The Role Assignment of Directorate of Cultural Affairs
- The Directorate through its Cultural Centres will preserve and promote the traditional folk songs and dances of the state by (a) holding regular certificate courses in the cultural centres folk and traditional song dances of their areas hold workshops / programmes of these dances and songs in other cultural centres , at district and state level (c) hold guest lecture in all high schools of the district on the different aspect of Assam’s culture to spread awareness , based on a centrally prepared module.
- The Directorate will promote awareness of Assam’s rich culture by way of shows and lecture demonstrations outside the state in conjunction with SNA , NEZCC , EZCC , ICCR , national level private cultural trusts viz :- Shriram Bharatiya KalaKendra , Sarabhai Cultural Trust etc. It will also participate in the National Fairs and Festival and functions to mark the celebration of National Days
- The Directorate will assist NGO’s, Youth Clubs, Rural Libraries and cultural organizations in spreading a cultural environment for promotion of integration, communal amity, aesthetics, awareness of cultural heritage etc.
- The Directorate will honour the doyens of Assam’s culture in various media, through annual awards, pensions etc. , particularly in classical and modern music and dance , folk and traditional music and dance & drama , cinema and puppetry. The criterion and differentiation of the existing awards will be clearly marked out i.e. Sankaradeva Award, Bishnu Rabha Award, Phani Sharma Award Jyoti (Silpi Divas) Award, Azan Peer Award, etc. To spread the message and importance of the awards, the award functions will be rotated among the district and sub-divisional headquarters as far as practicable. An Artist Welfare Fund to help indigent and ailing artists / technicians will be set up jointly by Government and the entertainment industry.
- Jyoti Bharati at Tezpur will be developed as a centre for modern Assamese music, preserving and promoting the history and tradition of the Assamese ‘ADHUNIK’ songs with special emphasis on Jyoti and Bishnu Rabha sangeet. Resource persons from the centre will conduct demonstrations and workshops at schools, rural clubs and cultural organizations through out the state on a regular basis with an annual programme calendar. Certificate courses will be conducted on Jyoti Sangeet at Jyoti Bharati , on a regular basis. All recordings of Jyoti and Bishnu Rabha Sangeet will have to be certified by Jyoti Bharati. Endeavour will be made by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs for establishing Jyoti Bharati type institution in all district headquarters of the state.
- State Art Gallery will be the hub of the promotion and preservation of traditional and folk art and crafts of the state. The gallery will hold expositions at sub-divisional, district and state level regularly. Certificate courses will be conducted in mask making, manuscript painting in the Assamese style in collaboration with the State College of Art & Crafts. The Art Gallery authorities will hold workshops, lecture demonstration at Cultural Centres to spread awareness of our folk traditions styles and designs besides the Indian Art tradition. The State Art Gallery will actively work with the Lalit Kala Akademi and other private galleries to promote the artists of Assam. It will also work to set-up a Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra for the NE in Assam. The Gallery authorities will also assist artists in obtaining national level scholarship, fellowships etc. from Lalit Kala Akademi and other national art bodies.
- The artistes of the Drama Repertory Group of the directorate will have an increased role as instructors in drama workshops to be held in all cultural centres. The Deputy Director (Drama) will head a Task Force for setting up a School of Drama in the state in co-operation with the Asom Natya Sanmilan and other reputed bodies connected with drama in the state. There being no recognized school of drama in the state , this school is essential and could be made a proposal under Clause VI of the Assam Accord. There would be increased and regular interaction with the National School of Drama to spread awareness of the Assamese Drama Tradition outside the state by staging plays in metropolitan cities of the country. The Directorate will hold annual drama festivals in inviting drama troupes from outside the state. It will also examine proposals of assisting the setting up of mini drama complexes and the Mobile Theatre Industry of the state.
- The puppetry wing of the Directorate will increase its activities by holding workshops in puppet making. Tie-ups will be made with the Tourism Department to arrange for regular puppet shows in tourist sites, hotels, entertainment plazas, wayside amenities. Directorate will promote puppet parties in major towns for puppet shows on demand on payment. The wing will work in close liaison with Doordarshan and private TV channels for popularizing puppetry through increased TV productions.
- The Publication and photography wing of the Directorate will take steps to prepare and publish a directory of the cultural luminaries of the state. It will also prepare photographic booklets on the different cultural aspects of Assam in co-operation with the Tourism Department. The Publication wing of the Directorate would take immediate steps to set up a web site of the department in consultation with NIC.
- The State College of Music will emphasize on preparing its students for the preservation and promotion of the Satriya Culture and Folk & Traditional Music and Dance, while imparting courses in Indian classical music and dance.
- The College of Arts & Crafts would emphasize its course content on preservation and promotion of traditional arts and crafts like “SANCHI BARK PAINTING’, pottery, carving, bell metal smithy , sola pith works , cane & bamboo crafts. It will also orient its course content with a bias for preparing students for a career in fine arts.
- The Tai Museum at Sivasagar will concentrate its activities in all matters related to preservation, protection and promotion of Tai Ahom and related cultures.
