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NATIONAL SEMINAR ON GOND LEGACY
RESEARCH TOPIC : GOND FOLKLORE AND SONGS
TITLE OF RESEARCH PAPER :
PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF GOND FOLKLORE
AND HERITAGE THROUGH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT
- PARNIL VERMA
Gonds are the largest tribal groups in South Asia having a distinct identity in terms of
folklore and cultural heritage which is seen in their stories , music , dance and
paintings. Since last few years there has been a rising consciousness in India to
conserve, protect and promote the cultural heritage of Indian Tribes, which has led
to many institutional initiatives focussing on documentation and research of Gond
Tribal culture and heritage. A major concern in documentation and digitization of
Gond heritage is that though it aids in its preservation and promotion , it can make it
vulnerable to misappropriation , misuse and commercial exploitation, especially in a
digital world. It is in this backdrop that the concept of intellectual property protection
comes into the picture. Though the existing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Regime
in India is inadequate to address all of the issues involved in protection of traditional
knowledge and folklore, there are many model provisions and practices across the
world related to management of Intellectual Property rights when recording,
digitizing and disseminating traditional knowledge and folklore. This research paper
aims to look into the possibilities of applying such Intellectual property based
protocols, policies and practices in safeguarding and promoting Gond Folklore and
traditional knowledge. As an outcome of this study, intellectual property issues
involved in recording, documenting and digitizing of Gond Folklore have been
discussed and suitable recommendations have been suggested to protect the interest
of Gond tribes that have carried the folklore down the ages and at the same time
provide them an opportunity to contribute to national economy.
1. GOND FOLKLORE AND HERITAGE :
Gond is the largest Adivasi Community in India spreading over large areas
from the Godavari gorges in the south to the Vindhya Mountains in the north. Owing
to their rich legendary history dating back to pre-aryan era, Gonds have a distinct
identity in terms of cultural heritage which is seen in their stories , music , dance and
paintings. While Gond folk stories talk about Gond legends and myths, their songs
express their anguish and pleasures. Through their festivals and rituals, songs and
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dances, they remained rooted in their culture and through paintings and crafts, they
portray their rich art traditions. The Gond Folklore comprises:
Gond Literature most of which is in the form of oral tradition that have passed
on from generation to generation. It includes stories about Gond legends and
myths such as the popular love story of Jhitku Mitki, Folk tales of Gondwana,
Gondwani (stories of Gond Kings), Ramyani (Ram Katha) and Pandwani
(Pandava Katha).
Gond Paintings - Painted with freehand, these paintings reflect the perception of
life of Gond Tribes, their faiths and beliefs and the happenings of their day to day
lives. The first Gond artist to gain national recognition was Jangarh Singh Shyam
and the present genre of Gond painting is called Janagarh Kalam after his
pioneering style. He was the first artist to paint on paper and canvas instead of
directly on earth or walls of the home. Gond Paintings are extremely popular in
the Gondwana region and now they have also gained international recognition and
impressed the audiences at exhibitions in Japan, France, Australia and other
countries.
Folk Songs and Dances such as Karma, Dadaria, Saila, Rina, Dadra, Birha etc.
The Gonds express themselves through different forms of song and dance most of
which are performed during festivals. However Karma can be performed any time
of the year. When a guest arrives, the family gathers do the Karma dance together.
Usually these songs are accompanied with instruments like gudum, timki, nagada.
Manjira etc. In some instances, such as with the Dandari dancers, dances retell
events from Gond mythology.
Gond Art and Craft that includes pottery, basket making, body tattooing and
floor paintings.
The medicinal knowledge of Gond Tribals.
2. PRESERVATION OF GOND FOLKLORE AND HERITAGE :
With increasing urbanization, socio-political and cultural exploitation and
with younger generation moving to cities for better livelihood options, the tribal
communities of India including the Gonds are gradually shrinking and therefore
Government of India is taking steps to preserve tribal culture and heritage by creating
Adivasi Kaliyan Departments and through various govt. funded organizations.
A UNDP sponsored Multimedia documentation project has been initiated
under which Cultural Informatics centre has been established to act as a focal point of
digitization of manuscripts, slides, books, audio and video to preserve cultural
information. A Pilot Project of National Databank on Indian Art and Culture initiated
by Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is under process. The
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, an autonomous organization under
Ministry of Culture has undertaken a project on Ram Katha in Oral Narratives under
which the Gond Ramayani has been translated in Hindi and 500 folk songs based on
Rama theme have been documented in Madhya Pradesh with the support of Adivasi
Kala Parishad, Bhopal. IGNCA has taken steps to promote Gond Paintings by listing
profile and paintings of Gond Artists. The entire Gond Ramayani has also been
transferred on to the canvas by Gond artists for the exhibition to be held at the
IGNCA. Documentation work on gond songs, dances and culture has also been
initiated.
The National Folklore Support Centre, Chennai, in collaboration with Community
Digital Archive for Gond and Bhunjia Tribes, Orissa, is planning to bring out a
Multimedia Digital Book on Gonds and Bhunjia tribes. The multimedia digital book
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will contain written, video, photographic and audio documents, which will be put
together and properly arranged in sequence.
Organizations like INTACH – Gwalior Chapter, All India Artisans and Craftworkers
Welfare Association (AIACA), Adivasi Arts Trust are also taking initiatives to
preserve and promote traditional heritage of Gond tribes through documentation and
digitization and provide a new dimension in the study of the Gond art and culture.
3. NEED FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION :
As stated above, documentation , digitization and dissemination of Gond
tribal culture and folklore has been initiated by many organizations to preserve it.
Documentation and digitization is not only preserving Gond heritage, it offers
unprecedented opportunities for its promotion and revitalization. Digitized traditional
music, designs and art can reach new audiences in niche markets and in doing so
promote community and rural, economic and cultural development. New technologies
also offer to facilitate educational and scholarly opportunities, as well as enhance
cultural exchange.
However public dissemination of Gond folklore through Internet has made it
vulnerable to misappropriation, misuse and commercial exploitation, especially Gond
paintings which have now gained international recognition and hence are more
susceptible to theft and piracy. Gond songs and music are also at a risk of commercial
exploitation as there is increasing trend towards mixing traditional music with pop
music. Albums of popular folk songs orchestrated by folk music instruments like
vibrant drums and other wind and string accompaniments are flooding the market. But
The beneficiary communities are either not rewarded or are compensated at
proportions grossly inadequate with regard to the returns. This fear of piracy is more
than anything else that has kept most archives from allowing complete access to their
content and only partial information can be electronically accessible and
downloadable. For example – Only a small audio-visual clip of Karma and Dadaria
are available on the website of IGNCA.
Therefore there is need for a suitable protection mechanism such as
intellectual property protection that can prevent unauthorized duplication of digitally
available content. This will enable the archives to disseminate complete information
and make optimum use of digital media for promotion of Tribal Art and Culture.
4. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES IN PROTECTION OF GOND
FOLKLORE :
Intellectual property is the name given to ‘creation of mind’ such as
invention, design, literary and artistic work, symbols, names, images and
performances and the right conferred upon the owner to exclusively exploit his
creation for a certain period of time is termed as intellectual property right.
Although folklore and traditional heritage are an output of human intellectual effort
that have been perfected over centuries, the existing intellectual property laws does
not provide adequate protection to folklore or expressions of folklore. There are many
issues involved in IP protection of tribal folklore -
The Patent Act provide protection only for new inventions and innovation. Similarly
the Designs Act covers only ‘new’ or ‘original’ designs that have not been disclosed
to the public prior to the filing date. Hence the traditional knowledge and traditional
crafts of Gonds cannot be protected under these Acts. However new provisions of
Patents Act can be used as defensive measure against misappropriation of traditional
knowledge of Gond Tribe.
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The other intellectual property rights such as Geographical Indications, Trademarks
and Copyrights do provide some sort of protection to tribal folklore. Possible
measures to protect Gond Folklore and Heritage under these acts is hereunder :
Protection through Geographical Indications :
Geographical indication is a sign that indicates that a product originates from a
particular region and has quality, reputation and characteristics specific to the place.
The Gond Paintings of Patangarh do qualify for the Geographical Indications as they
have the uniqueness and reputation to be accorded GI status. Other traditional
paintings of India like Madhubani, Tanjore, Pattachitra have been registered as GI and
have earned enhanced reputation and profitability. Since Gond Painting are already
gaining popularity in international market , once they are given GI status ,they will
earn better recognition and better prices. Other Gond handicrafts like Woodwork and
Bamboo craft of Patan can also be registered as GI.
Protection Through Collective Marks :
Collective Marks are used to distinguish products or services provided by a group of
enterprises, generally members of association. It denotes the common origin of
products and are often used to promote products that are characteristics of a given
region. Many Indigenous associations, including groups of artists, have used the
collective mark system to indicate their association within a group. Likewise, the
Gond painters or craftspersons or even performing artists can form an association and
obtain collective mark to market their product or service domestically as well as
internationally.
Protection Through Copyrights :
The Indian Copyright Act does not have any provision for the protection of
expressions of folklore or traditional heritage therefore Gond Folklore as such cannot
be protected through Copyrights. However when the folklore is recorded in the form
of documents, books, manuscripts, research papers or audio-visual recordings of
performances, such literary or artistic work comes under the domain of Copyrights
and Related Rights. The recent amendment to the Copyright Act has brought it into
compliance with WIPO Internet treaties thereby strengthening the enforcement and
providing protection against Internet piracy. Rights of performers have also been
enhanced.
With new amendments, Indian Copyright Act is better equipped to provide protection
to archives in disseminating their holdings through Internet. Still there are many
issues regarding documentation and dissemination of folklore -
IPR procedures necessarily require complete documentation of information
claimed/to be claimed under IPR. This should incorporate clear information about
the original source of the folklore so as to determine the list of real beneficiary of
the gains accruing from utilization of this information. This is one area where the
organizations undertaking documentation of Gond Folklore should keep in mind
while preparing databases.
In case of cultural heritage and folklore, ownership can not be individual; it is by
very nature collective. Therefore the benefit of documentation should accrue to
the entire tribe and not to the small societal groups.
The copyrights pertaining to the documents, digital content or audio-visual
recording vests with the organization holding the archive and not with the tribal
community.
Usually Folk artists and performers are unorganized, do not have associations or
performing groups and therefore it is difficult for the archives to enter into royalty
agreements or other benefit sharing contracts with them.
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Another issue is that of sharing common heritage with Gond tribals. For example
– the indigenous art of Australia is quite similar to Gond Paintings. In such cases
it is important to incorporate historical background and uniqueness of the art while
documenting so as to differentiate it with already protected indigenous art.
5. INTERNATIONAL PRACTICES :
Multilateral organizations like WIPO and UNESCO have been
continuously organizing round table conferences for developing nations to prepare
model provisions for protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural
expressions. WIPO has also started Creative Heritage Project to provide IP assistance
(information and advice on IP management during digitization projects) and IT
assistance (technical support for the recording and digitization of traditional cultural
expressions, and the establishment of digital collections and web sites) to
communities and cultural institutions.
On the basis of WIPO’s guidelines and locally available IP assistance, many
indigenous communities across the world have protected their folklore from misuse
and commercial exploitation. Few examples are hereunder :
Maori artists of Newzealand have protected their indigenous art through Toi Iho
Certification Marks that authenticate the origin and quality.
Banduk Marika, an Aboriginal artist of Australia discovered that her artistic work
had been copied by a Carpet manufacturing company from an educational
portfolio. She instituted a copyright action as well as passing off against the
company, successfully winning their case.
At the Laura Aboriginal Dance and Cultural Festival of Australia, a photograph of
the dancers in their traditional attire was taken by a commercial photographer. The
photograph was reproduced onto CDs, postcards, and cassettes on related website
without the consent of the performers. The photographer in this case exercised
skill and talent in taking the photograph. Hence, the copyright vests in the
photographer. The dancers, the subjects of the photograph, do not have a
copyright interest. After the incident, in order to secure the interests of aboriginal
dancers ,the Laura Festival organizers adopted a written agreement concerning all
photography and filming at the Festival.
The above examples show even in the absence of specific laws governing protection
of traditional cultural expressions, the indigenous and tribal communities can protect
their art and culture through existing intellectual property mechanism.
6. SUGGESTIONS TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE GOND FOLKLORE :
Taking cues from international practices and keeping in mind the present
intellectual property laws of India, the Gond tribals can also protect their folklore and
heritage from unauthorized duplication and misappropriation by adopting suitable IP
based strategy for preservation and promotion of their folklore and heritage. Some
suitable suggestions are as under :
The Gond painters, performing artists, craftpersons should organize themselves in
Associations or Consortiums to collectively undertake activities of IP Protection
and marketing.
Innovation is the key to the success. Therefore Gond tribals should try to innovate
their products while keeping intact their traditional heritage.
State Government should make efforts to register Gond Painting of Patangarh and
other Gond Crafts as Geographical Indications.
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Awareness campaign on Intellectual Property should be organized for Gond
Tribals by State Governments and other Tribal welfare organizations.
The Gond Artists, craftpersons and the archives undertaking documentation of
Gond folklore must keep a watch on the market to detect duplicity and
unauthorized copying of their product.
The archives should ensure internet security so that they can disseminate their
holdings and promote Gond art and culture without the threat of piracy.
Databases should only disclose traditional knowledge already in the public
domain or traditional knowledge for which prior inform consent has been
obtained.
To obtain consent of tribal communities, the archives should enter into contractual
agreement of benefit sharing with artists or performers.
The staff of the organizations undertaking documentation should be trained about
intellectual property laws.
7. CONCLUSION :
The rich folklore and heritage of Gond tribals is our national treasure and
in this era of information and communication technology the need of hour is to
preserve and promote it with proper authentication using the Intellectual Property
mechanism so as to ensure that the community as a unit gets rewarded in terms of
financial gains and revenue generation by conversion of a cultural resource into
economic resource.
REFERENCES :
1. Chaudhari, Shubha , “Intellectual property Management in an Ethnomusicology Archive : An
Empirical View from India” , written for WIPO , March 2009.
2. Janke , Terri , “Minding Culture: Case Studies on Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural
Expressions”, written for WIPO , Geneva 2003.
3. Kutty , P.V Valsala G. , “National Experiences with the protection of Expressions of Folklore /
Traditional Cultural Expressions : India, Indonesia and the Phillipines” , WIPO / GRTKF /
STUDY / 1 , November 2002.
4. “Intellectual Property & Traditional Cultural Expressions / Folklore – A Practical Guide” , WIPO
5. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Germany-to-Jamaica/Gonds.html#b – article on Gond Community
6. http://www.indiahandicraftstore.com/paintings/gond-tribal-painting/ - site for Gond Paintings
ABBREVIATIONS :
GI : Geographical Indications
IGNCA : Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts
IP : Intellectual Property
IPR : Intellectual Property Rights
UNDP : United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO : United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
WIPO : World Intellectual Property Organization
SUBMITTED BY :
PARNIL VERMA
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