Imphal: Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Union Minister of External Affairs & Education, inaugurated the 2nd National Mime Festival, Saturday, at Kanglei Mime Theatre Repertory Complex, Langthabal Kunja, Imphal, Manipur.
The festival organized by Kanglei Mime Theatre Repertory (KMRT), Imphal, under the sponsorship of North Eastern Council, Shillong, Ministry of DoNER will continue till April 19, 2022.
Speaking as Chief Guest, Dr. R.k. Ranjan, applauded the efforts of the theatre Director in bringing the art form in the state. He stated that Mime plays a big role in educating the people in other parts of the country in knowing our culture and tradition through voiceless expressions/gestures. He further stated that through the medium of mime, we can express the wants and desires of the people.
The Minister said that there is a lot of potential among the people of the state and the talented persons need to be properly groomed like that in sports. Mime can be popularized in schools and the education system as an extra-curricular activity. We need to appreciate and encouraged the KMRT who have earned a place in this particular art form, he added. The Minister also gave the assurance in co-relating with embassies of different countries through Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India to popularize the mime of the state at the international and national level.
Leishemba Sanajaoba, MP, Rajya Sabha, speaking as the President of the inaugural function stated that the art form can play a big role in National Integration through its performance regardless of the language barrier.
Mime artists from Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, and Rajasthan are participating in the Workshop and Performances of the festival. It is worth mentioning that Mime, in the modern sense, is a drama performance or scene played with movement and gesture and without speech, thus a non-literary art. Action and feeling are expressed through gesture and movement, the meaning of which is usually very clear. Mime as an art form in the west originated in Europe. It was well practiced as a theatrical art form from as early as the Greek Classic age.
Dr. Ganga Prasad Prasain, Vice-Chancellor of Tripura University, delegates from Japan, scholars, and theatre artists attended the inaugural function. The inaugural function was marked by the presentation of Mime Play Illusion, Love, Feelings, Dentist by Suvendhu and Subrata Das from Kolkata.
