Address At The Golden Jubilee Celebrations Of Lalit Kala Akademi

CREATIVE ARTS IGNITE THE MINDS

I am indeed delighted to participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Lalit Kala Akademi. My greetings to the Chairman and members of the Akademi, creative artists and distinguished guests. I understand that the Lalit Kala Akademi has made a remarkable contribution in nurturing creative talents in classical art, contemporary art and folk and tribe art hidden in different parts of the country. Lalit ala artists, many of you have beautiful minds. Beautiful minds are the source of creativity. Creativity generates happy, divine, paintings, sculptures. The world art community has known many artists. Shri Ram Kumar, Shri S H Raza, Shri Amarnath Saigal, Sculptor, Shri MF Hussian, and Chintamani Kar Graphics Artist and many are well known artists.

Promoting creativity

Creativity is present in many minds located in various parts of the country. Providing an opportunity to express their creative thoughts and the appreciation of the thought by enlightened persons is a means to promote higher level of creativity among the artists. This aspect has been done very successfully by Lalit Kala Akademi through national exhibitions, triennale India and circulating exhibition.

Special state wise exhibitions

I understand recently an exhibition was exclusively done for the northeastern region where hundred selected artists of the region participated with their art products. All these products were unique and attracted the attention of art lovers. Such exhibition should not only enable promotion of the creativity of the individual but also result in establishment of an enterprise in the region, which can act as a wealth generator for the state. Lalit Kala Akademi can promote launching of such enterprises in various regions and facilitate the artists to become contributors. This approach will enable preservation of the traditional art, promote further creativity and also become a revenue generator for the artists and the state. During my visit to villages in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, I realized that every home in the villages was standing as a symbol of folk art and culture.

Rashtrapati Bhavan Experience

In Rashtrapati Bhavan we conducted a painting competition for special children belonging to four different organisations. The children were brought to the Mughal Garden and asked to draw their visualization of the Rashtrapati Bhavan being in that environment. All the 200 children who participated in that exhibition drew wonderful paintings depicting the perception. Some of the paintings were exceptional. Many of the children who participated came from slum areas of Delhi. A jury selected three best paintings. I was very happy to commend the young artists. The jury mentioned that the children were extremely talented and they can excel if they are provided a right ambience and training. Some of these paintings we used in our new year greetings card. We have also created an art gallery where all the paintings received by me from children from all over India are displayed as exhibits. Creativity is in action there. This gallery is visited by all the children coming to Rashtrapati Bhavan and acts as creative aid for the children. Also we have beautiful artistic sculptures in marbles and other materials in Rashtrapati Bhavan. We don?t have the details of the sculptors, when it was made and what is the theme of the sculpture. The artistic community may like to study and give their thoughts.

Similarity in cultural heritage

I would like to recall my visit to the National Museum of History and Art gallery in Sofia the capital city of Bulgaria in October last. National Museum of History is one of the largest history museums on the Balkans with 5,33,000 objects and largest archaeological and historical archive. It contains material remains from ancient and mediaeval cultures in the Bulgarian Lands. I was amazed to see reminiscences and products which had been used before 5000 B.C. They buried their kith and kin with gold and silver. I also saw various forms of art and sculpture. It reminded me of our civilizational heritage made me realize the scientific and cultural similarities, which unites the humanity.

Power of the mind

I was impressed and inspired when I visited the National Art Gallery in Bulgaria. There I saw an exhibition of paintings, mostly done by Bulgarian painters. I also saw 100th birth anniversary exposition of the famous Bulgarian painter Zlatyu Boyadzhiev. Hundreds of paintings were done by him using his right hand as done normally. I was told that his right hand subsequently was paralyzed. But the indomitable spirit in him, made him to paint using his left hand and these beautiful paintings were also displayed to reveal the excellence. That made me realize, that constructive genius cannot be hampered by a physical defect, as the power comes from inside to make one to go ahead with the mission of his life. I received this powerful message from the paintings of Zlatyu Boyadzhiev.

Mission to create Heritage Cave

When we look at our civilizational heritage, it is an integrated history of culture, peoples way of living in various parts of the country and the evolution of an integrated Indian society. Since I am in the midst of a powerful creative audience I would like to share a thought with you. This thought I got, after visiting the Ajantha and Ellora caves, Mahabalipuram Pallava sculpture and many of our ancient temples which have preserved the very important sculptures and paintings with out the names of the source and the date on which it is created. The history of some of our civilizational heritage, paintings and sculpture which are misplaced are to be recreated. I would suggest that the Department of Culture and many art lovers can take up the mission of creating a Heritage Cave in the hill region in the backdrop of mountains. In this cave, 5000 years of our cultural heritage, paintings and sculpture should be recreated with the knowledge base available in literature and with cultural historians. It could be a mission for the decades all our best paintings and sculpture of today and tomorrow must also find a place in this cave. This Heritage Cave should be the place where the past meets the present and creates the future.

I was asking myself why theft takes place, particularly idols, images, paintings from our ancient temples. How can we stop this? We need to find a solution.

Preservation of cultural heritage

In India digital library programme has made substantial progress under the aegis of MCIT along with IISc. Many of our paintings and sculptures, which are getting damaged, should be captured in the digital form and preserved in multi-media. This will ensure preservation of cultural heritage of our nation. The advancement of Nano science has brought out a special Nano powder for restoration of old paintings and also application for preserving the new paintings, which are made today. This technology can be spread among our painters, sculptors and heritage managers.

Conclusion

Lalit Kala Akademi can search the talents available in remote areas of the country. They can have a special programme to attract differently abled creative persons to participate in art competitions for enabling them to recognize and nurture the talents through special training programmes and creating a forum for the artists to meet elevated minds for triggering their thoughts.

During the last 50 years Lalit Kala Akademi has done pioneering work in recognizing and promoting native talents in multiple areas of arts. I congratulate the Founders and the leaders who have contributed to the growth of the Akademi in that 50 years. I would suggest that the Akademi can have a vision of creating excellence in paintings and sculptures with simple audio and video commentaries to attract world wide interest.

Once again my greetings to all members of the Lalit Kala Akademi during the Gold Jubilee Year. My best wishes to all the members for success in their mission.

May God Bless you.