Bengali artistes cry foul over outrage and mismanagement after US festival fiasco
Bengali artistes cry foul over outrage and mismanagement after US festival fiasco
Acclaimed performers such as
Pandit Ajay Chakraborty, Jayati Chakraborty, Pandit Anindo Chattopadhyay, Raghab Chatterjee including several well-known performers shared their bad experiences on social media.
Reports indicate that the performers who travelled for the 43rd edition of The North American Bengali Conference 2023 (NABC), held in New Jersey’s Atlantic City, recently expressed their angst over the mismanagement and poor treatment they had to endure amid their stay.
From last-minute cancellations of shows and lack of hospitality services to delays in payment, several complaints have been levied against the organisers of the annual three-day conference which reportedly had around 5,000 participants.
As per Raghab Chatterjee who was part of the line-up revealed that there was a total lack of coordination and he couldn’t believe artistes of this stature were treated like this. For instance, no one informed Pandit Anindo Chatterjee that his shows were cancelled! We had to check into the hotel ourselves, no one accompanied them from the airport.
Raghab added that on the very first day, the opening was moved from a world-class hall to a small banquet over some financial issues. So many slots were rescheduled, including his own
At one point, the performers were denied room service and couldn’t get any water, probably because the room was only paid for till the day before. His flight was in another 2 days and he saw a lot of his fellow performers leaving because they could not stay longer. He don’t know a lot of people on his east coast but spent the next two days with friends shared sitarist Sahana Banerjee.
Several singers, dancers, musicians and actors such as Chandrabindoo frontman Anindya Chatterjee, Iman Chakraborty and Lopamudra Mitra voiced their support for the performers who were mistreated during the conference and had to make do with the shoddy arrangements.
Going forward, would artistes approach things differently when it comes to overseas concerts or mixed line-up events? We asked the performers who have some experience as visiting artists.’NABC was a glaring exception’.
Percussionist Anubrata Chatterjee who along with his father Pandit Anindo Chatterjee who was part of NABC’s line-up said that he has been performing for over 18 years and he would say things are handled a lot more professionally now when it comes to big-scale shows. There’s more attention to detail; minor things can always go wrong, but there’s usually someone working on it.
What happened to them(performers) at NABC was absurd, be gelt like he is in the middle of a natural calamity. There was mismanagement at every level. The performers received very little support from the hosts and he even had to pay for his own meals because the food they were served was stale.
Raghab Chatterjee who had some of his spots rescheduled at the last minute, also spoke about the problem. He has received a lot more respect at local jalsas or para events, than what he experienced at NABC this year. He has been going to this conference for around 18 years now and and enjoys doing overseas shows.
Most organisers are usually thoughtful and make a note of every requirement. But of course, no contract or paperwork can protect artistes from a disaster like this.
There were highly acclaimed musicians who were part of the line-up like his guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. They had no one to help them at the airport, their slots were rescheduled or cancelled last minute, the food timings were inconsistent.
He further shared that there was no coordination. It felt like being in a dharamshala. These are things that are so basic that they don’t merit being a part of contracts.
‘Is it a ‘ghar ki murgi’ situation?’
Sitarist Sahana Banerjee shared that classical performers are often not prioritised at shows that have a mixed line-up. He mostly performs overseas and what he observed is that most western organisers are truly attentive to performers’ needs; be technical or otherwise.
At the recent Bengali conference, they didn’t have anyone to carry our instruments! He had to carry his sitar down the stairs and was helped by a fellow musician. There was no one who attended to us when we arrived at the venue, our slots were changed last minute. He feel like it’s a ‘ghar ki murgi’ situation where our own people have no respect for us. Often in mixed line-ups, classical performers are not the priority, it could stem from a lack of appreciation. He feels that every performer should be given the same kind of attention.
‘Most shows are actually handled by non-organisers’
Sarodist Indrayuddh Majumdar who recently concluded his US tour, wasn’t part of the NABC conference but his father Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar was. “Minor things can always go wrong on shows of this scale. It’s understood that not everything will be perfect. Most artistes sign a really generic contract when they sign up for events like these; only the amount changes depending on the artiste. It’s impossible for me to tell the organisers that I would need 19 bottles of water or 20 packs of sandwiches. Whatever happened was beyond the parameters of a contract,” he said.
He further added, that he organises the Swara Samrat music festival across three cities and he is well versed how much work it takes. However, it’s important to keep in mind that conferences of this sort are usually handled by ‘non-organisers.’ They are not handled by professional event planners since they’re quite expensive. So the organisers are often people who have migrated overseas and have different jobs and are planning something like this to keep the culture alive. We can’t expect everything to be perfect every time but what happened this time was of course, unpredictable.
News input KV Raman
