Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal

History

The early 1980s, saw a burgeoning Indian arts scene and a renewed government focus on developing arts across the nation, through regional centres for arts in state capital cities. The initiative in Madhya Pradesh was taken by cultural administrator, Ashok Vajpeyi, an IAS-officer in state Ministry of Education (1966-1992), who was behind the setting up of literary organization, 'Kalidas Academy' in Ujjain, which opened in 1983. Though some cultural initiatives lost steam in later years in many parts of India, one such project became a success, Bharat Bhavan (India House) in Bhopal.f India|Prime Minister]], Indira Gandhi. It was established and funded by the Department of Culture, Government of Madhya Pradesh, though it is run by an autonomous a 12-member Bharat Bhavan Trust. In the following decade, the institution grew to become an important cultural institution of India as it started attracting artists, scholars and students from Indore, Jabalpur, Mumbai, Kolkata and even foreign visitors.During its formative years, theatre personality, B. V. Karanth who headed the 'Rangamandal repertory', incorporated folk forms of the region into his work, staged many productions in Hindi, especially during his stint at Bharat Bhavan. The "Bharat Bhavan Biennial of Contemporary Indian Art" started in 1986, followed by "Bharat Bhavan International Print Biennial" in 1989. The complex is most known for its art museum, Roopankar, which houses a permanent collection of tribal art, collected by J. Swaminathan in its early years, and represents the best examples of tribal art in India.The 'Vagarth' centre of Hindi poetry and literature houses a library and archive of Indian poetry, classical music, and folk music. It organizes, 'Katha Prasang' festival on Hindi literature.