Nagpur: Nagpur today has become very vibrant in the cultural arena, replete with varied cultural programmes throughout the year, especially organized by the SCZCC within their campus. However, it is felt that the premises fall short of catering to the wide-variety of programmes and the large number of visitors. Hence, what is needed is a cultural complex where cultural activities would thrive. It would be a state-of-the-art complex of international standards keeping in mind a green approach for sustainable development within the city.
VED wishes Nagpur to be a cultural hub of central India the first and essential requisite for which such a cultural complex wherein such cultural activities would thrive.
The South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), Nagpur, has been in existence since 1988 as a premiere public institution in central India, imparting training through its several and different workshops through various faculties and organizing on a regular basis festivals, competitions, exhibitions, seminars, discussions and debates, performances and taking up schemes and activities for preservation of traditional art forms and performances of the classical performing arts and the fine arts. It has been dedicatedly catering to the multi-faced development of the nuances of sensitive minds and the recognition of the limitless cultural values of our ethnic, rural and even urban culture. A premiere institute in the field of art & culture it has been doing yeoman service in identifying, nurturing and promoting art.
However, Nagpur has grown in these 28 years by leaps and bounds and although the premises are in calm, sylvan and idyllic surroundings in the city-centre it is now falling short of its ability to cater to a burgeoning population of culture enthusiasts that is increasingly expressing its interest in the various forms of art, performing arts and the gamut of all that is categorized under culture.
For the convenience of an increasing audience in the visual and performing arts, literature, music, modern and contemporary art, films, food, textiles, jewellery, furniture, books etc. the SCZCC now wishes to establish the Tagore Cultural Complex within its premises which would comprise a public library on art including E- and audio & video libraries, two art galleries, a museum on Vidarbha folk-art and crafts, a sculpture park, a permanent crafts bazaar for exhibitions, a multiplex for screening of art and documentary films, a small auditorium of 500- person seating capacity, three different sized amphi-theatres for different capacities of 300, 800 and above 1500 persons, six permanent handicraft emporia of the member states, six traditional food courts of member states, an ultra-modern SCZCC head-quarter, a multipurpose exhibition hall, a terracotta museum, a mask, doll and puppet museum , a tribal art museum, a miniature art museum, a cafeteria, a book shop, a music shop, a flower shop, a fragrance shop, a juice and traditional drinks shop, an antique shop, an art emporium, a craft emporium, an Ayush Clinic, a Khadi shop, a divine shop, a nursery, an ATM, 6 designer shops for rent (Jewellery, dress, furniture etc.), a fragrance garden.
The component of the head-quarter would include a Director’s Office , an administrative block, an accounts section, a documentation section, record room, three Stores, an audio-video lab, a seminar room, a media room, a generator room, 2-3 units of office for rent purposes, a ticket- counter, decorative gates, basement parking.
The salient features would be a national monument with an international vision, a traditional design with ultramodern facilities, maximum use of natural material, lush green environment with a 40:60 ratio between construction and nature, lighting on plants and building, continuous music play in compound, landscaping/lush green lawns, beautiful entry and exit gates, eco-friendly structures, superb space utilization.
For such a large number of elements to be inclusive within the Tagore Cultural Complex, it is necessary to house them vertically in a large complex structure while at the same time retaining the current heritage-style structure within an idyllic, ‘natural’ ambience.
SCZCC is spread over 4 acres of land which could be optimally and appropriately used to house an entire cultural complex including the many elements that encompass culture. The Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Scheme of the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi, has a budget of Rs. 100 crores for all-India disbursement which could be made available for the creation of such a complex. Director of SCZCC Dr. Piush Kumar has already applied to the Ministry of Culture with a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a sanction.
VED has approached Union Minister of Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari and Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma, New Delhi, to sanction and release this amount to enable further action at this end.
