In News: Culture mapping of 80 villages associated with noted personalities in history, in particular the freedom movement, unique crafts and festivals has been started as a pilot project by Union Culture Ministry.
Key Takeaways
From Sempore in Kashmir to Kanjirapally in Kerala, villages with a connection to the freedom movement as well as those with their own art practices have been selected for the project, being conducted by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
The project would lead to a “national register and interactive database of artists and art practices from the villages of India”. Each artist would be given a unique ID and an e-commerce platform set up.
The work under the mission involves coordinating the data collection through ground and field surveys conducted on the basis of detailed formats and questionnaires, mobile application, interactive web-portal and an over-the-top (OTT) platform to showcase ethnographic documentaries/ cultural events/ festival/ melas etc. of villages.
Some of the villages on the list
From Ladakh, the pilot project included Choglamsar and Wanla villages, known for wood carving.
Sempore or Pandrenthan in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir that is associated with 14th Century mystic Lal Ded or Lalleshwari.
Khatkar Kalan village in Punjab, which has a memorial of Bhagat Singh.
Reni village of Uttarakhand, where the Chipko movement started.
Kathputli Colony in Delhi, known for the “migrant kathputli artists”, are also on the list.
Two villages in Tamil Nadu — Ettayapuram (the birthplace of poet Subramania Bharathi) and Thiruchigadi (a village of “women potters”) — are also on the list.
