Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch Inaugurates Tagore Centre for Global thought at London

Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister of Culture, Government of India inaugurated the Tagore Centre for Global Thought at India Institute, King’s College, London on 2nd April, 2013. Smt. Katoch is currently on a 3- day visit to London. Set up as part of the Tagore Commemoration celebrating 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, this Tagore Centre will enhance Tagore-related, academic intellectual and philosophic work globally.

The underlying concept is to promote the study of liberal arts and support programmes connected with all aspects of Tagore’s works and showcase how the Indian thought and intellectual capability was influenced by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

The Tagore Centre has been established in partnership with the India Institute of King’s College, London by signing an agreement. The Centre will take up five core activities promoting global implications and connections of Indian thought besides promoting Tagore’s literary and cultural legacy. The Centre is also expected to promote research in Tagore’s literature and artistic works in all the areas of music, art and films. Besides promoting Tagore’s philosophy it is also expected to promote and support research students working on the Global Intellectual history of Indian Thought. The activities will include Tagore distinguished lectures in Global Thought, Lecture series on Tagore, Doctoral Scholarships and film series based on Tagore Stories and writings.

To facilitate the Tagore Centre, Ministry of Culture has designed a lean but strong administrative architecture comprising the New Delhi - based Steering Committee headed by the Union Culture Secretary and the London - based Implementation and Monitoring Committee. The latter has been empowered to take decisions regarding the Centre and its programmes. Over £100,000 out of a total of over £300,000 committed for 3 years has already been released.

The Tagore Centre is expected to become a vibrant Centre of excellence and an intellectual hub in the field of art and culture. It will not only promote and support research studies on Tagore’s thought and work in art, music, education and traditional literature but also studies in Indian Philosophy and cultural tradition, for which India is known worldwide.