Cotton University Vice Chancellor Prof. Bhabesh Chandra Goswami stressed on the significance of different art forms in societal unity and cultural harmony and the need for conservation and preservation of these cultural heritage in the context of Assam and Northeast India.
Prof. Goswami delivered the inaugural speech at the national seminar on ‘Contemporary Visual Culture, Practice and Possibilities of North East India’ organised at Cotton University on January 4 & 5, 2019.
The Lalit Kala Akademi, Regional Centre, Kolkata and Pragjyotish Centre for Cultural Research, Guwahati in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology, Cotton University in Guwahati organised the national seminar.
Sanjib Gohain Baruah, Secretary to the Governor of Assam, who was present as the Chief Guest, elaborated how visual artists express their creativity through visual culture using contemporary medium like internet, TV, cinema and spread their ideas and thoughts to the common masses, stated Dr. Manjil Hazarika, Assistant Professor and Head (In-charge), Department of Archaeology of Cotton University in a press communique.
While taking part in the event, Prof. Sanjay Kumar Dutta, Academic Registrar, Cotton University; Siddhartha Ghosh, Secretary, Lalit Kala Akademi, Regional Centre, Kolkata and Maneswar Brahma, Chairperson, Pragjyotish Centre for Cultural Research, Guwahati pointed out the importance of these kinds of academic events for the promotion of art education and culture studies among students and common people.
Coordinated by Dr. Manjil Hazarika, Head (i/c) of the Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, the seminar was attended by nearly hundred participants from different public and private universities, colleges and educational institutes, Government departments, NGOs, freelance artists and practitioner.
The Invited Speakers included several eminent art historians, art educationists, visual artists, print makers, film critics, poets and writers.
Amrita Gupta Singh, Mohile Parikh Center of Visual Arts, Mumbai; Manoj Barpujari, Guwahati; Moirangthem Monali, Manipur University; Dr. Moushumi Kandali, Tezpur University; Phanindra Talukdar, Guwahati; Dr. Pramit Parna Paul, Govt. College of Art & Craft, Agartala; Dr. Raj Kumar Mazinder, Assam University, Silchar and Y.S. Sanathan, Cotton University presented their papers on various themes of visual culture during the academic sessions.