Photo of Abhishek Kumar

Abhishek Kumar

"Art is a cultural movement which can inspire and encourage the healthy, earnest and serious elements of our lives."

Main details

Year graduated 2007
Occupation MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy. Ford Foundation Fellowship recipient
Country India

Being an arts activist, Abhishek perceives the arts not merely a means of entertainment but as a cultural movement which can inspire, motivate and encourage the healthy, earnest and serious elements of our lives.  

In 2006, Abhishek was selected for prestigious Ford Foundation Fellowship award to study an MA in Arts Administration & Cultural Policy at Goldsmiths, University of London. Having a degree in Theatre & Film-making, it was worthwhile studying the administrative & managerial aspects of arts. The Gold-en days were full of learning and he gained a new perception of arts practices.

Back home, Abhishek was awarded with the Inlaks Theatre Award to do a performance based research into Folk theatre forms, ‘Kirtania’ and ‘Vidapat’. In 2009, he joined ‘JIYO’ as State Arts/Crafts Coordinator (the state of Bihar) - a project administered by the World Bank and implemented by the Asian Heritage Foundation; which aims to bring the benefits of an open, globalized economy by bringing the best of technology, world-class design, and business strategies to poor people whose livelihoods depend upon their ‘creative’ industries.

Gradually, his work has achieved the mission of 'Creating Sustainable Livelihood through Cultural Industries' for the crafts persons, weavers and performing artists to further set up and strengthen their own self-managed grass-root level institutions.

Abhishek also works as a researcher and contributes his writings surrounding various arts & cultural issues.

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