Milapfest, the UK's Indian Arts Development Trust established the National Indian Arts Award to recognise the dedication of art professionals working in the field of Indian arts, as well as to celebrate the hard work and passion of young artist. The award ceremony was held at The Nehru Centre, London, on Thursday 8th October 2015.
The awards were supported by Arts Council England whose Deputy Chief Executive, Althea Efunshile extolled the role of arts and culture. “They are about the search for personal fulfillment; about strong families and friendships; about bringing joy to our learning; and about promoting the bond between grandparents, parents and children, through the way that we hand on our culture, revere the memory of where we come from - and celebrate the world we now all share.”
Milapfest’s Executive Director, Prashant Nayak explained, “The establishment of these awards will create a better understanding of how such selfless work empowers and enriches the younger generation, and how it helps build bridges between communities and people.”
The High Commission of India, Ranjan Mathai also attended this event and presented three major awards. He presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Executive Director, Dr M.N. Nandakumara; Teacher of the Year- Music (Sangeet Acharya Ratna) to Resident Carnatic Music Teacher, Sivasakthi Sivanesan; and Teacher of the Year Year- Dance (Nritya Acharya Ratna) was awarded to Pushkala Gopal.
Awards were presented to outstanding musicians of Tarang, the National Ensemble for Indian Music and Samyo, the National Youth Orchestra for Indian music to Jasdeep Singh Degun and Sanjuran Keerthikumar respectively. The Yuva Ratna Awards were also given to Young Musician of the Year Yarlinie Thanabalasingham, and Young Dancer of the Year Parbati Chaudhury who both won their awards through a national competition held by Milapfest.
