To document India’s vast and rich repository of cultural resources, heritage organisations and artists, The Ministry of Culture recently embarked on an ambitious initiative called ‘The Cultural Mapping Project’. The mammoth scale of the project seems daunting, but once complete, the database will be of a huge help in conserving, preserving and resurrecting art forms. Through this initiative, access to government grants for artists will become easier as well.
Mapping a country’s cultural topography has resounding economic benefits because it provides fodder for civic bodies to design promotional campaigns to attract tourists. Think of the number of times you’ve browsed the internet for “things to do and see” on a holiday. Now imagine if India, a treasure trove of diversity, launched a databank of its cultural resources on a digital platform, you’d have information on visual, performing and literary arts from every nook and corner of the country at your fingertips!
The Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), primarily responsible for the mapping, is focusing their efforts on the previously mentioned genres. Traditions (storytelling for instance) if not nurtured, fade into oblivion, so communities/artisans apprehensive of their craft dying out, can freely voice their concerns on the CCRT portal.
While the Sangeet Natak Akademi and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts have been roped in for support, the project equally encourages artists to directly document their skills onto the website. We hope that the ‘Cultural Mapping Project’ will stoke the revival of lesser known art forms. It’s a positive sign that more than 55 lakh artists have already been “mapped” so far!
For more information, please check the CCRT website.
Featured image source: The Better India
Words by Pavi Sagar
