Need for a serious cultural policy to preserve arts, says Ratan Thiyam

Theatre being considered as a part-time, amateur activity has compromised its quality, senior theatre and Padma Shri awardee Ratan Thiyam said here during a lecture, stressing the need for a serious cultural policy to preserve arts.

Theatre being considered as a part-time, amateur activity has compromised its quality, senior theatre and Padma Shri awardee Ratan Thiyam said here during a lecture, stressing the need for a serious cultural policy to preserve arts.

Thiyam, 70, was speaking at the 6th Habib Tanvir Memorial Lecture organized by Raza Foundation, themed 'My Theatre, My Journey' on Wednesday.

The theatre director-writer said the pressures of globalization and market economy are impacting sensitive art forms like theatre, a statement by Raza Foundation said.

Thiyam said the lack of serious cultural policy to develop and nurture art forms has led to the loss of many artistic traditions and talented performers.

He also mentioned that Indian theatre is undergoing a creative resurgence, although it is poorly visible on international platforms at the moment, the statement said.

"The emergence of imaginative directors and groups has given regional theatre new life.

"This new life needs to be nurtured and developed by the government by providing adequate funds and perhaps a national cultural complex or a national theatre complex in our country," the National School of Drama chairperson said.

He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Direction in 1987 and the Padma Shri in 1989.

The Habib Tanvir Memorial lecture series had Sadanand Menon, Navjyoti Singh, Shanta Gokhale, Neelam Mansingh, and Rustom Barucha speak on various concerns in the field of theatre.