Bamboo culture of North East to be celebrated

Newmai News Network SHILLONG, March 8 The affinity of the people of the North East region of India with bamboo will be showcased and celebrated during the ‘Celebration of Bamboo Culture of North East India’ which will be held from March 10 onwards. Organized by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in collaboration with the Department of Cultural and Creative Studies, NEHU and Riti Academy of Visual Arts at the Cultural Park, NEHU campus in the city, the weeklong celebration will comprise of an academic deliberation; dissemination and exposition of arts and crafts, film screening and bamboo cuisine and recipe; and cultural expression, which included theatre, storytelling and musical performances. Around twenty academicians and scholars will present papers at the symposium on the topic ‘Significance of Bamboo in the Socio-cultural and economic development of Northeast India’ with specific subthemes according to the papers submitted by the respective expert. In the dissemination and exposition segment there will be more than a hundred artisans from different parts of the State displaying bamboo articles and demonstrating the craft making process of certain bamboo materials. The IGNCA will have an exclusive display of its collection of basketry, and NESFAS also will be having an exposition of photographs and few bamboo crafts of a renowned bamboo artist Markus Heinsdorff from Germany. Apart from the collection of films by IGNCA and agro-biodiversity films of the North East Slow Foods and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), there will be a special screening of a Bamboo film ‘Where the Tallest Grass grows’ written and directed by Mauleenath Senapati. The foundation day of Riti Academy of Visual Arts will also be observed on March 14 at the Cultural Park of NEHU as part of the programme. The IGNCA will release its Catalogue on Basketry edited by Prof A K Das, Tagore Fellow of IGNCA. Every evening, there will be a cultural expression of music, theatre and storytelling to be presented by Nalarympei, Desmond Sun, Genevieve Khongjee, Adlyne Khonglam and a host of folk and traditional musicians. The mask dance from Ri-Bhoi district, the all-bamboo instrument demonstration and performances by the group Ki Pateng U Longshwa besides others will also be presented. Among the theatrical performances, there will be a Dance Drama ‘Ka Li Dakha’, a short play on Manik Raitong, ‘U Shken Khongpong’ and others. The students of Seven Set School will provide creative support for the theatre. Playwright, Rembrandt I Kharnaior stated that the celebration will be a springboard to identify talents and a platform to showcase their creativity.