Pandavani by Ms. Ritu Verma

Bharti Bandhu rendering Kabir dohas

The Tribal ensemble

Dr. L. M. Singhvi, U.R. Ananthamurthy, Sudhir Tailang, 

Dr. K. K. Chakravarty and Prof. I.N. Choudhuri

Taking Care of Manuscripts

The IGNCA celebrated its 19th Foundation Day on November 19, 2004, which is also the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi.  The day-long programmes included a colloquium on ‘Arts in the Life of the Nation,’ two exhibitions, an orchestra of an ensemble of over a 100 indigenous tribal instruments, rendering of Pandavani and a concert by Bharati Bandhu & Troupe.

Speaking at the colloquium, noted litterateur and Jnanpith Award winner Shri U.R. Ananthamurthy said that India had a unique characteristic.  Even the tribal communities had a national perception.  The literature in India adopted and moulded itself to the need of the time.  It was like the concept of divine incarnation.  The Bhakti movement in India empowered the local languages, he added.  In a more contemporary situation, he said that while Bal Gangadhar Tilak looked at India from a National perspective, Dr. Ambedkar looked at it from the perspective of a society.  Gandhiji, he said combined the two.

Dr. K.K. Chakravarty, Member Secretary, IGNCA, said that the time had come to decide whether we would be only collecting objects or would we do recollection of traditions.  He said that too much of showmanship in art had distracted the real purpose of conservation.  National institutions like the Archaeological Survey and the Anthropological Survey should reorient their work towards reviving our traditional 

Well-known cartoonist, Shri Sudhir Tailang, discussed the role of humour and the art of cartoon in the political and the cultural life of people.  He said that a cartoonist was like the child in the popular story of Emperor’s cloth.  In the story, it was the child who had the courage to tell the king that he was not clothed.  Just as the child told the king the truth, similarly the cartoonist should to be able to tell the truth, even to the king.  He said that Smt. Indira Gandhi gave Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on his birthday a collection of cartoons by Shankar on him.

Shri Raghu Rai, the renowned photographer said that when the photographer was in unison with the object spiritually, he got a “darshan” (divine insight).  He said that he photographed only in India as “this is my whole world, where I can sniff around and click with my eyes closed.”

Dr. L.M. Singhvi, former President IGNCA Trust, said that art was like the confluence, it linked the past, present and future.  It was the conscience of the society.  It was the exponent, critic and dissent of the society, he said.   The Bharati Bandhu troupe presented the Kabir dohas.  The Indigenous Orchestra presented a unique treat of tribal music.