MOS Dr RK Ranjan Singh inaugurates 2nd National Mime Festival
New Delhi :Union Minister of External Affairs & Education Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh inaugurated the 2nd National Mime Festival on Saturday at Kanglei Mime Theatre Repertory Complex, Langthabal Kunja, Imphal. The festival organised by Kanglei Mime Theatre Repertory (KMRT), Imphal under the sponsorship of North Eastern Council, Shillong, Ministry of DoNER will continue till April 19.
Speaking as Chief Guest, Dr. R.K Ranjan applauded the efforts of the theatre Director in bringing the art form in the State. He stated that Mime plays a big role in educating the people in other parts of the country in knowing our culture and tradition through voiceless expressions/gestures. He further stated that through the medium of mime, one can express the wants and desires of the people.
The Union Minister said that there is a lot of potential among the people of the State and as such talented persons need to be properly groomed like that in sports. Mime can be popularized in schools and education systems as extra-curricular activities. We need to appreciate and encourage the KMRT who have earned a place in this particular art form, he added.
The Union Minister also gave assurance in co-relating with the embassies of different countries through Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India to popularize the mime of the State at international and national level.
Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba speaking as the President of the inaugural function stated that the art form can play a big role in National Integration through its performance regardless of language barrier.
Mime Artists from Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Rajasthan are participating in the workshop and performances of the festival. It is worth mentioning that Mime, in the modern sense, is a drama performance or scene played with movement and gesture and without speech, thus a non-literary art. Action and feeling are expressed through gesture and movement, the meaning of which is usually very clear. Mime as an art form in the west originated from Europe. It was well practiced as a theatrical art form from as early as the Greek Classical age.
Dr. Ganga Prasad Prasain, Vice-Chancellor of Tripura University, delegates from Japan, scholars and theatre artists attended the inaugural function. Presentation of Mime Play Illusion, Love, Feelings, Dentist by Suvendhu and Subrata Das from Kolkata marked the occasion.
