2010

May
‐
Fair


Harveen
Narula





 May Fair

Set in one of the hottests months, May-fair was one of the coolest
events of Chandigarh in recent times.A trendsetting art-movement ,it
was a protest at its core undertaken to achieve a mission but the way
in which it was taken forward is unique. The event scheduled for 1st
and 2nd May 2010 at Leisure Valley in Sector 10 Chandigarh, between
5 pm and 7 pm was a showcase of abundant talent in the city .
 Background

Today where CITCO’S food joint ‘Stop n Stare’ stands is actually a

demarcated Cultural zone on Chandigarh’s Zonal plan. CITCO got
the land in their posession after proposing a cutural building
consisting of an Amphitheatre along with a food joint, which was
shown in a drawing made by the architect. The same drawing was
approved by the

administration and that is how the project started. But, what really
happened after the approval for cultural building was that, the
company very deviously just made the commercial food joint and did
not bother about the theatre.
“Stop and Stare”(which is the name of this project of CITCO) on
papers is a cultural building where art and cultural activities were
supposed to take place, but till May 1 2010 no cultural activitiy has
ever been organised here. Also, the area was made so that the general
public and artists could sit and carry out discussions. Instead the
present scenario is totally vice- versa. The cafe has board signs like
“Rights of Admission Reserved” and “Do not sit idle”. Also, the
display boards at the café which were meant for display of art work
are being used to display commercial brochures of CITCO, thus
proving how CITCO has completely forgotten the real purpose of the
project. The above information has been gathered by using the Right
to Information Act and as evidence pictures of the cafe have also been
clicked. Therefore, in order to make people aware about the whole
issue, May Fair was organised and the creative method of “Artivism”
was used to widely spread the message.
 Basic Information
May Fair included-
1. Photography Exhibition : There were five categories in which
pictures could be submitted. These were a. Colours of
Chandigarh b. Photo Story on any theme centred on Chandigarh
c. Nature/Landscapes of Chandigarh d. People /Portraits e. Open
Category.

Around 110 pics were displayed in all. The special attraction of

this exhibition was 12 pictures given by Mr. Deepak a
photojournalist who gave the pictures on the theme of “May-
Day”. These pictures were a tribute to the labour in Chandigarh.
The pictures were artistically stuck on recycled cartons.

2. Painting Exhibition : The paintings made by artists young and

 old, were showcased at May Fair. The themes were a choice
from abstract to natural beauty.

3. Theatre: "Hum Honge Kaamyab", a play which was performed

by Dram-e-baaz. 14 members acted on the first day in this play.
The length of the same was 25 minutes. The play showcased -

major problems in free India 60 yrs post independence, and

thrash out issues like - Brain Drain, atrocities on females and
female feticide, communal violence and in the end also talks
about media. The play does so by drawing a comparison

between India and an old lady suffering from illness. The play
 on the second day was 'Khuli hawa ki talaash mein', it dealt with
contemporary issues in 40 minutes. The play was by Mask
theatre and CEVA.

4. Poetry: Many artists came forward to share their poetry, with an

option to either recite or display their poems. Since the event did
not have any sponsorship thus the artwork of people was not

rejected merely because someone considered it unworthy.

Unlike the same there were many people whose work was
exhibited for the first time ever.
5. Live Music: Hindi Hard Rock music was played by
 ‘Suryodaya’ on the first day and on the second day music was
played by independent guitarists.
6. Live handmade jewellery workshop: The workshop was
conducted by Ms Namita Sharma and she taught amazing things
which could made just in a matter of few minutes.
 Important Points
1. Eco- friendly: The event was an eco friendly event as it used
old refrigerator cartons to display the pictures and no

microphones were used therefore not causing any noise

pollution as well.

2. Zero- Electricity: Even though theatre groups performed and

 live music was played, also a workshop was conducted in open.
Even then neither microphones nor speakers were used.
3. Citizen Powered: The event was citizen powered in the sense

that, it was by the people, of the people and for the people. It
was the general public that spread awareness amongst people
and the entire event was by mostly unknown individuals for the
citizens at large.
4. Micro Budget: The entire event was organised only with a
small amount of money which was used to buy old cartons for
the display, which would later be sold for almost the same cost.

Thus, it helped to cut the cost to a very large extent. Also, as the
event did not involve any commercialisation or sponsorship and
neither did they distribute any prizes for the winners therefore
proving that no amount of money was involved anywhere.

Another point to be noted was that the winners were selected by

volunteers of the participant, thus no fee for judges. And the
organisation was entirely done by volunteers.s

5. Use of Social media: In order to popularise the event
“facebook” was used very effectively and efficiently. This

judicious use of internet helped to save advertising cost and yet

it was a successful tool to spread awareness.
6. Mainstream Media: The mainstream print media was involved
 bu organising a press conference. The newspapers reported this
event with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm over a period of 3 days,

highlighting the issue as well as the event as such and thus

which became another tool for the awareness of the people.
7. Hidden Message: The revelation of the faulty construction and
the awareness of the truth about ‘Stop and Stare’ was the prime

motive of this event. It was productively spread throughout in a

distinct way which was that the motive of the event was
disclosed only to a very few people before and on the first day
of the event but on the second day everyone was told the truth.
8. Intervention by the police: The police intervened on the first
day of May Fair due to the complaint filed by CITCO. But
Police was fearlessly confronted by the people, and sent back as
Police had no business in stopping a Cultural activity happening

peacefully at a cultural space. It therefore set an example for the

citizens that if they are doing anything lawfully and peacefully
then even the police cannot stop them.
 Post event Outcome
1. Increased Connectivity: As the event was a collaboration of
unknown people thus after the event there were many people

who came to know each other. The youth got an opportunity to

connect with elder yet popular people.
2. Replication of idea: The innovative use of cartons inspired
local student group and they used the same at some other event
organised by them, thus showing how a simple idea can be
replicated in the community.
3. Feedback: The event can surely be called a success just by
reading the various status messages of the people who were
either participant, volunteers or just visitors.
 Conclusion
After studying the event the saying, “Less is More” is truly proved.
The entire event was organised with the simplest possible means and
yet it was able to make a huge impact on the people. The inspirational
and innovative use of social media to promote the event, acts as
valuable idea which has been used earlier at a smaller scale but it will
be surely be used more often and by a larger audience. The one of a
kind nature of the event was also appreciated at a large level.
Thus it can be said that although the traditional ways are very useful
to do work, yet the new ways of working are very effective and they
will be used extensively in the upcoming times.
May Fair was just one step which was taken to hoghlight this issue.
Further a Public Interest Litigation will soon be filed in Punjab and
Haryana High Court in order to take the matter forard and achieve its
real aim.
Harveen Narula