The State of Jammu and Kashmir is known for its Basohli Paintings all over the world. Recently the tradition of miniature paintings available in Kashmir has also been unearthed. The fresco paintings of Ramnagar (Jammu) and Alchi Gompa (Leh) are the living testimony to the flourishing traditions of painting in this part of the country.

But to keep pace with the modern world of art, it was thought expedient to organise schemes for the benefit of local artists so as to enable them to keep pace with their brother artists in rest of the world :-

 

All India Artists/ Sculptors Camps

In view of the fact that oil painting had come to stay on the scene, it was decided to introduce local artists to the works of senior artists of the country. Apart from seeing their works, it was much more important for local artists to see master artists at work. So, to meet the dual objective, the scheme of holding the All India Painters/ Sculptors Camps was launched in 1968.

The work done in these camps became the prized possession of the Academy. Hence, Academy has the richest collection of modern paintings and sculptures. At present the Academy collection includes nearly 385 paintings and 118 sculptures.

Great Artists of our time like M.F. Hussain, G.R. Santosh, Luxman Pai, N.S. Bendre, J. Swaminathan, B.C. Sanyal, Jatin Dass, Manu Parekh, Sukumar Bhattacharjee, Paritosh Sen, Tyub Mehta, Amba Dass, Robin David, Vidya Rattan Khajuria and a galaxy of other artists/ sculptors have toiled hard to build this most valuable collection.

 

All State Art Exhibition

In absence of Art Galleries in the State where artists could display their works, Academy took upon itself the responsibility to hold Annual Art Exhibitions.

The scheme was launched in 1960 when first All India Art Exhibition was held in the State. Later on, the exhibition was restricted to the participation of the artists of the State only."

To acknowledge the excellence in the field as also to provide encouragement to the artists, Awards were also instituted.

 

Subsidy To Painters

To facilitate holding of one-man and group shows by the artists of the State both within and outside the State, the scheme to provide 'Subsidy to the Artists'1 was introduced by the Academy.

Whereas the grant of subsidy is limited to putting up exhibitions within the State and the country, the subsidy has been granted to Ms. Princy Bhat for holding her exhibition in earstwhile U.S.S.R. and Mr. Suman Gupta for holding his exhibition under the U.N. programme at Geneva as a special case.

 

Publication Of Rasamanjari

To bring world famous Rasamanjari series of Basohli paintings within the reach of art lovers and common masses, a portfolio containing six colour plates was published by the Academy.

It had a foreword by famous Art critic Sh. Mulkh Raj Anand.

 

Children's Activities

With a view to generate interest in the school and college going children in the painting, the scheme of Children's On- the-Spot Painting Competitions' was introduced.

Summer camps during summer vacations are also being organised for the benefit of children interested in learning the art of painting.