The President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu conferred Padma Shri to Shri Hem Chandra Goswami in field of Art from Assam in Civil Investiture Ceremony here today.

A brief citation about the life and work of awardee is given below-

1. Shri Hem Chandra Goswami has been conferred Padma Shri in field of Art.

Shri Hem Chandra Goswami is a stalwart sattriya artist known in the country and abroad for his thought-provoking ability, innovation and skill. 

Born on 1^st March, 1958, Shri Goswami passed his HSLC Examination from a local High School and then he took the bachelor degree in Arts and Crafts from Arts and Crafts Society of Guwahati, Assam. From his childhood he was acquainted with the environment of satra, i.e., Vaishnavite monastery of Assam, where mask making is an indispensable trait. It was the great Guru Sankaradeva, who had innovated the art of mask making from bamboo splits which are invariably used in the Vaishnavite plays (bhaona) and dances (satriyanritya) performed in the satras(Vaishnavite monasteries)and namghars (village level Vaishnavite prayer house).

Shri Goswami plays the pivotal role for the acceleration of the pristine skill from local to the national and universal context. Masks prepared by him are at present installed and displayed at reputed institutions like Dibrugarh University, Tezpur University, SrimantaSankaradevaKalakshetra, Guwahati; Vivekananda Institution, Guwahati; Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, New Delhi; Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal, etc., and in the museum of abroad like America, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, etc. In the year 2015 the Chief Curator of the British Museum Shri. T. Richard Blurton came to Majuli to discuss about the mask depicted in the VrindavaniVastra preserved in the British Museum. He met Shri Goswami to know about the mask depicted in that heritage textile piece of Assam, stayed there for five days and took back with him five masks which are now preserved in the British Museum. The masks were displayed in an exhibition entitled Krishna in the Garden of Assam which was held at the British Museum from January to August, 2016.

Shri Goswami had delivered lectures on the heritage of split bamboo mask in different institutions of the country like Dibrugarh University, Tezpur University, Vivekananda Kendra: Guwahati; Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre for the Arts; New Delhi; Visva-Bharati: Santiniketan, etc.

Shri Goswami had established an institute on Sattriya Art and culture in Chamaguri Satra Majuli, viz., Sukumar Kala peeth to teach the new generation about the heritage of mask making of this remote part of India.

Shri Goswami has been conferred with different prestigious awards for his expertise in mask making, which includes LaMezo Da Anand Award: 2012, Damodara Deva National Award: 2014, PhD from Gauhati University (Honorous causa),2017, Luitporia Life time Achievement Award 2018 Sangeet natak academy award 2019, Achiever Award in Excellence on Art by Pratidin Time, Assam, 2022.

 

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