A two-day Indo-Canadian Symposium on Indigenous Art, Contemporary Signification began today at the National Museum Institute, New Delhi. National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology and the National Museum, New Delhi have organized the symposium. The symposium was inaugurated by Shri Jawhar Sircar, Secretary, Ministry of Culture of Government of India.

Inaugurating the Symposium, he questioned the term Indigenous and raised pertinent issues. Shri Sircar, stressed upon evolving a value free term. He further said that in India every one has roots in the indigenous tradition. One should be proud of their indigenous culture. Unfortunately, today we have distanced ourselves from the roots for certain social pressure, he added.

In his welcome address, Dr. Vijay S Madan, Vice Chancellor, National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology and Director General, National Museum announced that this Indo-Canadian Symposium marks a beginning of events in which indigenous art will remain focus. It will be followed by an important exhibition on Sanaugavut: Inuit Art from the Canadian Arctic and an International workshop on indigenous art, to be held on the occasion of the Commonwealth Games.

Prof. (Dr.) Anupa Pande, Head of the Department and Coordinator, introduced the concept of the Symposium. She said that the symposium on Indigenous Art, Contemporary Signification, focuses on the indigenous art forms of India and those of Canada, namely, the Inuit. The Symposium seeks to explore the rich and complex relations between so called 'archaic' indigenous art forms and the formal, representational forms. She said that such a discourse now deserves re-interrogation as the very process and forms of aesthetic construction are getting problematised.