Headlines
Sangeet Natak Akademi revs up for yoga day
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By Preetha NairNew Delhi, June 13
As the Modi government is
not leaving any stone unturned in commemorating the International Day of
Yoga on June 21, its cultural wings are also going into overdrive to
showcase the country's heritage to the world.
Spearheading the
events, Sangeet Natak Akademi, a nodal agency of the culture ministry,
has planned a week-long 'Yog Parv' festival during June 21-27. The
festival encompasses over 300 select works of art, dance and music
performances, workshops and other presentations by more than 150 artists
from across India and overseas.
Elaborating on the plan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Secretary Helen Acharya said that planning Yoga Parv was not an arduous task.
"Last
year, the Akademi was asked to prepare a dossier for Unesco on the
intangible cultural heritage of India. We had collected a lot of
material in the process. This year, when the ministry asked us to anchor
a festival on yoga, it came handy for us. We only had to put together
the material we had," Achrya told IANS.
Divided into three sections, the festival will unfold at three venues.
Yoga
Chakra, an exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi, will be a multimedia
art show featuring over 300 works by 150 artists from across India. The
second, Yoga and Performing Arts at the Meghdoot theatre, will present
dance performances, music concerts, theatre shows, lecture
demonstrations, discourses and consultations with yoga experts. The
third is the Organic and Wellness Stall at the Rabindra Bhawan lawns,
with cafes and interactive sessions and an open platform for dialogue
and consultancy.
The experts and organisations that will make
presentations include Mandakini Trivedi, Masako Ono, Ranjana Gauhar and
the Isha Foundation.
The Akademi has roped in other cultural
bodies like Lalit Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi, Indira Gandhi National
Centre for Arts and the National Museum for the event.
"We have
many antiquities selected and sourced from museums around the country as
well as fresh commissions created by some contemporary artists. We are
getting 50 works from National Museum and a lot of contemporary painting
and sculptures from Lalit Kala Akademi. This is the first time we are
putting up contemporary and ancient works together," Sushma Bahl, the
curator of the event's cultural projects, told IANS.
Bahl added that they had also collaborated with many lesser known artists in the country.
"We
wrote to many contemporary artists asking for work. The result was
amazing. Some of them made new works, which were interactive. Our
criteria was whether their works responded to the theme of yoga," Bahl
added.
While prominent names like S.H. Raza, F.N. Souza, G.H.
Santhosh, Anupam Sud, Tyeb Mehta, and Seema Kohli make the list in the
visual arts, artists like Geeta Chandran grace the performing arts list.
Besides
a star-studded artists list, audiences will be treated to many
traditional and folk performances from different parts of the country.
Noted
classical dancer and choreographer Sonal Mansingh, who will deliver a
speech on yoga and dance in the inaugural session, said that she is
honoured to be a part of the event.
"I feel happy and proud to be
the part of the event. Yoga is one of the great gifts to the world.
Dance includes every form of yoga. That is why Lord Shiva has been given
the title Natraja by great rishis thousands of years ago," Mansingh
told IANS.
(Preetha Nair can be contacted at [email protected])