Latest news with #CreativeEconomyOutlook2024
Hans India
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hans India
Performing arts in the creative economy
The performing arts encompasses dance, theatre, music, puppetry, and folk expression. From the vedic era Bharat has experienced a dynamic mode of communication which was more than entertainment. These were instruments of education, social change, political expression, and cultural continuity. Today, these traditional forms are finding new relevance within the framework of the creative economy, integrating with technology and innovation to open up expansive opportunities for enterprise. What is Creative Economy? The creative economy has created a niche space in new economics which covers interdisciplinary sectors of culture, creativity, and knowledge-based intellectual capital. According to the UNCTAD's Creative Economy Outlook 2024 there is a varied economic contributions of the creative economy across different countries, ranging from 0.5% to 7.3% of GDP and employing between 0.5% to 12.5% of the workforce. The Creative services exports marked 29% increase from 2017 surging to $1.4 trillion in 2022. It's interesting to note that over the past decade (from 2002), the share of creative goods' exports has remained steady around 3% and the creative services' share rose from 12% to 19%. Though the export of creative goods exports reached $713 billion with a 19% increase, the analytics are captivating. The primary export of developing countries is creative goods, while developed countries dominate creative services exports. However, developing countries have significantly increased their share from 10% in 2010 to 20% in 2022. The analysis indicates that the creative economy is driving growth and employment. It includes arts, media, design, film, publishing, fashion, advertising, heritage, and digital innovation. The Performing arts sit at the heart of this ecosystem bridging tradition with technology, emotion with storytelling, and heritage with innovation. Communication Tool From Ancient Times to Airlines The performing arts has been a powerful mode of mass communication. From temple dancers narrating epics through Bharatanatyam or Kathak, to the use of Nautanki and Jatra in rural awareness campaigns, performing arts have served as living newspapers, educators, and catalysts for collective consciousness. A brilliant contemporary example is the Indian Airlines safety demo, choreographed in the classical Bharatanatyam style. This innovative step has communicated safety protocols effectively but celebrated Bharatiya culture in a modern context by demonstrating how performing arts can be meaningfully woven into even the most unexpected sectors. Education and Skill Development The modern pedagogy is increasingly embracing performing arts to enhance comprehension, empathy, and creativity. The concepts in subjects like history, science, language, and even mathematics can be internalised effectively through performance-based learning. For instance: •Puppetry has been used to teach environmental conservation and sanitation in schools. •Street theatre (Nukkad Natak) is used in public health campaigns for behavior change. •Role-play and improvisation are effective in soft skills training, language acquisition, and even corporate leadership modules. This creates scope for enterprising individuals by creating a niche market with high demand to offer experiential learning solutions, workshops, and educational content blending performance with curriculum. Performing Arts as Enterprise Performing arts in the digital age are evolving with new entrepreneurial avenues, particularly when integrated with technology, design, and digital tools. For instance, Classical dance helps logical thinking and also time management by synchronising with the rhythm. Digital Content & Streaming: Artists now use platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and OTT services to create folk-based web series, host virtual performances, and engage audiences through tutorials and storytelling. For instance, Raja Kumari blends Indian classical dance with hip-hop for global reach. VR & AR Integration: Immersive technologies enable virtual performances, AR-based dance tutorials, and interactive theatre. Startups can recreate classics like Shakuntalam or Ramleela using VR for global audiences. Edutainment & Curriculum Integration: Ed-tech ventures are using performing arts to develop school modules, train teachers, and build apps/games rooted in traditional forms. Example: Kahaani Box simplifies learning through theatre. Cultural Tourism & Event Curation: Entrepreneurs curate festivals, community theatre, and cultural cafés to offer immersive cultural experiences. Therapeutic & Wellness Applications: Performing arts are used in mental health, therapy for neurodivergent children, and wellness programs combining dance, music, and yoga. Reviving Traditional Forms with Innovation: Indigenous arts like Baul, Yakshagana, and Therukoothu are being revived through digitisation, AI, animation, and online courses. Youth can become cultural entrepreneurs by fusing tradition with technology and storytelling for global appeal. Performing arts are gaining policy support as a tool for job creation and cultural diplomacy. Schemes like Startup India and UNESCO's Creative Cities offer funding, while institutions can scale arts education. Challenges like digital access and market gaps need public-private partnerships, mentorship, and targeted skill development to unlock full potential. Many artists in the country especially woman dedicated years of energy in learning the art should reimagine as a Creator, Educator, and Innovator. Repurposing performing arts with innovation and technology empowers artists, drives the creative economy, and strengthens Bharat's cultural and economic identity. (The writer is a Creative Economy Expert)
The Hindu
21-04-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
New pathways for India's creative economy
Few countries have a unique history of innovations and creativity that changed the world. Yet, India's tryst with creativity and innovation ranges from the arts to science, from metallurgy to medicine, from astronomy and much more. As India works towards becoming a $5 trillion economy, it needs to rejig its approach to innovations, supported by creativity at all levels. Globally, in 2022, exports of creative services surged to $1.4 trillion, marking a 29% increase since 2017. Creative goods exports also experienced a 19% rise, reaching $713 billion. Collectively, the creative economy generates annual revenues exceeding $2 trillion and supports nearly 50 million jobs worldwide. According to the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report on the creative economy, Creative Economy Outlook 2024, three sectors are the main contributors of the creative economy (2022): software services (41.3%), research and development (30.7%), advertising, market research and architecture (15.5%). India's creative economy has also demonstrated significant contributions. In 2019, creative goods and services exports totalled about $121 billion, with creative services accounting for nearly $100 billion. The design segment alone represented 87.5% of creative goods exports, while arts and crafts contributed around 9%. As of 2024, India's creative industry is valued at $30 billion and employs about 8% of the country's working population. Creative exports grew by 20% in the previous year, generating more than $11 billion. Creativity in creative economy While investments into traditional creative economic sectors are booming in a country such as India, we still need to explore ways of being more creative and innovative to take the economic gains to new horizons, especially at the grass-root levels. This will ensure that such creations and innovations help local people. This will be a disruptive approach to promoting local economies. Research has shown that creativity can be segmented into four types: deliberate and emotional; deliberate and cognitive; spontaneous and emotional, and spontaneous and cognitive. Creativity can be endogenous — triggered by one's own thoughts or imagination or exogenous — that is externally induced. It can be manifested concurrently or only episodically such as in crises or extreme climate events. A significant part of local innovations falls into deliberate and cognitive as well as the spontaneous and cognitive segments. Creativity precedes innovation. While creativity can be individual-based, innovation can be bootstrapped but needs an institution to support its scale or formalisation. In a country such as India, enormous creativity exists but such creativity is not translated into innovation many a time. Creators come up with ideas while innovators translate the ideas into products and services. We need investments to bridge the gap between creativity and innovation. Pioneering work on identifying and recognising grassroot innovations by organisations such as the Grassroot Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN) have resulted in popularising hundreds of grassroot creative ideas. An example from Indonesia Where does one start? Consider a pioneering creative solution, the Antrodam Project, that has been conceived by the students of Binus School in Bekasi, Indonesia. The Antrodam Project began with one mission: to create a solution to flooding, a challenge that affects communities worldwide. Looking for ideas from the best source of inspiration, nature itself, the Binus team explored structures from the animal and plant kingdoms to find the perfect design. Inspired by the nests of Indian Harvester ants, the students engineered a flood protection system that works with nature rather than against it. The ants have intricate tunnel systems that direct water away from their nests, keeping them safe and dry. The students were also inspired by natural structures such as 'rose petals and their layered design to direct water; the lettuce leaf coral, with its intricate branching; the giant pill millipede which can roll into a compact shape; and the male frigate bird, known for its large, water-resistant throat pouch'. This is sheer creative brilliance but what we now need are investments to scale up these creative ideas into an innovation at scale that can be applied elsewhere. Take some examples of creativity from India such as the 'mitti cool clay refrigerator', pedal-operated washing machines or the amphibious bicycle. Each needs scale-up to be commercially attractive with appropriate protection for the creative idea, design and application. Investing in creativity and innovation It is time that India invests more in creative pursuits at all levels — grassroots to technology-intensive ideas. Grassroot innovations need more investments to ensure the proof of concept demonstrated is supported by capital investments. The innovation and associated intellectual property protection for such innovations, including informal ones, need better protection through adjustments to Indian intellectual property protection policies and regulations. It is also time that the government invests in 'one district one innovation' modelled after the successful initiative of 'one district one product' initiative. While the climate tech sector in India received $2,853 million in 2023, the investments that grassroots creativity received seems to be very poor. Even if a small percentage of investments go to climate adaptation and mitigation actions that are creative and not working at the local level, India's ability to deal with climate change will be many times more. What we need today is an ecosystem that balances creativity and innovations at all levels, backed by investments to ensure that India's ambitions to improve creative economic conditions are met. Balakrishna Pisupati is the Country Head of the United Nations Environment Programme, India, and a member of Team UN India
