UNESCO New Delhi Celebrates World Art Day 2021

New Delhi: UNESCO New Delhi celebrated World Art Day today with the launch of the campaign #UNESCOsupportsartists and a webinar on ‘Shaping the Future for Artists.’

The campaign, set within the framework of UNESCO’s global ResiliArt movement, has been designed to promote awareness of the status of artists in India and South Asia (#ResiliArtSouthAsia) and to call upon solidarity with artists who have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It features short videos from four eminent artists: Ms Geeta Chandra, Padma Shri Awardee Indian Classical Dancer; Mr Sanjoy Roy, Founder and Managing Director, Teamwork Arts; Ms Nandita Das, Indian actor and director; and Mr Arjun Sagar Gupta, Founder and Director, the Piano Man Group (See below).

The launch led to a webinar organised in co-operation with The Marg Foundation and Sahapedia, focusing on the 1980 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist.  The Recommendation serves as a key international instrument promoting cultural diversity and expressions, as well as specific measures to improve the socio-economic and professional conditions of artists and cultural professionals around the world.

Ms. Nirupama Kotru, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, provided the perspective of the Government of India on the difficulties related to the Covid-19 crisis. The webinar also featured representatives the Lalit Kala Akademi, the Sahitya Akademi and the Sangeet Natak Akademi. The session on international best practices highlighted the case of the Republic of Korea, where artists benefit from strong social and legislative support of their creative works.

UNESCO’s Resiliart was launched one year ago, as a global campaign to provide a platform for initiating discussions on the impact of Covid-19 on the status of the artists and for envisioning a better future for cultural professionals.

To watch the recording of the webinar click here