1) There will be things to do, places to go, performances to see. And we will have on average 3 activities every day: morning, noon and evening.
2) On an average, 2 of these will be group activities like tours and visits.
3) The third activity will be more individually tailored to your interests. For instance, if you are a theater person, you will be assigned a theater person who will take you around on his or her own to other theater activities. This could also be your down-time, should you need it.
4) It would be great if you would make an hour-long presentation, including visual material, about the work you do. Slides are OK, and if video, the standard there is PAL. VHS is probably simplest. This will not be a public program but for local artists. This is not a requirement but a suggestion.
5) You are not required to attend a fellow participant's presentation, though it would be interesting to see various interactions with local Manipuri artists.
6) Outside of these structured and unstructured programs, please do not stray off. There are 2 reasons for this. First, the trip is designed to give you an immersion into Manipuri culture. Despite similarities you may notice, little of your prior experience in Asia and India will apply well in Manipur. Second, it is not safe to wander off. Please remember we are arranging security for you.
Manipur's culture is intangible and not readily visible. It is not an easy place. There will be an emphasis on Manipuri and not tribal culture as the latter is harder to get to. We will look at culture, "in situ", as it happens in everyday life. Nothing will be arranged for you in the usual formal sense.
I hope that this Field trip is the first time that outsiders - Indian or foreign nationals - will be coming to enjoy Manipur, and to interact with its artists. As we are not the usual missionaries of religion or of development, one could perhaps say that this perspective will be new to the people you will meet. There is no tourism to speak of to provide a context, however problematic. I am not sure what this means as this is new to me too.
The Field Trip also seeks to address and reverse the usual culture-shopping approach by visitors. So some presentation you can make about your work and your art will be much appreciated by the local artists. I am hoping that by sharing a little bit of your art, we will be able to get a more intimate experience of Manipur. But please bear in mind that their interaction with foreign cultures so far has mostly been to send their art abroad; outside of film and television, they have not had Western art presented to them. And, as you may have heard, everyone is an artist in Manipur.