” and highly educated elite (PhD holders) – making commodities of cities and creative practitioners.

•  Inspired by Lefebvre’s vision of the city. Attempt to complicate the theory by trying to apply it to changing cities of the “Global South”.

•  The “right to the city” (1968) came out in a historical moment of increased economic prosperity, but one that was exclusionary in nature.

•  Indian cities today are experiencing steady growth, with a high creative potential for innovation and entrepreneurial ventures.

•  But protracted problems- sexist mindsets have not yet let everyone, esp. women and certain backward classes, to take full part in these creative possibilities.

Context: Envisioning the Creative City?

•  A City

-  where everyone has access to creative, safe, and dynamic medias to develop her (his) human potential.

-  where access to the arts isn't limited to the museums and cultural institutions. But also as Public art, Public readings, and Performances.

-  which facilitates encounter and exchange.

-  which challenges its residents to go out of their homes/individual comfort zones to engage with their neighbourhoods in creative ways.

•  A Creative city is, in this context, the vision and aspiration of the

Right to the City movements globally (Marcuse, 2011).

Performing Gender in India’s Capital City, Delhi

•  Delhi and National Capital Region ranks 7th in lowest sex ratio among states (2011 Census – Child Sex ratio- 871).

•  The state of Haryana, bordering the Capital, claims the lowest place in the same study.

•  Outrage after the 2012 Delhi gang rape of Jyoti Singh.

-For the first time, Delhi’s streets witnessed a massive outpouring of anguished solidarity and protests in support of the victim. Many of the movements to reclaim space for women, including the case studies here, were conceived in response to this tragedy.

Case Study 1: Gender Ventions

•  Gender-Ventions a series of public performances that revolve around the notions of gender, identity and space.

•  Supported by the Goethe Institut – Max Muller Bhavan – New Delhi, GV staged more than 40 ‘interventions’ across the National Capital Region between September 2014 and February 2015.

•  No help from the the Delhi govt or any Indian civic or cultural institutions.

•  Law enforcing civic bodies, like police and Metro guards have shown a mixed reaction, but mostly positive and co-operative.

-(“We were chased out by the police at two spots, CP and Inderlok Metro. Apart from that it was pretty cooperative.” -Interviewee A.)

Gender Ventions: A background on the street

performers •  Age group: between 19 -31.

•  Social class/background: 

- 2 performers from Kathputhli (puppet makers) colony, lower income bracket.

- 3 activist / performers upper income bracket. 

- 3 performers from middle income bracket.

(Continued conversations and informal interviews with the Director of GV, Niranjani Iyer, 2014-now).

Bodies in Public-Private Spaces

•  Performance method: The group usually acts out three different vignettes —eg., watching TV at home, travelling by bus, and customer behaviour at a tea shop. In the first take, narrators ask audience to focus on a male actor. They act it out again, asking the audience to focus on the female actor. Spot the differences.

•  Some questions posed to the spectators (Audience):

•  “How much space — physical space — do you occupy?”

•  “Is there anyone amongst you who likes being restricted?”

•  “Where do you feel the most comfortable? At home? Or anywhere and everywhere?”

Some (self) reflections by the performers

Rhythms and Space

-  that some of them have been unconsciously enacting gender-based performativeness over the years (even when some of them identified themselves as emancipated, feminist, etc.)

The aim is not to have a final artistic product, but intervene towards changing patterns and pushing the envelope:

“This project is not about finding solutions. It is about debate. Our job is to start that discussion… women should be able to say, ‘This is my city. My space.’”

(Iyer, December 2014).

Some observations•  On Public Space: -  Women pass through public spaces, whereas men inhabit

them. -  To work with civic authorities and the residents in creative

ways (non-confrontational and non-hegemonic).

-  An important need for artiste-activists-performers to engage meditatively with the city residents for production of safer, accessible spaces for women and minorities.

-  Consciously try not to re-produce exclusionary creative city spaces, where mostly cultural producers performed and circulated, i.e., to engage a larger public – the woman on the street/neighbourhood.

Case study 2 Pinjratod ~Break the Hostel Locks

•  On their Facebook page, the primary portal for sharing information, Pinjra Tod, (also based in Delhi) defines itself as:

“an autonomous collective effort to ensure secure, affordable and not gender-discriminatory accommodation for women students across Delhi.”

Primarily led by college students, women studying in Delhi’s public Universities.

Creative ways of protest and mobilising

•  Wide use of Visual and Storytelling Methods: Spoken word poetry, Music, Poster Campaigns, Photographs with poetry captions, Public workshops (interactive classrooms) with relevant readings from literature and history.

•  Cultural events:

- Eg., for International Women’s Day- March 8, 2016, #pinjratod organised an exhibition across colleges on women's struggles in India.

•  Countering vocally the commodification of cultural events, which don’t address root causes, or challenge stereotypes.

•  Use of psychogeographical methods to reclaim important symbolic public spaces. Eg: Jantar Mantar, Jawarharlal Nehru University (Freedom Square).

•  Collaborations with other social movements.

Creative ways of mobilising

Choice of Case studies •  Prominent contemporary examples which present how creativity can

become a tool for reclaiming the city for everyone (all citizens): -  Through the medium of street theater (Case study 1), -  Through the medium of eye-catching posters, exhibitions, public

workshops on aspects related to the city and rights (Case study 2).

•  Movements led and designed by women.

•  Bottom-up approaches (rhizomatic in nature). •  Donot only engage with creative “specialists“ but any person who

identifies with the project and wants to engage in using creative tools for social transformation.

•  Trying to re-appropriate space by countering patriarchal limitations on women‘s bodies, movement, and circulations in the city (also see Massey 1994).

Spokenwordpoetry.CulturalEvents,#pinjratod.2016.UniversityofDelhi.NorthCampus.

Publicperformance,GV.2014.LocaJonscrisscrossingDelhi,acrosstheMetro

PublictransitMap.

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RighttotheCity,#whyloitercampaigns.2015.NewDelhistreets.

References

•  Brenner, N., Marcuse, P., Meyer, M. (2011): Cities for People, Not for Profit: Critical Urban Theory and the Right to the City. London: Routledge.

•  Edensor, T., Leslie, D., Millington, S., Rantisi, N. M. (eds.) (2009): Spaces of Vernacular Creativity: Rethinking the Cultural Economy, Oxon: Routledge.

•  Lefebvre, H. (1974/1992): The Production of Space. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

•  Lefebvre, H. (1995): Writings on Cities. Edited by E. Kofman and E. Lebas. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

•  Lefebvre, H., Elden, S., Moore, G (2004): Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life. London: Continuum.

•  Leslie D and Catungal J.P (2012) Social justice and the creative city: Class, gender, and racial inequalities. Geography Compass 6:111-122

•  Massey, D. (1994): Space, Place, and Gender. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.

• Thank You for your attention. J

•  sushmita.kashyap3@gmail.com

•  @purpledturtle(on Twitter)