Govt's kicks off cultural mapping plan; artistes disappointed

The inaugural day of the government's ambitious project of mapping culture had kindled hope among the town's artistes, but has ended up disappointing many of them. The event, kicked off by Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma here yesterday, was attended by a large number of artistes from Mathura, but many complained they felt let down.

Painter Yogesh (24) thought it was a "useless" event, while Krishna Murari (30) complained the government only wanted to "hear applause from their followers". "The project sounds good, but nothing is going to come out of it. We will just go back to our lives, where there is no money and no real work for us, Yogesh said.

The National Mission on Cultural Mapping of India seeks to register artistes across the country with their location in an online database. It will also select 100 artistes from different art forms through competitions spread over three years. The ministry will award the winner of each discipline Rs 10 lakh, with 20 per cent of the prize money going to the artiste s teacher.

The programme took off from Mathura, where artistes displayed their work, and participated in a block-level competition. Winners will move on to the next level, and after a series of such levels, the final winner in each discipline will be selected nationally.

The two painters from Govardhan, who had come to the venue early in the morning, claimed nobody visited their stall to take a look at their art.

"If this is a competition, then where are the judges? No government official or any judge has stopped by and looked at our work," Yogesh, who holds a bachelor s degree in Fine Arts, said.

Another painter, Govind Prasad Kaushik (26), had a similar complaint to voice.