JKAACL to address artistic community’s needs: Secretary

Jammu, Aug 28: Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture, and Languages (JKAACL) Harvinder Kour Wednesday convened a meeting with prominent writers and artists from the Jammu region at the JKAACL office complex to discuss the cultural and artistic landscape of the region and explore avenues for future collaboration.

At the outset, Secretary JKAACL welcomed the participants, expressing her appreciation for their contributions to the cultural heritage of Jammu. The attendees, who represented various fields including literature, fine arts, music, and theatre, introduced themselves, highlighting their respective achievements and ongoing projects.

The discussion was lively, with several valuable suggestions put forward.

Participants emphasized the need to strengthen the connection between JKAACL and the artistic community by reviving various schemes that support artists. There was a consensus on the importance of improving the quality of the Academy’s publications to better reflect the region’s rich cultural diversity.

Suggestions also included organizing programmes to promote classical arts, holding separate meetings for different languages and artistic disciplines to gather focussed feedback and establishing an open-air theatre to provide a platform for local artists.

Additionally, participants stressed the need to engage youth with the Academy’s activities, revitalise drama and theatrical events as done in the past, and seek collaborations with national bodies such as the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Sahitya Akademi and Lalit Kala Akademi.

Prominent artists, writers who participated in the meeting included V K Sambyal, Dr Jitender Udhampuri, Prof Lalit Mangotra, Ashok Angurana, Nirmal Vinod, Khalid Hussain, Reecha Gupta, O P Sharma, Jang S Verman, Deepak Kumar, Brij Mohan, Mohd Aslam Qureshi, Ramesh Singh, Rohit Bhat, Dr Shalini Raina, Yash Pal Yash, Shazi Khan, Sarwar Chouhan, A K Naaz, Girdhari Lal, Mohan Lal, Vanshika Jaral, Suksham Guleria and Radhika Manhas.

Secretary JKAACL assured all attendees that their suggestions would be taken seriously and said that JKAACL was committed to implementing actionable steps to address the needs of the artistic community. She emphasized the Academy’s dedication to fostering a vibrant cultural environment in Jammu and ensuring that the region’s artistic traditions continue to flourish.