SRINAGAR: Aiming to safeguard and nurture the rich traditional art of Calligraphy (Khatati), a camp commenced on Wednesday at Srinagar’s Bemina Government College, through a collaborative effort between the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala and the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture, and Languages (JKAACL).
The camp is part of a series of programmes designed to celebrate the three-day Vitasta Cultural Festival, which is scheduled to commence on June 23 at the prestigious Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in the city of Srinagar.
It is worth mentioning that the ‘Vitasta Cultural Festival’ carries a significant objective in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visionary concept of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ (One India, Great India), as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative.
The calligraphy camp will continue until Thursday evening, and subsequently, the calligraphic artworks produced during the camp will be exhibited at the prestigious grand event of the “Vitasta Cultural Festival” at SKICC.
At the inaugural ceremony of the calligraphy camp, the organisers and art experts emphasised the purpose of the camp by stating that art encompasses the concept of beauty and a diverse range of its forms. Among these forms, calligraphy holds a prominent and influential position.
They said that the well-skilled and senior calligraphers at the camp will be providing valuable tips to younger participants, enabling them to master this art form. They emphasised that calligraphy not only represents a unique and distinct genre of art but also provides promising employment opportunities in the realm of designing cards, decorative charts, and various other objects.
While extending warm greetings to camp participants, Gauri Basu, Advisor of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Programme under the Union Ministry of Culture, said, “Calligraphy is the lovely art of writing words with accuracy and beauty.” She further mentioned that the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, is actively promoting and supporting calligraphy, as it does with other art forms.
