Punjab Lalit Kala Akaademi gives Scholarships to 9 Young and Upcoming artists for 2017

In the photograph above sitting left to right: Rajinder Kaur, Ashima Raizada, Simrandeep Kaur, Pranav Sood

Standing left to right: Gurdeep Dhaliwal, Jaspreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Jagwinder Singh, Baljeet Singh

Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi gives Scholarships to 9 Young and upcoming artists

Each scholarship holder would get Rs. 1,20,000/- (Rupees one lakh twenty thousand)

Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi has introduced Scholarships for the first time with the selection of nine talented young artists from Punjab, for the year 2017.

The scholarships are being named after living and past legends of Punjab belonging to the field of art.

The Following candidates have been selected for the PLKA Scholarships for the year 2017:

Ashima Raizada, Mohali – Multimedia – Raghu Rai Scholarship (Living Legend)

Baljeet Singh, Chak Singhewala, Jalalabad, Fazilka – Sculpture – Prof. B N Goswamy Scholarship (Living Legend)

Gurdeep Singh Dhaliwal, Shekhupura Maur, Barnala – Photography – Dr. Mulk Raj Anand Scholarship (Past Legend)

Jagwinder Singh, Gidderwaha, Jalalabad, Muktsar – Multimedia – Satish Gujral Scholarship (Living Legend)

Jaspreet Singh, Akkanwali, Mansa – Painting – Dr. M S Randhawa Scholarship (Past Legend)

Mandeep Singh, Khanna – Print-Making – Paramjit Singh Scholarship (Living Legend)

Pranab Sood, Ludhiana – Painting – Amrita Sher-Gil Scholarship (Past Legend)

Rajinder Kaur, Dhakoli, Zirakpur – Print making – Manjit Bawa Scholarship (Past Legend)

Simrandeep Kaur, Amritsar – Painting, Krishen Khanna Scholarship (living Legend)

The Scholarships have been started at the initiative of Diwan Manna, artist and President Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, who had, earlier in 2008, as Chairman of Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, started similar schemes there also.

Scholarship recipients have been selected after one to one interviews by internationally renowned artist and curator of Kochi Muziris Biennale Sudarshan Shetty and known artist S Raj Kumar.

The scholarships are being given to budding artists, between 20 and 30 years of age.

Interview process involved going through the portfolios of the artists, looking at the original art works and knowing about the artistic, intellectual and craftsmanship skills of the artists. 22 artists from Punjab and Chandigarh were shortlisted for the interviews out of the total 58 applicants.

Some of the scholarships are being sponsored by private sponsors and some are funded by the PLKA.

The scholarships have been named after living and past legends from the field of art.

The past legends in whose names the scholarships are being given are: Amrita Sher-Gil, Dr. M S Randhawa, Dr. Mulk Raj Anand and Manjit Bawa.

The living senior personalities from the field of art in whose name these scholarships are being given are: Satish Gujral, Krishen Khanna, Prof. B N Goswamy, Paramjit Singh and Raghu Rai.

This is the first time that Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi has started these Scholarships to promote and recognize talented young and upcoming artists of the State of Punjab.

The scholarships are aimed at providing talented artists a platform and to promote research and quest for individual signature in their respective fields. The scholarships were open for disciplines of drawing, graphics/ print making, painting, sculpture, multi media, photography and installation etc. The selected artists are practitioners of either of the above given disciplines of art.

The Scholarship programme is a part of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi’s continuing effort to promote, disseminate and encourage art and culture in this region.In its efforts to provide better facilities, platform and opportunities to the artists of the region, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi is coming up with innovative ideas that would create an amiable environment for the development of arts and help sustain creativity. The Akademi is engaging with the art fraternity and art lovers at various levels to bring about a whiff of fresh air that would change the way we perceive consume and relate to art.

Artists residing in Punjab and Chandigarh were eligible for the scholarships.