The 43rd annual art festival of Kartik Fine Arts (KFA) got under way on Friday with the conferment of Isai Peroli award on Carnatic vocalist S. Mahathi and Nadanamamani on dancer T. Bhavya Ramachandran.
Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who gave away the awards, said that in the age of global warming and climate change, Chennai’s December season had not changed. It remained an unchanging and unvarying constant.
“Though Kanjeevaram silk and panchaloha bronze can be copied, classical arts cannot be copied. They can only be learnt. There is no such thing as a fake Kamboji. Kamboji is Kamboji,” he added.
K.N. Ramaswamy, director, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai Kendra, who spoke about the journey of KFA, said that former presidents A.V.S. Raja and L. Sabaretnam, who were now its patrons, contributed greatly to its growth.
Renowned dancer and guru Lakshmi Vishwanathan said that it was rare for a city to be vibrant with classical music and dance programmes through out the year.
KFA president K.M. Narasimhan recalled the passion that founder Kartik Rajagopal had for drama.
