Managing Creativity

A post-graduate degree in Arts Management at Kalakshetra,a first of its kind course in the country,points students towards a new vista.

Dingdi Gangte from Nagaland is passionate about contemporary art and museology (study of museums). She decided to combine the two into a management career,and began trawling the Net for suitable courses. I found that the Chennai-based DakshinaChitra,a centre of art and traditions,in collaboration with Kalakshetra,has a Masters course in arts management, says the 38-year-old. Gangte is now enrolled in the course,and aims to promote the art of Nagaland. There is abundant talent in the state,but,perhaps,we need people to manage it, she says.

The course,a first of its kind in India,began a month ago with a batch strength of 10. Students are trained in visual and performing arts management arts entrepreneurship ,marketing of the arts,curating,archiving and documentation,and Indian as well as global arts and aesthetics.

It was six years ago that Madras Crafts Foundation (MCF),an NGO,began a year-long diploma course in arts management at DakshinaChitra. The alliance with Kalakshetra comes amid the 75th anniversary of the Chennai-based cultural academy,and has resulted in the the diploma being converted into a Masters degree. We are collaborating with Kalakshetra to give the course a more national stature, says Deborah Thiagarajan,Chairman,MCF.

Among the students is Gayatri Aditya,34,a Chennai-based artist,who believes that being armed with a management degree in arts will increase her value in the art mart. Curating is a serious field of work and,since a lot of gallerists play that role now,the course helps a great deal. It looks good on the CV,she says.

Apart from theory,students visit galleries,conduct exhibitions,make documentaries and also have an eight-week-long internship, says Padma Anantaram,dean of the programme. Among past students is Meera Krishnan,now a programme coordinator with Chennai-based NGO,Prakriti Foundation. A post-graduate in Mathematics,the 36-year-old says,I was looking for a way to promote talent and this course trained me to do just that effectively.

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