The State Government is taking keen interest and giving priority in promoting various types of folk arts in the State, said P.A.Mani, Commissioner, Department of Art and Culture, here on Sunday.
Delivering the presidential address after distributing Bharathanatyam and Mohiniyattam certificates to 66 students (62 for Bharathanatyam and four for Mohiniyattam) at the 23rd graduation ceremony of Bharathanatyam and 10th graduation of Mohiniyattam certificate courses of Kalai Kaviri School of Fine Arts here, Mr. Mani said the government had identified 100 folk arts and issued orders approving all these varieties.
He pointed out that the government had created an exclusive Folk Arts Welfare Board in the State in 2007 with a corpus of Rs. 1 crore to revive and save the dying folk art.
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He said there were now 20,000 members in the Board and the government had so far disbursed Rs.25 lakh as welfare assistance such as marriage and education grants to the needy folk artistes.
Mr. Mani said five music colleges were functioning in the State of which four were government music colleges in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district (offering three year diploma courses) and pointed out that the Kalai Kaviri School of Fine Arts in Tiruchi was a Government-aided institution.
The Commissioner appreciated the Kalai Kaviri School of Fine Arts for rendering good service in promoting music, dance and folk arts and pointed out that the institution had been catering to the needs of poor students.
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He said the main objective of the government was to promote traditional art and culture and save art forms like Bharathanatyam, Tamil music, instrumental music and folk arts, including dances.
Music schoools doing well
“There are 21 district music schools which are working well,” he said.
Earlier, Rev. Fr. Anthuvan, Director and Sister Margaret Bastin, Principal of Kalai Kaviri School of Fine Arts spoke about the growth of the institution and the various fine arts courses being run by the institution.
Rev. Fr. Thomas Paulsamy, Vicar General of Tiruchi Diocese, spoke about the yeoman services rendered by the institution.
The students performed a colourful Bharathanatyam and Moniniyattam and thrilled the audience.