President Ram Nath Kovind Confers Lalit Kala Akademi Awards On 15 Artists From Across The Country

Continuing with the mission to encourage artists and their artworks, President of India Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday (4 March) conferred the prestigious Lalit Kala Akdemi awards on 15 artists in a gala function.

The 15 awardees selected by the jury across the country were awarded the Lalit Kala Akademi’s 61st annual awards amid the presence of Tourism and Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, Cultural Secretary Yogendra Tripathi and the Akademi Chairman Uttam Pacharne along with many other dignitaries at the President House.

The fifteen awardees chosen by the esteemed panel of Jury are- Anoop Kumar
Manzukhi Gopi (Thrissoor), David Malakar (Kolkata), Devendra Kumar Khare (Vadodara), Dinesh Pandya (Mumbai), Faruque Ahmed Halder (24 Parganas), Hari Ram Kumbhawat (Jaipur), Keshari Nandan Prasad (Jaipur), Mohan Kumar T (Bengaluru), Ratan Krishna Saha (Mumbai) Sagar Vasant Kamble (Mumbai), Satwinder Kaur (New Delhi), Sunil Thiruvayur (Ernakulam), Tejaswi Narayan Sonawane (Solapur), Yashpal Singh (Delhi), and Yashwant Singh (Delhi).

The Akademi nominated seven-member selection Jury of eminent art practitioners, artists and critics from all over the country to finalise the list of artists to be awarded from among 283 artworks selected by the first tier Jury.

The National exhibition of art not only brings together the precious work of art and talent together from across the country but also showcases the finer nuances of Indian culture and aesthetics to the world thus promoting the Indian artworks in the international art market.

Patel later on, opened the 61st National Exhibition of Art and National Kala Mela.

Lt Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal, Pacharne and other senior officials of the ministry were present on the occasion.

The exhibition brings together the works of brilliance from across the country and also encourages budding art talents to learn new tendencies and mediums in the world of painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, drawing, installation and multimedia etc.

The objective of the National Exhibition of Art, 2019-20 is to showcase the works of art of excellence both in terms of material application and aesthetic appeal. The 61st National Exhibition of Art, 2019-20 will be continued till 22 March 2020 and the Kala Mela concludes on 9 March 2020.