Shripad Yesso Naik launches 60th Anniversary Celebrations of Lalit Kala Akademi

Minister of Culture and Tourism Shri Shripad Yesso Naik here today inaugurated the year long celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of Lalit Kala Akademi. Lalit Kala Akademi, National Academy of Art, New Delhi, was set up by the Government of India as an autonomous body, on 5 August 1954. It is the Indian Government’s apex cultural body in the field of visual arts in India. The structure of the Akademi consists of a General Council that comprises artists, art critics, architects, photographers, experts in folk, tribal and traditional arts, art administrators and representatives of various government organizations. The festivities commenced with an exhibition of works of art selected from the collection of the Akademi that show how artists have been viewing India in their own perspective. The Installation ‘Secret Life of Memories’ consisting of photographic prints, videos and sounds of the cultural lineages of Tibet and Sikkim as well as some re-enactment of Kalimpong Tibetan Opera is also organised at Kaustubh Auditorium of the Lalit Kala Akademi. The Installation has been conceived by Mr. Arghya Basu and Rajula Shah. Shri Krishen Khanna, one of the senior most artists of the country and Shri Ravindra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Culture were the Guests of Honour on the occasion. The inaugural function was followed by a musical concert by Abhay Rustum Sopori. The compositions which he presented were based on classical Ragas and took the listeners on a journey of India. Mahua Mukherjee and her troupe performed ‘Gaudiya Nritya’, a classical dance from Bengal as a part of the celebrations. The festivities will be continuing for the next couple of days with a dance performance titled ‘Nrutya Vitana’ visualised by Dr. Dinanath Pathy and choreographed by Meera Das. The performance discusses the inter-connectivity of various visual art forms. On 7th August, 2014, Dr. R.S. Nanda Kumar and his troupe will be presenting a dance performance titled ‘Rasonmeelana’ which will be an interpretation of the ideas of rasa in Indian poetics.