Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu today called upon schools and parents to encourage children to learn any art form of their choice as part of the efforts to preserve and promote India’s rich cultural heritage.

Stressing the need to go back to roots, he called for a cultural renaissance in Indian society.

The Vice President also regretted that India’s rich traditional folk art forms such as puppetry were disappearing due to the craze for western culture. ”They have to be revived with the active involvement of not just the governments but society at large,” he added.

Observing that exposure to creativity and art at an early age would help children become more aware of their surroundings and help them lead a more meaningful life, Naidu wanted educational institutions to give equal importance to art subjects in their curriculum.

The Vice-President was speaking at the investiture of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowships along with the Akademi Awards for 2018 and the 62nd National Exhibition of Art Awards. He presented the honours to various artists for their contribution to the field of performing arts and fine arts.

Referring to ‘Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav celebrations, Naidu said that many unsung heroes made sacrifices for India’s freedom but their stories remain largely unknown to the masses as they did not get enough attention in history books. He called for correcting these distortions and highlighting the contributions made during the freedom struggle by these lesser-known heroes.

Recalling the role of visual and performing arts in arousing patriotic feelings during the independence movement, Naidu said that art was used as a “powerful political weapon” to tell the stories of British oppression in an effective manner.

He recalled how the fiery patriotic songs and poems of Rabindranath Tagore, Subramania Bharati, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee inspired strong feelings of nationalism among the masses. “The contribution of our freedom fighters through powerful artistic expression is integral to our freedom struggle and must not be forgotten”, he stressed.

Lauding the contributions of artists in “strengthening the thread of continuity connecting our rich past to the present and future”, Naidu observed that art united people across cultures influenced and inspired them, thus “becoming a powerful agent of change in the process”.