Aiming to create awareness among the Gen-next about the rich culture, heritage and art of the state, the department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums has come up with a series of events in upcoming months.Director Archives, Archaeology and Museums, Muneer-ul-Islam while revealing the calendar of activities during winter season, said that Kashmir has been known for rich cultural heritage from centuries together and the department is duty bound to identify, preserve and create awareness among the younger generation about the rich cultural heritage of the State in different forms including workshops, exhibitions and debatesHe said the department is organizing a workshop on Paper Conservation in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts New Delhi and INTACH.Muneer-ul-Islam said the aim of the workshop will be to make the stakeholders aware about the conservation and packaging of age-old books. He said the workshop will be open for government departments and private institutions and individuals who posses age old artifacts especially books so that those assets can be preserved properly.
He said the department is also organizing a 5-day workshop from November 15, on ‘Calligraphy’ and ‘Paper making’ that will be attended by noted calligrapher Mohammad Idrees Qirtas from Karnataka. He said the aim of the workshop will be to make the concerned artists aware about paper and ink making for calligraphy.The department is also going to organize 10-day workshop on Heritage and Art Photography in collaboration with Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (FTII).He said there is a need to make the youngsters aware about their cultural heritage and such programs will sensitize them about their heritage and make their aware about the rich cultural heritage they have inherited that will ultimately help in conservation of heritage.Muneer-ul-Islam said that the department aims to provide a forum for a creative and critical dialogue through performances, exhibitions, multi-media projections, conferences, seminars and workshops between and amongst the diverse arts- traditional and contemporary.