Press Release
In a country like India the importance of cottage industries will never cease to exist. It is our responsibility to motivate handicrafts, cottage and Khadi industries. The Pink City Festival aims to bring together all artisans connected with handicrafts, motivate their work and encourage people to utilise their products in their daily lives. The festival will also enable visitors to see how various handicrafts are being prepared.This was stated by Minister of Art and Culture Government of Rajasthan, Dr. B.D. Kalla on the inauguration of the Pink City Festival at Shilpgram in Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK). The festival will be on till 29 January from 11 am to 9 pm daily. Additional Director General (Technical), Mr. Furqan Khan and Additional Director (Admin), JKK, Mr. Lalit Bhagat was also present on the occasion.
During the Welcome Address, Director General, JKK, Ms. Kiran Soni Gupta said that the future generation is slowly forgetting about the various traditional arts and crafts. The festival aims to empower our current youth to preserve and conserve the dying art forms.
The inauguration was followed by a special performance by the ‘Manganiyaar Symphony’ presented by Mushtaq Khan. The symphony rendered the popular Rajasthani folk music, ‘Nimbooda Nimbooda’ and ‘Kesariya Hazari Gul Ro Phool’. The artistes of the symphony included – Nisar, Ashraf, Saleem (Vocals); Swaroop (Dholak), Aladdin (Veena), Dilawar and Manzoor (Khartal); Nizam (Algoza); Majid (Murli); Ghevar (Morchang); Hussain (Sarangi); Tayam (Dhol); Khaiti (Cheep) and Bhura (Matka). The audience also enjoyed traditional dances and music of Rajasthan like – Chakri, Teratali, Bhavai, Ghoomar, Bhapang as well as Kaalbeliya.
The afternoons at JKK were filled with folk art performances from various parts of the State. The audience enjoyed puppet show with wooden puppets dressed in bright and colourful attires. ‘Behroopiya’ presented young men dressed up as mythological characters like Krishna, Shiva and Hunter. Magic came alive at the festival with a magician performing entertaining illusions for the visitors. Mellifluous Algoja performance presented by folk musician, Banwari Lal was a retreat into the rhythms of Rajasthani classical tunes. The folk singers of Rajasthan presented ‘Bhopa Gayan’. Another major attraction of the festival was ‘Kacchi Ghodi’ – a unique dance form wherein men dressed in radiant costumes danced to the tunes.
Exhibitions
As many as 100 stalls are a part of the festival. These stalls include – pottery, handicrafts, traditional jewellery, traditional attire, spices and much more. The products are available for sale. There are also several demonstrations of handicraft preparations also being showcased.