Kharagpur IIT sets up academy to draw inspiration from India's creative arts and music

A first in the IIT system, the Academy aims to nurture the creative talents of the IIT Kharagpur community through engagements in music and fine arts.

According to Pallab Dasgupta, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, who is also heading the Academy, the spirit of creativity, collaboration and collective well-being ingrained in the teaching-learning of Indian traditional performing and creative art forms will help the present generation to develop the faculties of concentration, coordination, confidence and creativity, which are catalysts for scientific excellence.

The Academy will offer regular training on music, fine arts and other performing arts, and run micro-credit courses for students.

Its global outreach programs, which include MOOCs courses and live classes, will create opportunities for a wider dissemination of the subject.

The Academy said it will also pursue collaborative research in science and technology interventions in Indian classical music and other art forms that will not only help preserve India’s rich heritage but also create new teaching-learning resources.

The Academy is working in close collaboration with Padma Bhushan Pandit. Ajoy Chakrabarty, Distinguished Professor and Mentor.

Said Pt Chakrabarty, “The modern style of learning music, which I have been professing over the years, is designed to inculcate the traits of experimentation and innovation in young minds, rather than blind imitation.”

Pt. Chakrabarty is heading the ‘100 Ragas Initiative’ of the Academy.

The initiative intends to formulate the deep structure of Indian ragas as semi-lexical languages by forging a connection of the creative arts with the cognitive sciences.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, said, “It is essential for an institute of national importance to focus on the holistic development of its students, staff and faculty.”

He also said that the Academy of Classical and Folk Arts is the first of its kind at IIT Kharagpur and along with other forthcoming academies such as the Academy of Leadership are designed to expand the mind set of the students ‘from narrow individual academic competitors to versatile and creative social beings with the flair and confidence of excelling in innovation and technology leadership’.

The Academy is supported by IIT Kharagpur’s distinguished alumni, including Arjun Malhotra, Dr. Kiran Seth, Mukund Padmanabhan, members of the IIT Kharagpur Foundation, US.