THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has identified locations in 12 districts for establishing cultural complexes, Cultural Affairs Secretary Rani George said here on Monday.
She was inaugurating ‘Akhi,’ the national art camp organised jointly by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and Fine Arts College, Thiruvananthapuram, as a dedication to Ockhi victims at the college on Monday.
The government plans to have cultural complexes, which will provide a space for artists to train and practise their respective art forms. The complexes will be set up at a cost of `50 crore, she said. As an encouragement to budding artists, the state government also plans to provide fellowships, she said.
Rani George inaugurated the camp by handing over a plain canvas to Simran Dogra, a fine arts student from Rajasthan.
Lalithakala Akademi chairman Nemom Pushparaj presided over the function. Akademi secretary Ponnyam Chandran, Fine Arts College faculty member Tensing Joseph spoke. ‘’The camp focuses on bridging the enduring gulf between contemporary art practices and the kind of art education in India, which is largely lagging behind the time. The camp will cover areas such as painting, sculpting, graphics and applied art,’’ a statement said.
Apart from students of five fine arts colleges in Kerala, students from the College of Art, Delhi; Hyderabad Central University; MS University, Baroda; Banaras Hindu University; Mumbai’s J J School of Art, Kalabhavan; Shanti Niketan; Chitrakala Parishad, Bengaluru; Rajasthan University, Jaipur and Chamarajendra Government College of Visual Arts, Mysuru, are attending the camp.
Artists including Indrapramid Roy, Prasenjit Ganguly, K J Jayan, Sumithabha Pal, Aanant Nigam and Santhi Swarupini will take classes at the camp. The camp will be on till January 22.