Sangeet Natak Akademi

The Intangible Cultural Heritage of India: a Profile on S.N.A.’s role and its vision as the Nodal Agency representing the Ministry of Culture, Government of India to implement the UNESCO Convention for safeguarding of ICH

Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s national academy for music, dance and drama, is the first national academy of the arts set up in 1952 by the Republic of India. The first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, inaugurated it on 28 January 1953 in a special function held in the Parliament House of India. In that ceremony, India’s first Education Minister of the State, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad propitiated the role and responsibility of the Akademi:

“India’s precious heritage of music, drama and dance is one which we must cherish and develop. We must do so not only for our own sake but also as our contribution to the cultural heritage of mankind. Nowhere is it truer than in the field of art that to sustain means to create. Traditions cannot be preserved but can only be created afresh. It will be the aim of this Akademi to preserve our traditions by offering them an institutional form...”

Since its inception the Akademi has been functioning as the apex body for the performing arts in the country, preserving and promoting the vast intangible heritage of India’s diverse culture expressed in the many forms of music, dance and drama. In furtherance of its objectives and zeal to serve the vast allied arts traditions of India covering performing forms  replete with literary texts, visual arts and tangible components, the Akademi collaborates with the governments and art academies of different States and Territories of the Union of India, as also with major cultural institutions in the country. The Akademi also establishes and looks after institutions and projects of national importance in the field of performing arts. Besides organizing performances of music, dance and theatre and giving awards in recognition of individual artistic or scholarly achievement, Akademi subsidizes the work of institutions engaged in teaching, performing or promoting the diverse performing arts of India; gives grant-in-aid for research, documentation and publishing in the performing arts; organizes and subsidizes seminars and conferences of subject specialists; documents and records the performing arts for its audio-visual archives; maintains a reference library and a gallery of musical instruments; and publishes literature on relevant subjects on a small scale. The Akademi also renders advice and assistance to the Government of India in the task of formulating and implementing policies and programmes in the field. Additionally, the Akademi carries a part of responsibilities of the state for fostering cultural contacts between various regions in India and between India and the World.

In the light of the above described scale of expertise, the Akademi was nominated and subsequently appointed as the Nodal Agency for coordinating India’s nominations for various Lists and other actions under the UNESCO Convention on ICH as well as for developing and maintaining the National Inventory of ICH of India. The said decision was taken by the Government of India in a meeting of the Coordination Committee of the three National Academies (The Sahitya Akademi, The Lalit Kala Akademi and The Sangeet Natak Akademi) of India, held on 19th February 2011. This appointment gave a complimentary but also a competent edge to the work already been started by the Akademi in preserving, promoting and disseminating various performing cultural traditions/elements of India- inscribed or nominated, as follows:

1)    The Akademi manages  two national institutes of dance:

-    Kathak Kendra in New Delhi (Kathak Dance- a classical dance of India)
-    Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy in Imphal, Manipur- Established in 1954, this constituent unit of the Akademi offers well structured training courses of elementary and advanced levels in Nat Sankirtana and Manipuri Ras)
-    The Sattriya Kendra, established in 2001

2)    The Akademi has set up the following Kendras/Centres :

-    The Kutiyattam Kendra at Thiruvananthapuram (The Project of promotion of Kutiyattam, Sanskrit Theatre started in 1990-91 and as a logical development the centre was inaugrated in 2007) 
-    The Chhau Centre in Odisha and Jharkhand states of India- Project started in 1994
-    The North-East Centre (to foster, promote, document and preserve the ethnic art, culture and traditions of the North-East states of India.
 

The Akademi as one of its many aims and objectives administers and facilitates many training programmes which supports various diverse cultural traditions and elements of India which are nominated in the Representative list of ICH of Humanity, UNESCO like Shadow Puppet Theatre Traditions of India , Music and knowledge of the Veena (ancient string instrument of India), organized performances, festivals and documentation of Nacha, Nautanki, Dashavtar (traditional theatre forms of India and Qawwali (a Sufi singing style of India) and encourages institutions, stakeholders and artistes of other elements to propose for such related endeavours. One of major exercise conducted by the Akademi is the Cultural Mapping of various states of India. Few such endeavours are:

1. Documentation of Hornbill Festival of Nagaland, India
2. Collaborations with Public Sector Units and other National Bodies of repute like the National Book Trust of India to identify and subsequently organize an annual festival of rare folk traditional forms of India- Desaj
3. Survey, Mapping and Documentation of Performing Arts Forms of Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India 

The Akademi being aware of its duties as a promoter and facilitator of Cultural policies envisaged by the Government of India also exercises its own prerogatives as an autonomous body. The Ministry of Culture’s scheme for safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and diverse cultural traditions of India which was implemented by the Akademi from 2013-2016 at a national level gave an opportunity to identify organizations, NGOs, artistes, stakeholders, researchers and scholars who will be encouraged to apply their work to strengthen the foundations of ICH at grassroots level. At the very onset, Akademi has indentified ICH’s potential as a source of jobs, income and livelihoods, while retaining its inherent quality as the essence of identity and sense of belonging. Influenced by the Resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on 20th December 2013 pertaining to Culture and Sustainable Development, the Akademi foresees that it may play a small but a crucial role in the larger policy framework, interlinking with India's broader goals for human development, inclusive economic development and sustainable growth in the ever evolving sphere of Cultural Diversity.