12 PLAN ON ART N CULTURE

ARTS AND CULTURE

With its rich cultural tradition, India occupies an important place on the cultural map of the world. This is also an expression of its ‘soft power’. A variety of cultural traditions and diverse historical legacies of different regions join together to provide India its unique identity as a ‘nation state’. Thus, culture should not be seen as a mere ‘fringe’ activity, but is now at the ‘core’ of the holistic development strategy of the country and its people.

STRATEGIC SHIFT IN THE TWELFTH PLAN

. During the Twelfth Plan, we need to adopt a new approach and appropriate policies which are less dependent on Government financing and catalyse local partnerships. The programmes must be integrated into strategies for sustainable development at every level and take into account the needs and aspirations of the community where cultural assets are found. Sustainable heritage conservation depends upon the commitment and involvement of local communities.

Conservation policies, to be successful, need to promote local community stewardship of the heritage as well as provide socio-economic benefits for local communities. Therefore, a direct link must be made between safeguarding the heritage and socio-economic development. This calls for the deliberate recasting of heritage conservation as a development activity that brings economic opportunities, creates jobs, and generates income based on traditional technologies and knowhow.

This new programme is aimed at complementing and extending those efforts by moving heritage conservation beyond the exclusive sphere of high technology and elite specialisation and to become the concern and responsibility of every citizen and transform heritage conservation into a grassroots movement which will return the heritage to the communities that created it and who rely on it as the foundation for their future development.

TANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) would be strengthened during the Twelfth Plan for proper conservation, preservation and maintenance of the built heritage of the country. For this, it would be necessary to prepare a comprehensive coordinated plan for conservation and development of monuments and archaeological sites by the State governments and academic and research institutions.

They could also be involved in archaeological exploration and excavation.

UNESCO Category-2 Regional Centres would be established. Efforts would be stepped up for conservation of unprotected heritage buildings, monuments, archaeological sites, and historic buildings.

Fellowships for visiting scholars would be instituted.

Cultural Heritage Management Council would be created.

Mapping of cultural heritage resources would be taken up.

Schools would be engaged in mapping of local history, ecology and cultural heritage of the area where they are located.

Museums play an important role in the society.

Compared to its size and vast heritage, the country has a small number of museums and these are not all properly managed. There is a need to set up modern museums of arts and science all over the country that use advanced technology to showcase Indian art, culture and science as used in day-to-day life. The museums should not be passive displays of artefacts; instead they should be more interactive and help in learning. These museums should provide an experience for children and public at large and should overcome all language barriers. A large number of Science museums in partnership with the Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of HRD should also be established.

These could have three parts—pedagogy centre for school/college teachers, science activity centre for students, and science Exploratorium for general public.

During the Eleventh Plan, various measures were taken for up-gradation/modernisation, and improvement in functioning, of the nationallevel museums directly funded by the Government of India and a large number of local-level museums run by sub-national Governments, trusts, foundations and so on.

Academic and research institutions should be supported to set up more museums across the country. These measures have helped in furthering the cause of the ‘museum movement’ and the pace of modernisation should be accelerated during the Twelfth Plan period. For this purpose, it is imperative to adopt a multi-pronged strategy comprising the provision of financial assistance for establishment

and up-gradation of local and regional museums through the revision of the existing scheme; modernising of State and national level museums; establishing larger scale museums in State capitals through partnership with State Governments/Civil Society; digitisation of collections in all museums to facilitate accessibility through a virtual museum portals including 3D exhibits and virtual 3D tours; making museum websites more dynamic, interactive and social-media enabled to attract online participation; creation of innovation spaces in museums based on framework provided by the National Innovation Council and capacity building and training of existing staff of Museums. Role of museums in education, informal as well as formal learning aligned to curriculum would be strengthened in the Twelfth Plan.

INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

At present, Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) is involved in collaborating scientific work relating to anthropology with scientific institutions. However, there is no scheme for providing financial assistance for such scientific work. Therefore, a mechanism should be established to enable AnSI to provide financial assistance to projects proposed by the scientific organisations of State Governments, departments of anthropology in universities, NGOs involved in anthropological studies and similar bodies..

A large amount of cultural wealth is stored in the form of audio-visual materials available with various government and non-governmental institutions and private individuals. In the absence of a systematic organisation and periodic up-gradation, these materials are fast deteriorating. To digitize them and to provide the wider public an easy access to these and to the new audio-visual resources being constantly generated, appropriate technological and institutional framework is urgently required.

For this purpose, a separate National Audio-Visual Archives (NAVA) should be established as a virtual network of cultural resources in audio-visual form. NAVA will be engaged in instituting state-ofthe- art digitisation and storage system for independent repositories of audio-visual resources; setting up a virtual network of these repositories and offering interactive online access to their resources; and standardising and periodically upgrading the methods and technologies used in production, storage and retrieval of audio-visual resources. The design of data-retrieval systems, being the point-of-access for users of the database, must be given adequate attention and must provide for relevant interactive tools to be used. The genres to be covered will include oral traditions, traditional crafts and textiles, dance, music and theatrical practices, cultural practices and traditional knowledge.

Dissemination of India’s traditional and contemporary cultural expressions is an important means for preservation of culture. For this, a production unit to produce high quality programmes on art and culture could be set up. Such programmes may be telecast on all public and private channels. All this video content could also made available through YouTube. Competitions can be launched inviting short films, documentaries and short videos on specified themes to capture the cultural diversity and expressions across the country.

Unlike most capital cities of the world, Delhi does not have a world class integrated infrastructural facility for culture and performing arts. This gap needs to be filled up by setting up a National Centre of Performing Arts at New Delhi. The Centre will be a state-of-the-art ‘cultural multiplex’ housing a set of auditoria/performance spaces of varying sizes and specifications and present, round the year, world class productions of India’s varied arts from across the country. It will also develop its own repertoire and be a vibrant cultural hub. This would require about 15–20 acre land in Central Delhi. Similar centres may also be set-up in Kolkata, Chennai and other major cities in due course. In Kolkata, the area encompassing Rabindra Sadan Cultural Complex and Central Cultural Institute has a potential to be developed into such a Centre. New and innovative institutional arrangements and partnerships may be needed to create and manage such integrated complexes. 

 National School of Drama (NSD) has emerged as a foremost theatre training institution in the world and the only one of its kind in India. It has played an important role in shaping contemporary theatre in all its variety in the country. Need for more such schools were recognised in the Eleventh Plan.

KNOWLEDGE RESOURCE HERITAGE

During the Twelfth Plan, public library system in the country should be rejuvenated by taking advantage of the technological developments that have transformative potential to change the public libraries. Existing public libraries must modernize their collections, services and facilities and become pro-active in resource sharing, professional development of staff, extending library facilities right up to the grassroots through the Panchayats.

Based on the recommendation of the National Knowledge Commission, a National Mission on Libraries has already been established. The mission should now be enabled to undertake specific activities as per NKC recommendations and pave way for setting up of a permanent, independent and financially autonomous National Commission on Libraries. 

Archival system including National Archives would also be strengthened. The process of acquisition and accession of public and private records at the National Archives of India would be steeped up.

Digitisation and security microfilm making would also be done expeditiously. Old public institutions including academic and research institutions and private archives should be supported to conserve, preserve, digitise and archive valuable Indian heritage. 

To provide sustenance to, and showcase the richness of living and diverse cultural traditions of India, an overarching mechanism in the form of a National Network Centre on India’s Intangible Cultural Heritage should be set up for mapping and documenting India’s valuable tangible and intangible cultural assets in different eco-cultural zones. It should provide for coordinated identification, documentation and preservation of the extensive and diverse range of India’s traditional knowledge system and integrate its various dimensions. For this purpose, Government may seek international technical assistance for designing a system based on best international practice. 

Ideas, ideals and values promoted by Mahatma Gandhi have become more relevant today than before—not only for India but for the entire world. Thus, a Gandhi Heritage Mission would be taken up to conserve, preserve and promote Gandhi’s physical and the intellectual heritage. Further, his ideas and values would be promoted across the world through conference and seminars on Gandhi’s intellectual heritage.

Indian writing is unique in its pluralistic, multilingual traditions and has an incredible heritage of rich literary diversity. During the Eleventh Plan, the Government had initiated a pilot project, ‘Indian Literature Abroad’, to promote and showcase Indian literature to a larger international audience. This was meant to support and facilitate translation and promotion of literary heritage and contemporary literature

of various Indian languages into major foreign languages. This project has been widely appreciated and would be continued during the Twelfth Plan.

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS

The existing schemes under the Education and Research Section should be modified to be more effective. With a view to preserving and promoting Buddhist Culture the setting up of Bodh Darshan Higher Study School, Tabo (Himachal Pradesh) will get priority during the Twelfth Plan period.

Similarly, the existing schemes for promoting international cultural relations need to be rationalised to effectively foster friendly relations and project Indian culture in the countries concerned.

Further, it is also necessary to put in place a mechanism for providing financial assistance for artists and cultural professionals going abroad for seminars, festivals and exhibitions on cultural subjects and for providing financial assistance to foreign artists desiring to study and/or learn Indian culture in any form like dance, music and drama for supporting Indian artistes to go abroad or foreign artistes to take up study in the field of Indian culture.

 During the Twelfth Plan, India should explore the possibility of having a permanent presence at the prestigious Venice Biennale of Art. The space could be used not only for the Art Biennale but also for the equally prestigious Venice Biennale of Architecture and in the lean months for any other cultural activities.

GOVERNANCE AND PARTNERSHIPS

India’s traditional and contemporary cultural expressions are extremely diverse and spread out and therefore no centralised academy or agency can do full justice with the demands of the sector.

For various reasons, many of the State Academies set up by various State Governments are in disarray.

Central Government needs to partner with the State Governments in making the State Academies play an important role in preserving and promoting performing, visual and literary arts of each State.

For this purposes, Ministry of Culture will introduce scheme for rejuvenating the State Academies working in the field of performing, visual and literary arts  by providing financial assistance subject to professionalization of the management of these bodies.

In order to leverage professional expertise and capacity from outside in specific disciplines, Government could enter into partnership with selected universities, institutions of national importance, research institutions and cultural organizations to undertake a mutually agreed programme and function as Centre of Excellence in the specified fields. While autonomy of these organisations will be respected, deliverables will be closely monitored. This partnership could be with well-established theatre groups and professional repertory companies with high standard of excellence, cultural research centres and repositories of archives on a particular subject, and centres of excellence in cultural texts, stagecraft, cross translations, interactive documentation, teaching and learning of traditional arts, conservation and preservation of both tangible and intangible heritage of the country.

Capacity-building and training of personnel to work in various Cultural Organisations is a critical requirement. Presently, some training is being imparted, but in a limited and distributed manner with various institutes under the aegis of the Government. Coordination and expansion of training research should be undertaken through an apex institutional mechanism or a Central Cultural University for the purpose.