Creative Expressions and Capacity Building Program for Young Artists As part of the National Capacity Building Program for Artist & Cultural Professionals, AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo Society organized ‘Creative Expressions and Capacity Building Program for Young Artists’ at Sri Aurobindo Society, 11, Saint Martin Street, Union Territory of Puducherry, India on 19th July, 2024. The session was facilitated by Dr Kishor Kumar Tripathy, Member Secretary and Mrs. Charu Tripathy, Associate Director, AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo Society. Sixty art professionals and faculty members representing various academic institutions attended the program.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Kishor Kumar Tripathy said that Art in its nature is universal which has always been a creative way to present the integral vision through the ages. An artist fosters creativity, intellectual and emotional insights into society at large. In the words of Sri Aurobindo ‘It is so far true that an artist can out of a thing that is ugly, repellent, distorted create a form of aesthetic power, intensity, revelatory force.’ There is a need for the preservation of this rich heritage for sustainability.

He mentioned abou the vision fo Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on ‘National Value of Art’ “….. in India, the greatest efflorescence of a national Art has been associated with the employment of the artistic genius to illustrate or adorn the thoughts and fancies or the temples and instruments of the national religion. This was not because Art is necessarily associated with the outward forms of religion, but because it was in the religion that men’s spiritual aspirations centered themselves.”

The Mother as an artist has also emphasized on the symbolic expressions of artistic beauty “There is a considerable difference between the vision of ordinary people and the vision of artists. Their way of seeing things is much more complete and conscious than that of ordinary people.”

Highlighting the importance of the program, Dr Tripathy said that objective the program to provide a platform for creative expression and capacity building for the young artists. The approach is to include local resources and communities and to bring in lived experiences also to drive the holistic enhancement followed by theoretical and practical sessions. Identifying young artists and creative entrepreneurs with an objective in strengthening the creative economy with development of talent and creative entrepreneurs is one of the focused areas of this workshop.

The capacity building program focused on specific areas including Diversity of cultural expressions, national value of art, promotion of art, entrepreneurship, art education and Creative Art Industry and Sustainability. Emphasis was given on professional development program for regional artists of all disciplines and to create a local artist ecosystem including community engagement events designed to simultaneously and engage in creative community.

Concluding the session, Dr Tripathy highlighted the implementation mechanism, mapping of art/artist, institutional networking, preservation initiatives and community outreach activity. Discussion on specific areas were also continued by the participants.