Siddayya Kallayya Mathapati

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA will explore the influence of diverse folk songs on different pedagogic processes with fifth grade students at the Government Higher Primary School, Chikkahandigol in Gadag district. Siddayya Kallayya Mathapati is the Coordinator for this project.

Siddayya Kallayya Mathapati is a Cluster Resource Person (CRP) from Hulkoti village, Gadag Taluk in Gadag District. Being the CRP, he has initiated various activities to connect the schools with the local communities over time. Given his experience he is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.

This project will involve students in a process of exploring selected texts from the syllabus of Kannada and Social Studies, by interpreting them through local folk songs, particularly the forms Sobane Pada, Gee Gee Pada, Lavani, Kolatada Pada, Beesuva Kallina Pada, Hanti Hadu and Holi Hadu. These forms are rapidly disappearing from the cultural life of the region. Since Siddayya comes from a family of folk singers, as Project Coordinator he will encourage children to appreciate and experience these songs from diverse perspectives.

The common thread that links the various activities in the project is the involvement of the community singers. Siddayya’s mother Shantavva Kallayya Mathapati, Somappa Ulavappa Madalli, Budappa Basappa Patil and Siddaramayya Kashimath – all well-known singers of the region – will engage in workshops and discussions with the students. Siddayya will prepare textual documentation of the songs and provide them to the students and his peer cluster teachers. Aided by a series of workshops, the project will culminate in a public performance and a digital publication of different kinds of folk songs. Most importantly, this project introduces students to the life of community singers, and the schools to community resources. It also opens up the richness that exists in the indigenous knowledge systems within the community. The attempts to use the folk arts to re-energise the community’s relationship with education and school culture, and bring multiple stakeholders - teachers, School Development and Monitoring Committees (SDMC), and students - together to address social, cultural and educational challenges of the surrounding community.

The outcome of this project will be a performance in the presence of school staff and community members, and a digital publication. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will include photographs, the digital publication and video documentation of the entire project.

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Education programme in the manner in which it attempts to connect students and schools to the cultural knowledge of the communities they live in.

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.