GUWAHATI, Sept 27: It is art for art’s sake that has kept alive the once thriving folk performances of Assam, many of which have long been gasping for life. Ojapali, Thioam, garaam, Dhulia, Yatra, Puppetry etc., are some folks performances for which Assam had every reason to feel proud of. These performing arts were very effective altertive media when the mainstream media as we know now was very poorly developed. The mainstream media did have many barriers – illiteracy, poverty, lack of reading culture in society and the like – that did not allow their propagation at a fast pace at that time. The need of altertive media arises in a community only when the existing mainstream media or medium cannot break barriers. It was in such situation a number of folk performances in Assam or elsewhere in the world thrived. However, with the advancement of media, both altertive and mainstream media, many of such folk performances have been on the verge of extinction.