World Art Day & Kashmir

Every year 15th April is celebrated as World Art Day across the world to promote the development, diffusion and enjoyment of art. It was proclaimed at the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2019. Art nurtures creativity, innovation and cultural diversity for all peoples across the globe and plays an important role in sharing knowledge and encouraging curiosity and dialogue. These are qualities that art has always had, and will always have if we continue to support environments where artists and artistic freedom are promoted and protected. In this way, furthering the development of art also furthers our means to achieve a free and peaceful world. Each year, on 15 April, World Art Day celebrations help reinforce the links between artistic creations and society, encourage greater awareness of the diversity of artistic expressions and highlight the contribution of artists to sustainable development. It is also an occasion to shine a light on arts education in schools, as culture can pave the way for inclusive and equitable education. There is much to learn, share and celebrate on World Art Day, and UNESCO encourages everyone to join in through various activities such as debates, conferences, workshops, cultural events and presentations or exhibitions.Human consciousness is guided by the reaction to the place and people.This leads to cultural development.And art plays a pivotal role in shaping the place consciousness and aesthetics.The cultures that sustain the socio-political pressures and preserve their indigenous art forms are the richest people. It is nurtured by ancient wisdom. It applies to a place like Kashmir that has a cherished history of human development and innovation in various art forms. Be it the architecture or the culinary secrets for which people of Kashmir revered across the globe. Folk music and musical instruments that are peculiar to Kashmir constitute the unique artistic inheritance of the valley. Who has not heard the Hatim’s Tales and the history of Kashmir’s antiquity documented in Nilmata Purana that decodes the origin of its people and their festivals. Flora and fauna. Water bodies and vegetables have shaped the artistic locale of Kashmir. We can gauge the excellence of Kashmir’s art in terms of the emergence of the Modern Art Movement that not only gained national attention but created ripples in international art circles. It was at its peak when India was facing the challenges of partition and transfer power. The Modern Art Movement in Kashmir that had the influence of Percy Brown School gave Kashmir its stalwarts like P.N.Kachru, Trilok Kaul, S.N.Bhat. Then the Tantric iconography of the art upheld by Ghulam Rasool Santosh integral to Kashmir Shaiva tradition presents the art in its totality. Suraj Tiku, an artist who represented the pinnacle of art in Kashmir. Art has many dimensions; its expanse is infinite. It emerges from various faculties of human mind and sensitivity. So far we have only a few established forms of art but there are numerous other forms that are hidden in the human mind and need the spark to ignite new fire to reach new horizons. Conflict and depression .love and happiness, grief and sorrow, pain and agony. These human experiences automatically are expressed in art .It can be music, painting or poetry. It can be an individual experience or a community experience. Who can ignore Dina Nath Nadim, Ahad Zargar and numerous stalwarts who were dear to muses and shaped the place consciousness and aesthetics of Kashmir? World Art Day must make us ponder to uphold this priceless heritage in art shaped in Kashmir.