How and why a Research Centre for Mudugar and Kurumbar?

Office of Mudugar-Kurumbar Research Centre, Attappady

Mudugar-Kurumbar Research Centre is established with the funding of World Oral Literature Project of The University of Cambridge. It is a space of the tribal people and others to interact, express, refresh memories, experience the joy of ethnicity, enjoy the power of tradition, learn indigenous culture and to promote ecological life. This space is completely created with an aesthetics of indigeneity with the help of tribal leaders and empathetic non-tribal persons. A wider scope of the space is to translate the ecological way of living to mainstream spheres like academia, everyday life and even thinking of the modern people. As a beginning to this movement, the Centre wishes to video-document the oral tradition of two tribal communities, namely, Mudugar and Kurumbar in Attappady. Video documentation will be done with the participation of the members of the communities.

Objectives of the Project:

1. To create a resource centre of digital and print documents for Mudugar and Kurumbar

2. To produce ethnographic video-documentaries on the life of the communities

3. To create a space for the communities to recap their memories

4. To provide guidance for research scholars in the area

5. To bring to light the issues pertaining to the communities

Strategies

Documentation will be done using digital video-camera and still-camera. The documents created will be classified, edited, described and stored. Some documents will be uploaded on the internet and will be provided to research scholars on demand. The documents will be disseminated through workshops and seminars held in local schools and colleges.

Officers

Nirmal Selvamony (President, OSLE-India)

N. Watson Solomon (Media Advisor, OSLE-India)

Rayson K. Alex (Principal Researcher)

Sachindev P.S. (Media Officer)

C. Ramu (Field worker)

Vasantha (Field worker)

Manoj U.A. (Collaborator of the Project)

S. Susan Deborah (Public Relations Officer)

Samuel Moses K.S. (Convener, Ecomedia Team)

About OSLE-India

Organisation for Studies in Literature and Environment-India (OSLE-India) is a forum for promoting ecocriticism, especially in India and also in other Asian countries. Today, 'ecocriticism' has come to mean not only 'the application of ecology and ecological principles to the study of literature,' but also the theoretical approach to the interrelational web of natural, cultural and supernatural phenomena. It is the first ecocriticism forum in India, promoting the cause of this discipline. Due to its persistent motivation, already some academic institutions in India have introduced courses in ecocriticism. This forum continues to bring out an online newsletter and a journal (Indian Journal of Ecocriticism). It has brought out a volume on ecocriticism entitled Essays in Ecocriticism and conducted workshops and international conferences.

About Ecomedia Team

Ecomedia Team is a group functioning within OSLE-India, specialising and researching on the ecological aspects of media like, print, video, film and internet. It conducts workshops, competitions and is currently engaged in the making of an ecological video-documentary.