Bihar Government to Set up Mithila Painting Institute

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday inaugurated the famous 'Mithila Mahotsav' at Madhubani, about 180 km from the state capital, and flagged the need to ensure that Madhubani painting of the region remains alive and youth take them up.

He also inaugurated 185 development schemes worth Rs 66.22 crore in the district and laid the foundation stones of various state government schemes worth Rs 246 crore.

Expressing happiness about getting a chance to participate in the Mahotsav, Kumar said,"The development and welfare schemes inaugurated and launched on Sunday is a way to show respect to the culture of Mithila by the state government."

He pointed out that the rich culture and Madhubani Painting of Mithila has been marked and discussed across the world.

"There is a need to ensure that the art of Madhubani Painting remains alive here and new generation of boys and girls take them up. Our government is establishing Mithila Painting Institute, and all formalities for it have been completed," he said.

Kumar said he had come to know about ancient site of Balirajgarh during his visit to Madhubani while he had undertaken Seva Yatra in his previous stint as the chief minister.

It is spread over 122 acres and is considered among the biggest archaeological sites in the country.

"My intuition says that the excavations at Balirajgarh being done by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will bring to light new chapters in the history of India," he added.

The Bihar CM also praised the Maithili as a very sweet and soft language and directed the Tourism Department, as well as, Art, Culture and Youth Affairs department to promote

'Mithila Mahotsav' further so that it attracts tourists from everywhere.

"Bihar attracted 2.14 crore domestic and 11 lakh foreign tourists in 2012. The numbers are increasing. Balirajgarh excavations and Mithila Painting Institute will further attract domestic and international tourists to this place.

This will result in more employment opportunities here," Kumar added.

Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Tourism Minister Javed Iqbal Ansari, Mines and Geology Minister Ram Lakahan Ram Raman, Panchayati Raj Minister Vinod Prasad Yadav, as well as, various MLAs and MLCs from the area were present on the occasion.

Source: http://www.news18.com/news/bihar/nitish-kumar-inaugurates-famous-mithila-mahotsav-at-madhubani-700443.html

Expertise in the Mithila art to be the Main Criteria for Selection

By Pranava Kumar Chaudhary, TNN Oct 6, 2013, 08.18PM IST

PATNA: The proposed 'Mithila Chitrakala Sansthan' (MCS) in Madhubani district would be first of its kind autonomous institute in the country in which faculty members (acclaimed artists) will not be selected on the basis of the their academic qualification but for their expertise in the art of painting. The 'sansthan' would aim to provide direct market linkage to the artists.

The proposal to set up MCS was cleared by the state cabinet last week. Last year, CM Nitish Kumar had announced to set up an institute to preserve and develop Madhubani art which will be later granted university status.

The exact venue of the MCS would the famous Saurath Sabha barely six km north-west of Madhubani district headquarters. Saurath Sabha used to attract thousands of Maithil Brahmins from all over the country during each marriage season to negotiate the marriages of their sons and daughters. The tradition of Saurath Sabha survived till the late 1980s.

'Dastkar', a society for crafts and crafts people, which aims at improving the economic status of crafts people to ensure the survival of traditional crafts, has been made consultant of this project which would be developed on a six acre plot, said state art and culture secretary Chanchal Kumar. It was founded in 1981 by six women who worked in the craft and development sector.

Two courses- one of six year certificate and another one year course, would be introduced which would be taught by experts from the places of its origin Ranti and Jitwarpur. "One of the highlights of the MCS faculty members would be the sole criteria of their experience in art not traditional academic qualifications," Kumar told TOI.

"The process to shortlist them on the basis of their competence in art would be a herculion task.There are so many talented artists in the villages of Madhubani district itself," said Anjani K Singh, a nodal officer of this project. This institute would be set up under Registration of Societies Act which will have residential facilities, hostel, museum, demonstration and marketing centres (workshop), exhibition hall and administrative building.

"It will follow the traditional 'guru shishya parampara'. The standardisation of the art work would be fixed and artists would be getting direct market linkages to sell their products. This has been done to do away with middlemen," Kumar said.

It would also be a seed centre for the promotion of dying folk arts of Bihar including Manjusha and Godhana, Brahmin, dalit and kayastha style of paintings. It would also provide a training and learning centre for budding artists from India and abroad.

Madhubani painting is done with fingers, twigs, nib-pens, matchsticks and brushes made of bamboo stick with cotton or strips of cloth wrapped around it.

Source: Times of India