Govt to roll out 'Kala Utsav' to promote arts in schools

The government is all set to roll out 'Kala Utsav', a multi-level event aimed at promoting arts in education and nurturing hidden artistic talent among school children at the secondary level.
It will be structured as an art festival held at the district, state and national levels, with the finale planned in Delhi between December 8 and 12 this year.
The festival will include performances and display of exhibits along with their online art projects (e-project), according to the guidelines prepared by NCERT.
Teams of students from Classes 9 to 12 of any government and government-aided school can participate in the festival and the best performing team would win a cash prize of Rs five lakh. The runners up will get Rs three lakh and the one finishing third Rs two lakh.

"The design of Kala Utsav will help students explore, understand and showcase their living traditions in art. Through Kala Utsav, students will get the opportunity to understand and celebrate cultural diversity at school, district, state and national levels.
"It will not only spread awareness among students, but also create awareness of India's cultural heritage and its vibrant diversity amongst other stakeholders. Further, this will help to promote networking of artists, artisans and institutions with schools," the guidelines said.

The theme of Kala Utsav identified this year is 'living traditions of tribal, folk and traditional arts of different regions'.
"India is a land of performing and visual arts, some of which are gradually fading out from the mainstream. Though these art forms are in the category of our living traditions at present, but if not given due attention, these might disappear in due course of time," said the guidelines, explaining the reason behind selecting the theme.

They could include 'ramleela', a famous folk theatre form of Uttar Pradesh, 'jatra', popular in West Bengal, and 'Suwang' an example of theatre of Haryana.