New Delhi   

Celebrating a rich heritage

Madhur Tankha

COLOURFUL: Rajasthani folk artistes in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: V.V. Krishnan

NEW DELHI: It is an annual festival designed to showcase Rajasthan's cultural heritage to bring employment to a generation of craftsmen who have otherwise been increasingly abandoning their traditional skills.

The ten-day Jaipur Heritage International Festival 2007 that intends to promote a renaissance of Rajasthan's rich traditions and customs, including the State's age-old art, opens in the historic city of Jaipur this coming January 13.

A celebration of creativity in art, culture, music, dance and literature, the festival in the Pink City is being organised by the Jaipur Virasat Foundation, a non-government organisation dedicated to heritage-based social and economic development, with the support of the Rajasthan Government's Department of Tourism, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Taj Group of Hotels and the Union Government.

Announcing this here on Monday, the Jaipur Virasat Foundation's City Director Mahavir Sharma said the festival intends to revive dying art forms, promote the economy of Rajasthan, boost tourism and provide jobs to people blessed with traditional skills.

Describing the festival as an ideal meeting ground for the traditional artists of Rajasthan and their counterparts from across the globe, Mr. Sharma said: "The festival that will be held at 33 venues of Jaipur provides a unique opportunity for artisans and performers to exchange culture and gain exposure to new forms of art. Bringing together contemporary, classical, and folk performers, particularly musicians, the festival creates awareness about the State's cultural heritage, be it architecture, folk traditions, music, dance, art, crafts and textiles."

Internationally acclaimed writers including Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai and William Dalrymple are expected to participate in the festival. Besides reading out portions from their works, the writers will also get a chance to rub shoulders with musicians and dancers of Rajasthan.

On the streets and in theatres of Jaipur, an Australian circus troupe will perform a comedy circus with acrobatics, while a "darbar'' at Diwan-I-aam in Amber Fort promises to be a magical evening of music, poetry and history.

Held against the backdrop of a poignantly dry water body of Jaipur, Holiwater -- a multimedia event -- will unite performers from various countries in a probing exploration of human relationship with water.

Two rare international exhibitions will highlight the connections between Rajasthani culture and art and other traditions.

"Culture on Cloth" exhibits Inuit embroideries by women from Canada, while "Reconnecting Gondwana" is a collection of Australian aboriginal art that illustrates links with Gond tribal art.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Celebrating a rich heritage
"We feel vindicated"
Some relaxation for clinics, pathological labs
Manu Sharma lodged in Tihar
Congress governments insensitive, alleges Vijay Goel
`Implement Master Plan immediately'
`Further action on Court's directive'
Many big showrooms sealed
Promoting renewable energy
P.M. Sayeed remembered
Reliving the Napoleonic wars
Case highlights
DUSU begins placement mission
Vachaspati Puraskar for Sanskrit scholar
Role of Poorvanchalis lauded
JNU students join strike
In solidarity
Doctors intensify agitation in Delhi
Around The City
Briefly
In the Capital Today
Inside Delhi

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu