SAARC nations have renewed their cultural ties at a just-concluded conclave of their culture ministers, but their shared history of artistic cooperation dates back to five decades - as portrayed eminently in a grand spectacle that opened in New Delhi.
The three-day photo exhibition which began at the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) on Friday essays select cultural events that the national-level institution has hosted since 1958 till recently - all of them exclusively featuring the countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that now total eight: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives, besides India.
SNA Secretary Helen Acharya pointed out that the 1952-founded Akademi has played a proactive role with regard to performing arts. "This has been particularly so in South Asia and the SAARC countries," she added.
The 169-image exhibition, which has been organised as part of a SAARC Cultural Festival on Traditional Dances of South Asia being staged at the Akademi this week, seeks to recall the contributions of India in unifying the cultural spirit of the eight-nation grouping.
"We have chosen recap moments from eleven occasions - from 1958 (when SNA held a dance seminar in Delhi) to a welcome function hosted in 2003 in honour of Chandrika Bhandaranaike Kumaratunga when she was the President of Sri Lanka," Ms Acharya noted.