Academy holds workshops to preserve folk art

Amritsar, May 21 

The Punjab Sangeet Natak Academy has been working to document and in the process, promote several dying folk art genres in the state. The academy, under president and noted theater thespian Kewal Dhaliwal, has in the last few months initiated projects, workshops in collaboration with senior folk artistes to educate current generation about the nuances of Punjabi folk culture. Dhaliwal, who is serving his second term as president of the academy, is heading a workshop on theatre forms for children in Amritsar. 

"We will be organising workshops in different towns of the state. The most interesting ones include a workshop of folk songs being conducted by celebrated folk artiste Gurmeet Bawa, a folk music and instruments workshop for musicians and others. Gurmeet Bawa has been associated with us for long and she has been trying to revive the lok geet with lambi hek, ( a song that is sung with long interludes) that were popular during weddings but are now dwindling from the public memory," said Dhaliwal. He has featured these folk art forms in a documentary he has made on Gurmeet Bawa, the Amritsar born legendary folk artiste, who popularised Punjabi lok geet on international platform. Apart from these, the academy will collaborate with local theatre groups to launch series of street plays, touring various rural belts in Moga, Amritsar, Nabha and Jallandhar. 

“These projects were started last year with an aim to promote and create awareness regarding folk arts forms of Punjab that are facing extinction due to pop culture overdose. They are our intangible heritage and we need to preserve them,” said Dhaliwal.  — TNS