Culturally speaking

SD Sharma

The City Beautiful is the cultural hub of North India, thanks to the generous support of Chandigarh Administration’s three akademies, Tagore Theatre Society, North-Zone Cultural Centre Patiala, Punjab Arts Council with its subsidiary academies, Indian Council for Cultural relations (ICCR) and North- Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) among others. The credit also goes to institutions engaged in propagation of performing arts like the Pracheen Kala Kendra, Theatre for Theatre and Sanskar Bharti.

Here is a look at the overall contribution of all these main players in nurturing the cultural soul of the city in the year 2019.

On stage

Theatre performances dominated the scene with a host of theatre festivals and group performances. Theatre for Theatre organised a month-long 6th TFT National Theatre Festival, which included 30 Ru Ba Ru sessions with experts besides 30 days of exhibition and workshops in painting and drama. Another 15-day national level festival of comedy plays was organized by the NZCC, Patiala, at Tagore Theatre.

The 7th International Puppet Theatre Fest, organised by Tagore Theatre Society and Chandigarh Administration which featured teams from Brazil, Iceland, Ireland and India, was a rejuvenating experience. The society also organised Tricity Theatre Festival and cultural fests for colleges. The 8th Chandigarh Theatre Festival besides the monthly Jaspal Bhatti comedy plays at Tagore Theatre kept the cultural scene buzzing. However, the Bollywood presence in theatre performances was missing this year.

The Sanskar Bharti too organised theatre festivals—Abhinav Gupt Natyotsav and Samvaad Drama Fest. Similarly Suchetak Rang Manch presented the Gursharan Singh Naat Utsav other than a three-day fest to celebrate their 20 years of glorious presence. Another group, Theatre Arts, too organised three theatre festivals. The Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi too held MS Randhawa Theatre Festival.

Music and dance

The Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi (CSNA), NZCC and Pracheen Kala Kendra remained major contributors in holding dance and musical programmes. With baithak programmes, three Sangeet Utsavs, Pracheen Kala Kendra presented top classical maestros like Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt, Rajender Gangani, Chandan Das, Raza Murad, Radhika Chopra, Vinod Sehgal and others. The Kendra added a new dimension by establishing an art gallery. The NZCC organised a musical bonanza featuring Gurdas Maan, Daler Mehndi, Kailash Kher, Rup Rathore at Chandigarh Art and Heritage Festival.

Literary circle

The Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi organised All- India English Poets Meet, besides holding Kavi Sammelans and Ru Ba Rus with eminent writers. The CSA held national seminars on birth anniversary of Amrita Pritam and Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari.

The Punjab Arts Council with its three subsidiary akademies contributed to Punjabi literature and cultural heritage. The council and Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi organised 24 state-level functions on the 550th Parkash Utsav of Guru Nanak Dev, besides supporting World Punjabi Conference at Mahilpur.

Visual art gets visibility

The Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi and Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi were significant in enriching the visual art scene in the city and the region. Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi organised Adharshila Art Workshops in 12 Schools and colleges, three exhibitions —The Printed Picture – Four Centuries of Indian Print Making, curated by Paula Sengupta; Farmer is Wrestler by Thukral and Tagra; Climacteric by Vibha Galhotra that transformed the gallery into an art paradise.