social amenities; imagining a mumbai cultural policy

Possibility of a city policy on culture is a derivative of two conferences of note the city hosted in the recent past. One held in 1992 at the SNDT Women’s University and 12years later the other in 2004 at Asiatic Library. Both these workshops, a result of the invited speakers summarises mostly as sketch, on status to a cosmopolitan culture. A shifting landscape captured by its various dreamers the artists, writers, poets, historians, architects and planners. These conferences try within limits, audits Mumbai to present a manifesto for its future. Though a definition of culture exists when told as a summary of its discussions a formal recognition is still at hand. The Maharashtra State Cultural Policy of 2010 launched during the Golden Jubilee celebrations broadly lays out what the state recognises as its culture. Principles grounding the text recognises “Culture is a whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterizes a society or a social group. It includes not only arts and letters but also modes of life, values, systems, traditions and beliefs. The culture of every person differs from every other person by some amount and is independent of the other.” Though as broad as it is, localising the aspect makes the situation identify what is significant for it as a society to lay claim specific associations to that which express its culture. A set that the policy recognises locates language, arts, parameters of recognition, women, sports and miscellaneous associated concepts pertinent with the state at large.

Artefacts of a culture are subject to patronage. As sum total, it recognises various forms of patronages which for a designated area is subject under. With the state’s claim of its proclamation of culture, the view in the city to interpret based on its context is the role played when a city iteration of a state policy comes to play. To describe a city is very often a report of its city life, “… Mumbai is India on steroids: 435 square kilometers bursting at the seams with the hopes and dreams, cultures and cuisines, languages and races, petty quarrels and disgruntled compromises of a billion people. … the city is India’s biggest manufacturer of popular culture – film, television, music, dance, and fashion. It has dominated the popular Indian imagination through the hundreds of books, movies and songs it has inspired, its headline-grabbing gangsters and super-cops and some of the country’s greatest cricket heroes.” Described by TimeOut Mumbai Guide the curated preview to the city though distinct in its aspirations too presents a view point of living in the city to be documented as its culture. In this song and dance of living in Mumbai is its built form. 50% slums and among 50% everything else there is the cities heritage. Heritage for the city is definitely on its isolated spree when it’s discussed. A purely a formal exercise until now there’s only a niche interest in the subject and at most times as concept it seems misinterpreted. It’s now almost 18years since the first drafting of the regulations and other than blatant rejection of the ideals of preservation in several cases very few can be credited, though they are noteworthy. To quote a Facebook post “This is to bring to your notice that our Chembur Precinct has been declared as HERITAGE by the Maharashtra Heritage Conservation Committee i.e. you cannot demolish or redevelop your property in this precinct. … Appealing you’ll join me … against Declaring our Chembur Precinct as HERITAGE as Chembur was developed as a Garden suburb in the Fifties & Sixties as all structures are of R.C.C & many are newly redeveloped also & they hold no HERITAGE VALUE or HISTORICAL VALUE. Today i am going to speak against MHCC & GOVT. in my B.M.C house (Sabhagrah) & going to fight to Stop Chembur Precinct into getting it in the HERITAGE list” _ there is a palatable fear stemming out of a misunderstanding of the word itself. Incentives somehow are the only ideas promoted for consolidated vision which heritage hold. The history of the city which are locked in these structures should have its voice heard other than monetary perks.

Looking away from the mainstream portals, independent voice of few gatekeepers responsible for city cultural institutions have in the recent months expressed an urgency to participate in the discussions. Tasneem Mehta _ “The local response to the announcement that the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum plans to expand its facilities with the addition of a new building highlights the need for a dialogue with the community, the authorities and various stakeholders on the urgent need for a cultural policy to realise Mumbai’s economic potential through its enormous soft power. Though the nub of the protest was the loss of a playground for the local community … what is at stake is an important cultural institution that has the capacity to change Mumbai’s cultural equation with the world. A coherent cultural policy that articulates Mumbai’s global aspirations but also addresses its local needs will go a long way to mitigate fears and encourage greater participation in city planning. It will have an impact on urban planning across India” & Aaditya Thackeray _ “Tweeps the GOOD News is CM has accepted my proposal of nightlife and assured me tht necessary amendments to laws by March/August Session”. Both locating themselves from podiums of their creation submits to distinct mechanisms for brokering their stake in how their directives need altered favoring the respective institutions and therefore, the city.

Mumbai’s cultural landscape is at the moment in a delirious phase. The only semblance of a culture that we have is projected and promoted in form of its built heritage. Adding to this is the intrinsically urban iteration, or the consumerist culture narrated by its guidebooks. Significant city intuitions dependant on the city leverage schemes to push their agendas forward. To outline and tie conversations on aspects of a culture lies the aim of the proposal. A policy acts as an enabler, to recognize and define limits of a field alongside conduct. The need in the context we are placed in is to assemble with clarity what are the identifiers ascribing to a Mumbai Culture? And when recognized how can each object within this collected set operate? Locating legislation for culture begins with the ongoing processes for Greater Mumbai Development Plan 2034. The course of its production is strewn with an intense participation between various people groups to present a product stated as a derivative of the exercises. Citizens movements lead by UDRI and YUVA URBAN based itself on a set of principles for the planning agency to negotiate their version of the plan from. Among the list of around 15 discussion heads, culture has missed a spot from both iterations. With the Development Plan released for comment under the broad goals of Competiveness, Inclusivity and Environmental Sustainability, location of culture in the plan is a difficult navigation. Tucked away in Part 1 Section 8 of the report mostly as Social Amenities, agendas on the distribution of designated land parcels is the scope ascribed to a notion of city culture. Beginning at this distort place the proposal firstly reviews the city plan to compile extends to which the instrument has directed a view inherently shaping its aspiration of the future. The next it inspects the citizen’s proposals to extract elements, either in part or related collected concepts associated under a resemblance of cultural aspirations. Constructed formal municipality aspirations are compared against the informal citizen’s plan. Extracting from state cultural policy (read alongside updated norms from UNESCO & EU) and city guides follows. A cumulative set of ideas a resultant of the three tasks frames a policy document after generating comments from a selected citizen group who are recognised in contributing to cultural production in the city. Constraints of presenting culture is limited to four parts, a) tangible culture, b) intangible culture, c) cultural industries and d) indigenous culture. These are carried forward into the format of the imagined policy forming a template to organise collected data into. Framework categories how much of each aspect is deemed significant and requires patronage towards a competitive, inclusive and sustainable urban cultural future. “Culture is the transformation of nature and society that is fundamental to all human activity” is taken as norm for the aspirations replicated in a recommended draft Mumbai Cultural Policy.