CULTURE AND ARTS - PART I

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance "...Aristotle

Fine art, is art form  

Historically, the five greater fine arts were

Ø  painting

Ø  sculpture

Ø  architecture

Ø  music 

Ø  poetry 

Ø   with minor arts including drama and dancing

Today, the fine arts commonly include the visual art and performing art forms, such as painting, sculpture, collage, decollage, assemblage, installation, calligraphy, music, dance, theatre, architecture, film, photography,conceptual art, and printmaking. 

Lalit Kala Akademi

·         The Lalit Kala Akademi was inaugurated in New Delhi on August 5th, 1954, by the then Minister for Education, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. ·         The youngest of the three Akademies founded by the Government of India,·         It has its headquarters at Ravindra Bhawan, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi, ·         regional centers at Bhubaneswar,Chennai, Garhi (Delhi),  Kolkata,  Lucknow  and  Shimla·         President Appoints Shri Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty as Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi on 12th Feb 2012

Sangeet Natak Akademi

·         The Sangeet Natak Akademi - India's national academy for music, dance and drama - is the first National Academy of the arts set-up by the Republic of India. ·         It was created by a resolution of the (then) Ministry of Education, Government of India, dated 31 May 1952 LibraryOver the years the Akademi has acquired a small but specialized collection of books on music, dance, and drama comprising over 20,000 volumes. The books are chiefly in English and Hindi, although several other Indian languages are also represented, such as Marathi, Bengali and Tamil Ø  In 2010 the Chhau dance was inscribed in the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. “Chhau dance  is a genre of Indian tribal martial dance which is popular in the Indian states of  Odisha , Jharkhand and West Bengal. There are three subgenres of the dance, based on its places of origin and development, Seraikella Chhau, Mayurbhanj Chhau and Purulia Chhau” Ø  Kutiyattam has been declared as among the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO. Ø  The project support to Sattriya music , dance, theatre and allied arts of Assam was started in 2002

Sahitya Akademi

·         India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India.·          Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government and situated at Rabindra Bhavan near Mandi House area. 

Languages Recognised: Besides the twenty two languages enumerated in the Constitution of India, the Sahitya Akademi has recognised English and Rajasthani as languages in which its programme may be implemented. Names of present members of various language Advisory Boards, which have been constituted to render advice for implementing literary programmes in these 24 languages are given in the website.

Head Office: Rabindra Bhavan, 35 Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi.

Regional Office : Kolkata, Kolkata, Chennai , Mumbai

Library: The Sahitya Akademi Library is one of the most important and unique multi-lingual libraries in India with a rich collection of books on literature and allied subjects in the 24 languages recognised by the Sahitya Akademi. The Library is well-known for its huge collection of books on criticism, of works of translation' and reference books including dictionaries.

Fellowships

Ø  Sahitya Akademi Honorary Fellowship

·         is a literary honour in India. Awarded by the Sahitya Akademi

·          and limited to twenty one individuals at any given time,

·         it is the highest literary honour conferred by the Government of India.

·         The fellowship was established in 1968 and the first elected fellow was the philosopher and statesman, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

·         The fellowship can be awarded for literary work in any one of the following twenty-four Indian languages, including Indian English: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri,Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tami, Telugu, and Urdu.

Ø  Dr. Anand Coomaraswamy Fellowship

·         Sahitya Akademi in 1996 instituted a Fellowship in the name of the great scholar and aesthete Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy to be offered to scholars from Asian countries to pursue literary projects of their choice.

·         Sahitya Akademi had announced the conferment of the first Fellowships in 1996 on three scholars namely, Dr. Azad N. Shamatov, Head of South Asian Languages Department, Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies, Tashkent, Prof. Senake Bandaranayake, Director, Post-Graduate Institute of Archeology, Colombo, Sri Lanka and Prof. Chie Nakane, a noted scholar from Japan. Of the three, Dr. Shamatov and Prof. Bandaranayake availed the fellowship and spent several weeks in India doing useful research.

·         The scheme which was discontinued in view of practical difficulties was revived in 2005 after revising the terms and conditions which are given below:

Ø  Premchand Fellowship

·         Sahitya Akademi has also instituted a Fellowship named after Premchand during his 125th Birth Anniversary in 2005.
·         This Fellowship would be given to scholars doing research on Indian literature or to creative writers from the countries of the SAARC region other than India.

The following are the details of the scheme and rules and procedure for operating it:1.    One Fellowship may be offered to a person of eminence in the field of culture and literature from the SAARC countries every year.
2.    The period of Fellowship should be from one month to three months depending on the convenience and availability of the writer/scholar.
3.    Actual cost of international air journey may be borne by the Sahitya Akademi, as also train or air journey within India.
4.    Arrangements for boarding and lodging would be made by the Sahitya Akademi.
5.    An amount of Rs.12,000 per month might be given to the scholar/writer for meeting incidental expenses.
6.    A database of writers and scholars might be created to select the Fellows. Names of writers and scholars might be invited from the Indian Missions in SAARC countries, members of the Executive Board of the Sahitya Akademi, senior writers and scholars and from select cultural and literary institutions and universities.
7.    The visiting Fellow might deliver talks or do readings from his/her works in different places during his visit.
8.    The visiting Fellow will be expected to submit a comprehensive report of his visit which will be placed before the Executive Board.

National School of Drama

·         The National School of Drama is one of the foremost theatre training institutions in the world and the only one of its kind in India. ·         It was set up by the Sangeet Natak Akademi as one of its constituent units in 1959. ·         In 1975, it became an independent entity and was registered as an autonomous organization under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860, fully financed by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. ·         Training in the School is highly intensive and is based on a thorough, comprehensive, carefully planned syllabus which covers every aspect of theatre and in which theory is related to practice.·          As a part of their training, students are required to produce plays which are then performed before the public. ·         The syllabus takes into account the methods of great theatre personalities who have shaped contemporary theatre in all its variety. ·         The systematic study and practical performing experience of Sanskrit drama, modern Indian drama, traditional Indian theatre forms, Asian drama and western dramatic protocols give the students a solid grounding and a wide perspective in the art of theatre.   The National School of Drama provides a three-year full-time Diploma Course for entrants intending to make theatre their profession. The central aim of the course is to prepare students for the practice of theatre. To this end a variety of practical skills must be developed and a corpus of knowledge acquired. While all areas of study are assessed separately and a high standard of work demanded in each, the most important intention of the course is the development of the intangible concept of creative imagination and its expression within the collective framework of a group.  In 2005 it was granted deemed university status, but in 2011 it was revoked on the institute's request. In 1989 NSD established the ‘Theatre-in-Education Company’ (T.I.E), called 'Sanskaar Rang Toli', today it has become India's premier educational resource centres, and coaches children aged 8 to 16 years. The company regularly performs plays for school and adults audiences alike, and has its own yearly theatre festivals, 'Jashn-e-Bachpan' and Bal Sangam Bharat Rang Mahotsav, or the 'National Theatre Festival', established in 1999, is the annual theatre festival of National School of Drama (NSD), held in New Delhi, today it is acknowledged as the largest theatre festival of Asia, dedicated solely to theatre.

Jnanpith Award 

·         The Jnanpith Award is a literary award in India.

·         Along with theSahitya Akademi Fellowship it is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country.

·         The award was instituted in 1961.

·         Any Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of Indiais eligible for the honour.

·         It is presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of the The Times of India newspaper.

First awardee(s)	G. Sankara Kurup
Last awardee(s)	Pratibha Ray