Chief Minister M K Stalin said pledging to protect the arts language culture and race and urging artistes from the State to go around the world and popularize Tamil arts and art forms
Chennai: Life would lose its meaning if self respect and Tamil identity were lost, Chief Minister M K Stalin said, pledging to protect the arts, language, culture and race and urging artistes from the State to go around the world and popularize Tamil arts and art forms.
Speaking at a government event, organized to distribute Kalamamani awards to various artistes for the years 2021, 2022 and 203 and the conferring of M S Subbulakshmi Award to playback singer K J Yesudas on Saturday, Stalin said no art form had been left out in the selection of award winners
He thanked the Tamil Nadu Iyal, Isai, Nataka Sangam (Literary, Music and Drama association) for organizing the event and said the selection of awardees were also from all age groups, ranging from 90-year-old Muthukanammal to a young music director Anirudh (35 years).
On the Kalaimamani award, he said it came with a gold medal and a certificate and was more precious than gold, whose price skyrocket every day, as it was given away by the Tamil Nadu government that had devoted itself or the promotion of all arts, promoting traditional cultures and helping indigent artistes.
Following the footsteps of M Karunanidhi, the DMK government had been honouring artistes representing different art form, he said and quoted Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who spoke ahead of him at the event and recalled Karunanidhi receiving the Kalaimamani award from C N Annadurai in 1967.
Recollecting the past contribution of the Dravidian movement to the promotion of arts and culture through the staging of plays, he said drama was a chosen form of medium to propagate the ideals of the self-respect movement.
It was the Dravidian movement that infused thought, principles, form and propaganda into drama, he said, adding that it helped promote the development of Tamil language along with other forms of arts like literature, writing and oratory.
