On March 4, 2020 President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind conferred the 61st annual Lalit Kala Akademi awards 2020 to 15 excellent artists at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
Key Points:
i.Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism, the Akademi Chairman Dr. Uttam Pacharne and Shri Yogendra Tripathi, the Cultural Secretary, GoI (Government of India) participated in the occasion.
ii.Cash Prize: The awardees were honoured with a shawl, plaque and a cash prize worth Rs 1 lakh.
List of 15 awarded artists:
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| Awardees | State |
| Anoop Kumar Manzukhi Gopi | Thrissur, Kerala |
| David Malakar | Kolkata, West Bengal |
| Devendra Kumar Khare | Vadodara, Gujarat |
| Dinesh Pandya | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Faruque Ahmed Halder | West Bengal, Kolkata |
| Hari Ram Kumbhawat | Jaipur, Rajasthan |
| Keshari Nandan Prasad | Jaipur, Rajasthan |
| Mohan Kumar T | Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| Ratan Krishna Saha | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Sagar Vasant Kamble | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Satwinder Kaur | New Delhi |
| Sunil Thiruvayur | Ernakulam, Kerala |
| Tejaswi Narayan Sonawane | Solapur, Maharashtra |
| Yashpal Singh | New Delhi |
| Yashwant Singh | New Delhi |
[/su_table]
Other important events:
- 61st National Exhibition of Art and National Kala Mela: Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Culture & Tourism, inaugurated 61st National Exhibition of Art & National Kala Mela in New Delhi.The 61st National Exhibition of Art, 2019-20 will be continued till 22nd March 2020 and the Kala Mela concludes on 9th March 2020.
- The book named S. Dhanpal, a Lalit Kala Akademi publication, on the eminent artist with the same name was also launched at the ceremony.
- Shri Anil Baijal,Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Chairman of Lalit Kala Academy Dr. Uttam Pacharne, were present on the occasion.
Objective of the National Exhibition of Art, 2019-20:
- Aim to display the works of art of excellence both in terms of material application and aesthetic appeal.
About Lalit Kala Akademi awards:
- Lalit Kala Akademi organises art exhibitions & award ceremonies annually to promote art as well as to honour talents.
- The exhibition brings together the works of brilliance across the country & also motivates budding art talents to learn new tendencies and mediums in the world of painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, drawing, installation & multimedia etc.,
About Lalit Kala Academy:
The Akademi was inaugurated on August 5, 1954, by former Honourable Minister of Education, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and was given statutory authority in 1957, under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
Headquarters- New Delhi.
