Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 4: North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala, under the aegis of Union Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Language (JKAACL), Jammu organized ‘Lok Virasat’ – A Festival of Vanishing Folk Art Forms.
The event was inaugurated with a special message from Mohd. Furqan Khan, Director NZCC, Patiala, who highlighted the importance of preserving and promoting India’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.
Harvinder Kour, Secretary JKAACL, in her message expressed delight at the collaborative effort.
She announced that JKAACL will also be launching the Guru Shishya Parampara scheme in J&K to foster mentorship and skill transfer in traditional arts.
Highlight of the event was performances by artists who were recipients of Guru Shishya scheme for the year 2022-23.
The audience was captivated by a range of presentations by V.D Surishta from Udhampur, performing Geetru, J.R Sharma from Jammu, showcasing Folk Dances of Jammu, Rakesh Kumar from Jammu, presenting Dogri Folk Dances, Ramesh Kumar from Jammu, performing Folk Lore and Folk Songs, Kuldeep Saproo from Jammu with Sufi & Folk Music, Vijay Dhar from Jammu, performing Folk Theatre and Prem Nath Radhey with Chinjaan Dogri Folk.
Padma Shri Rumalo Ram, an acclaimed Dogri Folk artist was chief guest and he was felicitated by Jarnail Singh, Assistant Director Program, NZCC and Dr. Javaid Rahi, Chief Editor (Gojri) at JKAACL, for his invaluable contributions to folk culture.
Proceedings of the function were conducted by Sat Pal Singh.