Another year of creative art courses has kick-started in the Indian Institute of Hyderabad (IIT-H), where renowned artists come in to impart experiential knowledge in the field of theatre, performing arts, music and creative writing among students.
The creative arts programme at IIT-H offers undergraduate students a chance to earn credits in fine arts, by providing various short courses, ranging in duration from three days to five weeks. This year, the courses will be held from January to April. This season has already witnessed renowned artists like Prahlad Tipaniya and Jayachandran Palazhy. In the next few months, workshops on understanding cinema like, five days at the movies, Indian classical dance, Kalamkari and Madhubani painting, introduction to theatre and creative writing will be taken up. A workshop on understanding Hyderabad and its heritage is also likely to be held on campus.
IIT-H has been conducting the creative arts courses since 2009 as part of its efforts to produce an intellectual environment conducive to innovation and new approaches to learning, teaching and research. Professor UB Desai, director, IIT Hyderabad firmly believes that knowledge of fine arts and performing arts are indispensable to a well-rounded engineering curriculum. “The programme began with courses in photography taught by the celebrated photographer Navroz Contractor,” said the Creative Arts Committee. The committee comprises of faculty members from Liberal Arts, Design, and Electrical Engineering.
These extremely popular courses are offered by reputed artists from India and abroad, rather than full-time academics, so that students can have a hands-on experience with the arts outside of typical textbook-oriented teaching and learning environments. Currently, students choose from a wide range of 1-credit courses every semester, covering core areas like painting, sculpture, music, dance, theatre, photography, film-making, creative writing, and visual design. While these courses are mandatory for undergraduates, other members of the IIT Hyderabad community, including students enrolled in Masters and Doctoral programmes, faculty, staff, and their families, frequently make use of their standing invitation to participate in these courses.