JAIPUR: Known for its colourful traditions and culture, Rajasthan will now create a digital database of its artistes.
In a new initiative, the artistes who serve as ambassadors of the state’s unique culture will go Digital now.
The Department of Art and Culture and the Jawahar Kala Kendra ( JKK ) in Jaipur have launched 'A call for Artist Database' ( as a crowdsourcing initiative) on the JKK Facebook page from Saturday. This will ensure that the members of the artist community get benefits of all government schemes related to their welfare.
A detailed demonstration of how to fill the' Google Form" for data submission was also given during the launch. This form has to be submitted on the email address: artistdatabase.jkk@gmail.com.
On this special occasion , the Minister for Art and Culture of Rajasthan, B D Kalla claimed that ‘‘art and culture are the backbone of any civilization. In Rajasthan, we feel it is essential to collect all information about our remarkable artistes as a means to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of our state. Our artistes often suffer due to lack of information and we hope this new initiative will help to improve their lives and help us to fulfil our objective of promoting Rajasthan’s art and culture".
Rajasthan is the first state in the country to take such an initiative.The database will include basic details along with the genre of art forms such as performing arts, visual arts, literary arts, dying arts, folk arts, and tribal arts in all the districts and regions of the desert state.
The Secretary, Art and Culture Department, Mugdha Sinha, said, "details about the artistes across the state will be collected through crowdsourcing initiatives. Reaching out to and involving stakeholder artistes themselves in collecting this data through Google form is truly participative policy-making and inclusive approach. With the database of artistes, the government can extend all necessary help to them".
This is the second major initiative of the Rajasthan government this year, the first being in the ‘Mukhyamantri Lok Kalakar Protsahan Yojna’ which was launched in April to extend help to folk artistes. Since then, the government has spent over Rs 9 lakh to support 337 artistes, as per official statements.
For artistes of Rajasthan, who often struggle due to lack of resources, this government initiative could be a life changing venture. Crowdsourcing of artistes' information and creating the database will not only help the government in providing necessary support to these artistes but could also help them find new sources of earning incomes. Overall, this new initiative could play a crucial role in the growth of art forms in the state.