CULTURAL AFFAIRS
The main institutions and programmes in this field followed by the Department of Culture are :
A. The Akademies and other Cultural Organisations
B. Propagation of Culture
C. Scholarships and Fellowships
D. Centenary Celebrations
E. Gazetteers
F. Cultural Relations
A. THE AKADEMIES AND OTHER CULTURAL ORGANISATIONS With a view to preserving, fostering and developing the creative arts-literary, performing and plastic-the Government of India has set up three National Akademies viz. Sahitya Akademi, Sangeet Natak Akademi and Lalit Kala Akademi, and the National School of Drama. The main activities undertaken by these organisations during the year under report are given below :-
Sahitya Akademi The main activities of the Akademi are organisation of symposia and seminars on subjects of creative literature, translation and publication of outstanding Indian and foreign classics into various Indian Languages and grant of awards to outstanding books of creative merit.
During the year, the Akademi organised five symposia/seminars on subjects 'The contribution of the under-privileged to the Indian poetic Tradition', 'Rajaji's contribution to literature' to mark the Birth Centenary of the writer-statesman, 'Realism and Moral Values in Fiction', 'A Seminar on Sarojini Naidu' to mark her birth centenary and a Seminar on 'Mystic Strain in Mediaeval Poetry' in Srinagar to mark the hexe-centenary of the Kashmiri mystic saint-poet Sheikh Noor- ud-din Nund Rishi.
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S/Shri A. R. Deshpande 'Anil' Jainendra Kumar, Dr. K. V. Puttappa 'Kuvempu', Dr. V. Raghavan and Smt. Mahadevi Verma were elected as the fellows of the Akademi.
The Akademi published 60 new books and six reprints besides releasing six issues of its journal 'Indian Literature' and one issue of 'Semskrita Pratibha.'
A workshop on poetry was organised at Bombay for participants in Gujarati, Konkani, Marathi and Sindhi languages; another workshop on poetry was organised at Madras for participants in Kannada, Malyalam, Tamil and Telugu languages; and a third workshop was organised at Chandigarh for participants in Dogri, Engish, Kashmiri, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Sanskrit and Rajasthani languages. A fourth workshop is planned to be held early in 1980 at Calcutta for participants in Assamese, Bengali, and Mythili languages.
The Akademi has given awards to 22 books in languages recognised by it.
Lalit Kala Akademi The important programmes undertaken by the Akademi during the year were the organisation of exhibitions, publication of art books, journals and multicolour reproductions and award of fellowships.
Important exhibitions held by the Akademi included six foreign exhibitions in India, viz., (i) copies of Medieval Yugoslav-Frescoes ; (ii) "Serigraphs" by Allan Leach Jenes and Coburn of Australia; (iii) Photographs and Paintings on the work of Italian Painter ; (iv) "Arts of Latin America", a Unesco travelling exhibition; (v) "Children of Asia", a photographic exhibition from Unesco; (vi) "Small Soviet Sculptures", an exhibition of 60 contemporary sculptures from Russia and seven Indian exhibitions organised in India viz. (i) "Rasa Bhava Pradarshan"an exhibition of Photographs ; (ii) A retrospective exhibition of Paintings by Shri P. T. Reddy; (iii) "Indian Art Today- I"; (iv) "Indian Art Today-II"; (v) "Exhibition of paintings, sculp- tures and graphics" 'by Prof. B. C. Sanyal ; (vi) "Circulating Exhibition No. 11 compiled from the permanent collection of the Akademi", and (vii) "National Exhibition of Art". The Akademi participated in the XV Sao Paulo Blennale, Brazil. To celebrate
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the Silver Jubilee of the Akademi, the following special exhibitions were presented by the Akademi; viz. (i) "Contemporary Indian Sculptures ; (ii) "Contemporary Indian Paintings ill Miniatures format"; (iii) "Traditional Paintings"; and (iv) "Aspects of Indigenism in Indian Art". The Akademi also published a souvenir tracing the developments of contemporary Indian art on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee. The Regional Centre of the Akademi at Madras organised four exhibitions.
A Sculptors Camp was organised by the Akademi at its Studio Workshops, Garhi, New Delhi from December, 1979 to January, 1980. The publications brought out by the Akademi include(i) Numbers 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the journal "Lalit Kala Contemporary'; (ii) A book of essays on art in Hindi entiled "Kala, Samay, Samaj", edited by Sri Prayaga, Shukla; (iii) a new portfolio an Basholi paintings; (iv) Two sets of picture post-cards on the Ramayana; (v) Three multicolour reproductions; (vi) A book on aesthetics entitled "Chaos and Creation" by S. Sinha; and (vii) A collection of essays in Hindi, edited by Sri K. N. Kacker.
Sri Karl. J. Khandalavala, Prof. V. R. Amberkar and Prof. B. C. Sanyal were elected fellows of the Akademi.
Sangeet Natak Akademi The major work undertaken by the Akademi during the year under review has been its sustained effort to continue support to rare forms of the performing arts that were in danger of extinction. Apart from the forms already identified, which are being aided in various ways such as scholarships to learners, funds for maintenance and renovation of equipment and materials, and grants to performing troupes, an important new project concerning recognition of the classical Drupad form as a style that is languishing for lack of promotion, was launched. In this connection, the Akademi held a Drupad Mela at Brindavan, a traditional centre of this art where not only did artists from the various Gharanas perform but, for the first time, the traditional sacred music from which the drupad developed confined to the temple precincts, was presented by the temple-musicians on a public platform. An important component of the Mela was a Seminar on the various traditions of Drupad.
A festival organised by the Indian National Theatre, Bombay, was held at Morvi, Gujarat, to bring together all the major styles
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of the Gujarati traditional theatre, Bhavai. The Akademi collaborated by providing funds and sending the Documentation Unit to cover it.
The Akademi in collaboration with the other two Akademies, held a unique Exhibition entitled "Rasa Bhava Pradarshan", displaying 200 photographs of the well-known theatre and film personality Shri Sajjan depicting the Navras as defined in the classic work on aesthetics, Bharata's "Natya Shastra". The excellent public response to this exhibition has led the Akademi to consider converting this into a mobile Exhibition which will travel to important centres in India and also to some countries abroad.
Significant efforts were also made by the Akademi to rejuvenate other weaker forms of folk theatre such as Bhand Pather of Kashmir and Karyala of Himachal Pradesh. A group of artists practising these forms were specially invited to give performances at the time of giving away of the national awards by the President.
Another event of considerable significance is the forthcoming 5- day festival of Ras proposed to be held in which groups performing varied styles of Ras from various regions of the country will be invited to participate. It is hoped that this will, help to project some not-so-well-known forms of traditional Ras.
Another programme organised by the Akademi as a part of the activities in the International Year of the Child is the holding of a children's theatre festival in Calcutta in December 1979.
The Akademi archives have added a unique collection of classical padas of Karnatak music to its tape section.
The Akademi Journal is now in its 15th year of publication and during this year "Music and Dance in Tagore's Education Philosophy" by Shantidev Ghose and "Aesthetical Essays on Hindustani Rhythms" by S.K. Saxena were brought out.
National School of Drama The School and its repertory company gave 191 performances of the old and new plays (117 by the repertory Company and 74 by the School).
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Apart from giving a number of performances in Delhi, the Repertory Company visited Haryana, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jammu, Calcutta and Patna on invitations received from the State Governments and local theatre groups and also visited Nepal to participate in a cultural programme organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the eve of the Independence Day and gave 24 performances at these places. The students of the School visited Naini Tal along with their production Amal Vimal Kamal and Evam Inderjeet and gave one performance of this play.
To provide an opportunity for the students to get a first hand experience of various aspects of drama and other fields the School arranged 52 lectures and demonstrations and four courses of 2-6 weeks' duration by eminent personalities, including foreign dignitaries.
The Children Theatre Workshop which started in August, 1978 to provide an opportunity to the children ended in March, 1979. Seventy children participated in the course.
The School organised the 2nd Theatre Workshop at Gauhati as a part of its programme to take the theatre from capital to the remote and neglected areas. The workshop enrolled 42 students and was in the nature of an intensive study of theatre, with a display of models of both traditional and modern theatres-suggesting solutions of space, audience-actor communication etc.
School of Buddhist Philosophy, Leh The School of Buddhist Philosophy, Leh was established in 1959, with a view to imparting education in classical and modem Tibetan studies on the monastic pattern to the students belonging to Ladakh and also enabling them to adjust themselves with the modern trends. The School is an autonomous organisation fully financed by the Government of India. The school admits upto 80 students each year. Each student is paid a monthly stipend. The School follows a course of seven years-five years for Purva Madhyama and two years thereafter for Uttar Madhyama of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi, to which it is affiliated. A building complex for the School, as also a hostel for students and staff quarters, for teachers will be built on a plot expected to be allotted by Jammu and Kashmir Government.
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Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Varanasi The Institute was established in 1967 and is now functioning as a registered society wholly financed by the Government of India. The main objective of the Institute is to preserve Tibetan culture and tradition, to impart teaching in ancient and traditional subjects through a modern university educational framework and to conduct research in Tibetan studies, with a view to awarding degrees in these disciplines such as Madhyama (Under-graduate), Shastri (B.A.), Acharya (M.A.), Vishista Acharya (M. Phil) and Vidya Varidhi (Ph. D.). The students are paid stipends. A building complex consisting of building for the Institute, hostel for students and staff quarters is under construction.
Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok The Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok, is engaged in research development of Tibetology i.e. CHHLOS. The Institute is jointly financed by the Government of Sikkim and 'the Government of India, both contributing Rs. 1 lakh each annually.
B. PROPAGATION OF CULTURE
Propagation of Culture among College and School Students The objective of the scheme is to expose the students in schools and colleges, the teachers and the teacher-educators to the rich and diverse cultural heritage of India. The scheme has two parts :
(i) organisation of orientation/refresher courses for teachers drawn from secondary schools and colleges in different parts of the country; and
(ii) Production of educational kits.
During the period under report, a high level committee was appointed to review and evaluate the scheme. As per the recom- mendations of the committee a Centre for Cultural Resources and Training was set up with, effect from 21-5-79 to implement the scheme independently. During the period, about 200 educational kits were produced and 11 orientation/refresher courses at New Delhi (8), Bangalore (1), Chandigarh (1) and Goa (1) were organised for teachers and teacher-educators.
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Institutions Engaged in Literary and Cultural Activities The Central Government is assisting institutions of all-India character such as Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, Bombay; Asiatic Society, Calcutta; Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Calcutta ; Institute of Traditional Culture, Madras ; Institute of Historical Studies, Calcutta; etc. by giving financial assistance for their maintenance and developmental activities, to enable them to further the cause of literary and cultural development of' the country.
Building Grants to Voluntary Cultural Organisations Under this scheme, a number of cultural organisations primarily working in the cultural fields of dance, drama, music, fine arts, indology, literature (other than religious institutions), public libraries, museums, were selected for grants for construction purposes and purchase of equipment.
Financial Assistance to Dance, Drama and Theatre Ensembles
(a) Financial Assistance to Eminent Institutions in the
field of Performing Arts Financial assistance under the scheme is provided to well- established institutions of national or regional importance which have been doing good work in the field of performing arts with a view to helping them become National or Regional Resource Centres in their respective, fields.
(b) Financial Assistance to Professional Groups and
Individuals for Specified Performing Arts Projects The scheme provides financial incentive to dramatic theatre groups, music ensembles, orchestrain units, children's theatres, puppet theatres, solo artists, etc for approved projects.
Inter-State Exchange of Cultural Troupes The scheme enables people from different parts of India to know more about the culture of different regions and thereby promote emotional and cultural integration of the country. Under the scheme, selected troupes of performing artists visit states other than their own. So far ten troupes visited other States and Union Territories. More visits are expected to take place during the remaining part of the year.
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C. SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Award of Fellowships to Outstanding Artists in the Fields of
Performing, Literary and Plastic Arts This scheme has been revised from 1979-80 to provide for 15 Senior Fellowships and 35 Junior Fellowships of the value of Rs. 1000 p.m. and Rs. 500 p.m. each respectively. The main objective of the scheme is to provide basic financial support for very advanced training or individual creative effort or for revival of some of the traditional forms of art, to outstanding men in the fields of literary, plastic and performing arts in the age-group 26-70 years. The fellowships are tenable for two years.
Scholarships to Young Workers in Different Cultural Fields The scheme provides financial assistance to young artists of outstanding promise for advanced training within India in, the fields of music, dance, drama, paintings, sculpture, book-illustration and design, etc. The scholarships of the value of Rs. 350 p.m. are given up to 10 artists in a year in the age-group 18-28 years for a period of two years, with extension up to one year in, exceptional cases. During 1979-80, 50 scholarships have been awarded under the scheme. From 1980-81, the number of scholarships has been increased to 75 per year and a number of traditional and rare artistic forms have been brought under the scheme.
Cultural Talent Search Scholarships The main objective of the scheme is to spot talent among children belonging to families of traditional artists in the age-group 10-14 years and promote their talent in different cultural art forms by awarding them scholarships on year-to-year basis till they attain the age of 18 years or complete higher secondary stage of education, whichever is earlier. Every year, 100 scholarships are given. The value of the scholarship is Rs. 600 per annum but where the child has to shift to a new station for the purpose of specialised training in the approved field, the value of the scholarship is doubled. In addition, tuition fee for specialised training is reimbursed to each scholarship holder, subject to a maximum of Rs. 1,000 per annum.
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Financial Assistance to Persons Distinguished in Letters, Arts and
such other walks of life who may be in Indigent Circumstances The scheme provides financial assistance to persons distinguished in letters, arts, etc. who may be in indigent circumstances and who are above 58 years of age. In certain cases, assistance is also given to the dependents of such distinguished persons who are left unprovided for. At present about 406 persons are receiving monthly allowance. The maximum monthly allowance admissible under the scheme is Rs. 200. Generally State Governments meet 1/3rd of the expenditure involved, but in the case of Union Territories and in exceptional cases, the entire expenditure is borne by the Government of India. Due to paucity of funds, however, at present only old cases are being renewed.
Financial Assistance to Institutions/bodies for Preservation of
Monuments, Sites or Remains of Historical and Cultural Value not
protected by Archaeological Survey of India or State Departments of
Archaeology