OUR MAIN AIM- “VIRASAT”
VIRASAT: Research, Presentation, Surveys, Exhibitions and Publications on Folk Arts of India.
India’s folk culture is the soul of India! Over centuries our Intangible Heritage has been transferred from generation to generation through oral traditions. There is a need to conduct regular workshops, interactive presentations, lectures, seminars and exhibitions in schools, colleges, universities and institutions to create awareness among the new generation about our rich folk culture and its performance formats. It is also necessary to have continuous research and surveys on our performing folk arts. The publication of the findings from such research and surveys also helps in lending credence to the same. This is a cyclical and a continuous process. It is thus proposed that each school going child at the primary level to our children living in rural parts India get educated and sensitized about our great Indian Culture through Folk Arts of India.We at UTTHAN are committed to preserve the rich cultural traditions of our great country as they are Instrumental in the spread of social values and ethics, spiritual and philosophical ideology and we believe that connecting the new generation of India with their own folklores, folk dances, folk music, folk traditions will create a sense of pride for Indian culture among them. We will leave no stone unturned in our goal of preservation and popularization of our Intangible Heritage.All forms of folk and tribal culture such as folk music, folk dance, folk theatre; folk paintings, folk literature, folk handicrafts, folk instruments and folk traditions are included in our objectives.
Why Our “Art And Culture” Needs A Revival?
Our country is one of the oldest living civilizations in the world. Indian culture has been shaped by its long history, and its diverse geography. We are a proud Nation which has retained our age-old culture despite multiple cultural threats to our existence. The fabric of Indian folk culture has been spun with yarns from different cultures and it is this cultural diversity that makes Indian folk culture so vibrant and interesting. We can say that folk culture is soul of India. Today we are living in an era of technology and machines. Increasing pressure of survival in the times of globalization is causing Great harm to our Intangible Heritage and culture. Man is a social animal; he has always respected nature and found love, peace and happiness in nature. But in today’s time, our materialistic civilization has developed tremendously and reached new heights. Though Science has provided us a society with amenities and means, but at the cost of social and cultural values! Our young generation is losing connect with their roots resulting into loss of dialects, folk traditions and folk culture. Today our society is getting deeply affected by the curse of loneliness, disappointment, depression. Our youth is dealing with stress and competitive lifestyle. The healthy way of living is to follow our old organic lifestyle where our folk songs and various folk forms of culture and traditions teach us how to share our joys and sorrows with one another and also how to respect and co-exist with nature. Therefore, it is our duty to pass on our cultural heritage to our young generation by telling them about our folk tales, folk believes and traditions which helps them understand our wonderful culture.
OUR AIM :-
1. We will organize workshops of Indian folk music, folk songs, folk dances, folk theatre, folk lore, folk tales, folk painting and handicrafts in schools and colleges all over India. Our Target is to cover a minimum of 100 such institutions in a year.
2. Considering ‘Development Blocks’ as the smallest unit, in the first phase (One year), we shall conduct research and survey of art, artworks and artists in each village block of India while selecting 100 such development blocks.
3. We will organize three ‘Folk Festivals’, KAJARI MELA in Banaras, CHAITI MELA in Patna and AN ALL INDIA Folk Festival at Delhi showcasing all the folk forms of India. We will also document these dying folk forms in the form of publications and short films.
4. We propose to organize an international seminar on Bhojpuri and Awadhi performing arts in diaspora countries such as Mauritius, Fiji, Surinam, Holland, Trinidad connecting them to their roots involving international exponents, researchers.
5. We will organize LOK PRASANG, an international level seminar on “KNOWLEDGE TRADITION IN INDIAN FOLK CULTURE” in Banaras where we will invite esteemed Scholars, Professors and Researchers.
6.We shall promote ‘Community culture’ through fairs by organizing one week long ‘Lok Rang Shilp Mela’ in Lucknow/Jaipur/Gautam Buddh Nagar/Bhopal with seminars during the day and performances and presentations in the evening.
MISSION STATEMENT:-
Revival & Promotion of folk art forms of India.
Music brings people together. It is a social activity, which involves family and community participation. It transmits culture and acts as a catalyst for social change. Through this production UTTHAN aims to reach to the masses and share the importance of Indian Art Forms and culture. Also, motivate them to contribute in Indian Art Forms and culture.
CONCEPT:
Cultural heritage is today a rubric of ever-expanding scope. It is used globally as a basis for multinational, national, state and local programmes and governance. Cultural heritage is also the focus of ideas and programmes generated by several organizations and societies. Yet the concept of Cultural Heritage is vastly under theorized. It has generally left the bearers of cultural heritage out of discussion.
OUR LIST OF EVENTS:-
If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. Utthan Samiti can organise many events to promote India’s “Art, Cultural and Artists”.