New Delhi: Gearing up to celebrate 75 years of Indian Independence, 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', the Indian Council of Cultural Relations has planned a plethora of cultural activities not just within the country, but also across the world. As there is a respite from Covid pandemic, the council is planning to launch its own Over-The-Top platform along with physical events. Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, ICCR president and BJP MP elaborated the plans while addressing media in Delhi on Wednesday.
"The entire nation is celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and ICCR also has it on the agenda. We are inviting young leaders from 75 democracies of the world under 35 years of age to our country as part of the programme," said Sahasrabuddhe. Enumerating three dimensions, he pointed out utilisation of the bilateral relationships with different countries, further bolstering them by creating an understanding of India and its culture.
Dr Sahasrabuddhe also highlighted the expansion of the ambit of cultural exchanges with more than 190 countries. Traditionally cultural relations used to be seen as only music and dance limited to theatre groups but last year we had taken a major policy decision and we are making all our traditional artisans in the forte of activities pertaining to evolving cultural relations," said Dr Sahasrabuddhe.
ICCR addresses media regarding cultural programs Speaking to ETV Bharat, Director General of ICCR Dinesh K Patnaik said events were held in virtual mode during Covid pandemic and social media enabled wider dissemination."We reinvented ourselves during the pandemic. From painting competitions, art shows to cultural programmes, everything was online. But as things are opening up, we need to get back to offline mode also but the future is going to be hybrid and you need to have a combination of both online and offline. We are looking to go hybrid but the world is opening up after the pandemic, all our plans which were for last year and this year have been shifted to 2022. We are ready for both, in case any other wave comes we are ready for that as well," said Patnaik.
"A large number of events will be held in future and artists from countries like Bangladesh and Costa Rica are already here to showcase their art. Since the announcement of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, ICCR's Mission and Centre have already organized more than 2000 activities across the world," said Patnaik. He also emphasised the potential of linking cultural activities with economic activities.
"In India, we see culture as a social phenomenon, but we don't see it as an economic activity. That's the reason why the sector suffered the most during the pandemic as it was not seen as an economic activity. But culture is one of the largest economic activity any country does. Almost 14% of a country's activities are culture related. So we should give the cultural status of the industry so that we have investment opportunities. We will have tax incentives. We get to invest more in the infrastructure then. So these are the things we need. It will happen when you see culture as an economic activity and not just social activity," said Patnaik.
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