Kolkata :
After seven years, a Kolkata-based organization—Banglanatak.com—has won a prestigious grant from the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) 2014 for their project “Documentation of Bengal folk music genres Bhawaiya, Bhatiali, and Bangla Qawwali”. The city chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) was the last to win the grant in 2007 for restoration of the Lalgola project in Murshidabad.
Announcing the grant award to Banglanatak.com at the American Centre on Friday, director Joanne Joria expressed hope that the documentation of three music genres would help preserve and popularise them again. Musicians of all three genres performed on the occasion.
According to Banglanatak.com founder director Amitabh Bhattacharya, the project will document and preserve folk music traditions—Bhawaiya songs of North Bengal, Bhatiali songs of Sunderbans in South Bengal and Bangla Qawwali of Kolkata, Nadia, and Murshidabad that are fast losing ground to other modern forms of entertainment and being pushed to the point of near extinction.
An initiative by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US State Department, AFCP supports preservation of cultural sites, cultural objects, and forms of traditional cultural expression in more than 100 countries around the world. AFCP-supported projects include the restoration of ancient and historic buildings, assessment and conservation of rare manuscripts and museum collections, preservation and protection of important archaeological sites, and the documentation of vanishing traditional craft techniques and indigenous languages.
“By taking a leading role in efforts to preserve cultural heritage, the US shows its respect for other cultures,” Joria explained.
The last time a Kolkata organization won this grant was in 2007 when the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) won the grant for restoration of the Lalgola project in Murshidabad.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / October 17th, 2014