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Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards: 18 artistes feted; U.P. & MP join hands for future cultural exchanges
An MoU for cultural exchange programmes was also signed between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the day.
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LUCKNOW The Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards ceremony was held in the Raj Bhavan here on Tuesday, where 18 artistes were honoured by governor Anandiben Patel. An MoU for cultural exchange programmes was also signed between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the day.
Kathak guru Poornima Pandey, and classical and sugam sangeet singer Yugantar Sindoor, were honoured by governor for their contribution to their respective fields. Theatre artist Kunvarji Agarwal’s son accepted the award on Sindoor’s behalf. Urmila Srivastava was honoured for folk singing. The BM Shah Award was given to producer, director, and actor Chandraprakash Dwivedi (who played the role of Chanakya in the serial ‘Chandragupt’) while the Safdar Hashmi Award went to Vipulkrishna Nagar of Mumbai.
The SNA awards were also given to Vishambharanath Mishra and Anant Narayan Singh of Varanasi jointly for innovation in music. Brijeshwar Singh of Bareilly was honoured for innovation in classical singing; Sharadmani Tripathi of Gorakhpur was honoured for folk singing while Brahmapal Nagar of Gautam Budh Nagar was awarded for classical singing.
Pandit Rameshwar Prasad Mishra of Lucknow and young dancer Vishal Krishna of Varanasi got the award for Kathak, Bhura Yadav Rakesh of Mahoba was feted for folk dance, for theatrical direction to Anil Mishra of Lucknow, theatre artist Ashtabhuja Mishra was felicitated for acting and direction, Varanasi’s Pt. Vinod Lele was awarded for tabla and Varanasi Fateh Ali Khan’s also got the award for playing Shehnai, and his brother received the award on his behalf.
Speaking on the occasion, governor Anandiben Patel acknowledged the importance of art and culture to the state and country at large -- “If we look at the Indian culture, it will be known that the development of music, literature and painting and theatrical art has happened along with the spiritual development. Our culture includes people from different traditions. It teaches us to unite and share love among people,” she said.
Other officials of the department of culture and tourism were also present at the event, along with renowned artists from the state like Malini Awasthi, and Anil Rastogi, among other Akademi and national award holders.
MoU inked under ‘Ek Bharat Sreshtha Bharat’
An MoU was signed under the ‘Ek Bharat Sreshtha Bharat’ initiative meant to expose each state to the folk-art culture of the other. The governor expressed hope that this agreement -- signed by Mukesh Meshram and Shivshekhar Shukla, principal secretaries of the department of tourism and culture of U.P. and MP respectively -- will deepen the cultural relations between the two states. Minister of culture and tourism, MP, Usha Thakur said, “If Madhya Pradesh is the heart of the country, then Uttar Pradesh is the soul.”
According to the MoU, folk culture groups of MP will perform at various events conducted in U.P. under the ‘Ek Bharat Sreshtha Bharat’ initiative between January 24 and January 26, and vice versa. Other cultural exchange programmes of theatre, exhibitions, seminars, and exhibitions will also be organised, according to the MoU.
