Raghunath Mohapatra appointed President of Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 16:

Renowned architect and sculptor Padma Vibhushan Raghunath Mohapatra has been appointed as the new President of Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi. A formal announcement was made by the Tourism and Culture Ministry of Odisha Government on this context today.

Mohapatra expressed his happiness over the appointment and promised to do the best for the Akademi.

“I am very happy and wish to thank everyone for considering me for the job. By Lord Jagannath’s grace, I will try my level best to ensure that the institution makes progress in each and every aspect,” said Mohapatra.

Speaking about the specific issues faced by the Akademi and his plans to address them, he said, “Traditional art has long been ignored. We need to give a lot more emphasis on it. Besides, some of the awards including the Dharmapada award is stuck in litigation. We have to work on that too”.

“Overall, Lalit Kala is lagging behind in the state. Art exhibitions and promotion outside the state are needed. I will work towards promoting it. We have to take the work of our artists to the people outside the state to renew the interest of artists,” he added.