Zonal Cultural Centers

1. National Cultural Exchange Programme: With a view to present art forms of one region to another and expose the diverse cultural heritage of each region to the rest of the country, the folk/tribal artistes are sent on exchange manner to participate in the programmes organized by the seven Zonal Cultural Centres.
2. Guru Shishya Parampara Scheme: The Scheme was introduced in 2003-04 with a view to promote development of new talents in the field of music and dance, folk and tribal art forms, under the able guidance of Gurus.
3. Young Talented Artistes Scheme: The Scheme was introduced during the year 2004-05 to recognize and encourage young talents in the various folk arts forms of different regions in the country.
4. Documentation of Vanishing Art Forms: Under the Scheme, documentation of various traditional folk art forms is undertaken, especially of those which are seen to be vanishing.
5. Shilpagram Activities: ZCCs have set up Shilpagrams at Chandigarh, Khajuraho, Udaipur, Guwahati, Allahabad and Shantiniketan to encourage various forms of traditional folk/tribal arts from rural India. These Shilpagrams are attracting a large number of domestic as well as foreign visitors. Through these Shilpgrams, a large number of artistes and artisans are benefited and a large number of people are made aware of our rich cultural heritage.
6. Loktarang – National Folk Dance Festival and OCTAVE – Festival of the North East: All the ZCCs participate in these National level festivals organized every year in New Delhi and/or other places. A large number of folk/tribal artistes from all corners of the country perform during these festivals to showcase the diverse folk/tribal arts of our different regions/states.

inputs from press information bureau , last updated January 7, 2009