Bombay based Carnatic vocalist Dr. Vasumathi Badrinathan came together with French graffiti artists in a unique event in Bombay on March 27, 2008. This event was part of the French Touch festival organised by the Alliance Francaise de Bombay and the French Embassy in India. Incidentally, this event was the only full-fledged collaborative effort between French and Indian artistes in the month long festival.

Organised in the quadrangle of the St Xavier's college, with the imposing facade of the building as the backdrop, the concert saw Dr. Vasumathi Badrinathan presenting Carnatic music. The three graffiti artists, Ken, Martin and Julien simultaneously interpreted the music on three canvases, placed strategically along side the concert stage.
Dr. Vasumathi Badrinathan began with what she announced as the "song synonymous with Carnatic music", Mahaganapatim, in Nattai. As she continued with Kalyanavasantam, (Nadaloludai), Amritavarshini (Anandamritakarshini) and Revati (Mahadeva Shiva Shambho), the tableaux of the graffiti artistes evolved - from empty canvases to representations of Ganesha, Raga and rasas showering down in golden stars. Towards the middle, the audience partook of the painting process and created a fourth canvas.

Dr. Vasumathi explains the collaboration. "Graffiti with its hip-hop origins and secondary status and Carnatic music with its rich spiritual appeal and centuries-old background, don’t really come together! So it's a rather unusual concept and when I was invited to perform at this event, I didn't hesitate.
I was curious to see this meeting point happen between two forms of creative expression, with totally different cultural roots. Just about ten minutes before the event, I gave the artists a background about Carnatic music and the kutcheri pattern. But the rest of course, was improvisation and creation. Of course, keeping in mind, the nature of the programme, the mixed audience, I chose compositions with simple lyrics and of shorter duration and a small explanation that preceded every piece."

The audience, comprising of a sizeable French and Indian crowd, seemed engrossed in the dual creative activity. As the ragas unfolded, the paintings came alive with eco-friendly spray paint cans.

The concert ended with a rhythmic flourish in the Swati Tirunal Tillan in Dhanashri. Vasumathi was accompanied for the concert by Ramachandra Sharma on the violin and Rajesh Srinivasan on the mridangam.
It was a novel creative experience that was a huge success, reflected in the vote of thanks by the organisers, and of course the positive audience-reaction, satisfied expressions and the important fact that no one got up before the end!

"Ken, Julien and Martin on the graffiti, met me after the concert and said they were really apprehensive before the show as to how it would merge. But the music carried them on smoothly they said. Also, lots of French people met me after the programme, and said they enjoyed the music. It was a first time listening experience for some, though others had heard before. Many young generation Indians, were present too. Moreover it is important to see this kind of collaboration happening. It opens up the vistas of Carnatic music to a larger audience, and more importantly to an audience who otherwise may not really tune in to our music and who now go home thinking that this music is awesome, after all!” says Vasumathi.

The finished tableaux are likely to be auctioned for charitable causes after the Festival winds up. The event drew a lot of media interest, being covered by NDTV, Doordarshan and French television too.
This apart, the event was filmed by Pusanga productions, headed by young filmmaker Srinivas and will be part of an innovative documentary.

Vocalist Vasumathi Badrinathan can be reached at vasu@vasumathi.net