The Vice-President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will  present the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship and Sangeet Natak Awards for the year 2018 to 44 eminent artists (4 Fellows and 40 awardees), and 3 Fellows and 20 National Awards of Lalit Kala Akademi for the year 2021 in a joint ceremony to be held on 9^thApril, 2022 at 11a.m at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Sangeet Natak Akademi has elected four Fellows in the year 2018 for their eminent contribution in the field of the Performing Arts, namely Shri Zakir Hussain, Shri Jatin Goswami, Dr. Sonal Mansingh and Shri Thiruvidaimarudur Kuppiah Kalyanasundaram. The Lalit Kala Akademi has awarded the prestigious Fellowship to three outstanding artists with an expansive oeuvre namely Shri Himmat Shah, Shri Jyoti Bhatt and Shri Shyam Sharma.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) are national honours bestowed by the Republic of India on performing artists as well as teachers and scholars in the field of performing arts. The recipients are selected by the Akademi’s General Council, consisting of distinguished musicians, dancers, theatre artists and scholars in these disciplines and nominees of the Government of India, State Governments and Union Territories of the Indian Union.

The National Exhibition of Art is organised annually by the Lalit Kala Akademi as it’s the most prestigious event, showcasing the brilliance and capacious oeuvre of the awarded artists. The 62^nd National Exhibition organised this year is a platform to showcase the outstanding artists on a nationwide scale.

The 62^nd National Exhibition of Art will be inaugurated by Minister of Culture, Shri G. Kishan Reddy on 9^th April 2022 in the Galleries of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in the gracious presence of Minister of State for Culture, Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi.

Following the Award ceremony, Sangeet Natak Akademi has scheduled a festival of Performing Arts from 9^th -19^th April, 2022 at Kamani Auditorium and Meghdoot Complex, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi. Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of Culture and Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State for Culture, will inaugurate the festival on 9^th April 2022 at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi.

The festival of Performing Arts showcasing the Akademi awardees will continue for a period of eleven days bringing to the audience a delectable range of performances from across the length and breadth of the country and ranging over a wide spectrum of genres such as music, dance, drama, folk & tribal and allied arts and puppetry.

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