Date:13/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/13/stories/2008101357480400.htm

New Delhi

New members of Lalit Kala Akademi

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The General Council of the Lalit Kala Akademi has decided to co-opt Haku Shah (folk arts), Ranjit Hoskote (art criticism), B.N. Goswami and Yashodhara Dalmia (art history), Jagdish Mittal (art promotion), Charles Correa (architecture) and Raghu Rai (photography) as its members.

At a meeting held at Rabindra Bhavan here this past Friday under the chairmanship of Ashok Vajpeyi, the General Council also decided to co-opt nine eminent artists -- Jehangir Sabavala, Bal Chhabra (Mumbai), Thota Vaikuntham (Hyderabad), Balan Nambiar (Bangalore), Anupam Sud (Delhi), Kanayi Kunhiraman (Thiruvananthapuram), Suresh Sharma (Jaipur), S. Nand Gopal (Chennai) and Shobha Brahma (Guwahati).

Of the 42 members who attended the meeting, a small group of ten walked out, disagreeing with the process of voting that was overwhelmingly approved thrice.

The meeting was attended by many eminent people including Sangeet Natak Akademi Chairman Ram Niwas Mirdha, Indian Council for Cultural Relations Director-General Pavan K. Varma and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Member Secretary K.K. Chakravarty.