The Visakhapatnam Chapter of Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) will organise Heritage Awards Night on Thursday as a culmination of its year-long activities.
At a press conference here on Tuesday, INTACH Visakhapatnam Chapter convener Rani Sarma said that four awards in different categories would be presented at a function at Hotel Gateway.
INTACH, which had been encouraging schoolchildren by involving them in various activities to spread awareness of the need to protect our cultural heritage, organized competitions for them, and top two school teams from Visakhapatnam city would be recognised as Best Heritage Club.
A school teacher from North coastal Andhra Pradesh, who documented folk art forms from this region, would be presented Lifetime Achievement Award for his efforts to conserve our heritage, she said, but refused to divulge the name.
Prakruti Mitra
A tribal woman from Araku Valley, who had been cultivating vegetables with organic chemicals, would be presented Prakruti Mitra Award for her contribution to spread the practice among other farmers. The tribal community was selling these most sought-after vegetables at rythu bazars in Visakhapatnam city.
The fourth award would be given to three artistes of Rumzu, a rural folk art form, which was getting extinct, she explained. There were only six artistes surviving who practiced this folk art used in story-telling of mythological sequences using drums. A performance of the artistes would be arranged at the Hotel Gateway on the day of award presentation.
Eastern Naval Command Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief Anup Singh and district Collector J. Syamala Rao, who are patrons, would attend the function in addition to VUDA Vice-Chairman B. Sreedhar, GVMC Commissioner V.N. Vishnu and Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman Ajeya Kallam.
Schoolchildren, teachers and others were invited to the function, where entry would be only through an invite. Others who participated in the press conference included INTACH members Indrani Jagga Rao, Mayank Devi Deo, Jubedia Mehdi, Paul V. Edward and A.R. Jayanth.
