Kerala Names New Heads for Cultural Akademies, Ending Months-Long Vacuum
Kerala has appointed chairpersons and secretaries for its major cultural institutions, filling a leadership gap of over four months.
The Kerala government has announced a fresh set of appointments to lead its major cultural institutions, bringing an end to a leadership vacuum that had persisted for more than four months after the change of government.
The reshuffle spans literature, music, theatre, cinema, visual arts and folklore, drawing on prominent figures from each field.
Sahitya Akademi
Poet, writer and public speaker Kalpetta Narayanan will serve as chairman of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi. Writer and journalist M.P. Surendran has been named secretary.
Sangeetha Nataka Akademi
Singer and music director G. Venugopal takes over as chairman of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi. Theatre and cultural activist Hemanthkumar is the new vice-chairman, with N.V. Pradeepkumar as secretary.
Lalithakala Akademi
Internationally acclaimed animator and production designer Prof. Prakash Moorthy will head the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi as chairman. Artist T.R. Udayakumar has been appointed vice-chairman and Vaikom M.K. Shibu secretary.
Film bodies
Actor and cultural activist Prem Kumar has been appointed chairman of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), with director and producer Alappy Ashraf as vice-chairman. Prem Kumar has previously held the posts of chairman and vice-chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Actor Raveendran will chair the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, with actor and cultural activist Priyanka Nair as vice-chairperson. Actor Salim Hassan and young filmmaker Jofin T. Chacko will serve on its executive committee.
Welfare board and folklore academy
Film producer and industry organiser M. Ranjith has been named chairman of the Kerala Cultural Activists Welfare Fund Board, which oversees welfare measures for artists and cultural workers.
Folklore and cultural activist Suresh Babu Elayavoor will chair the Kerala Folklore Academy. Tribal rights activist and cultural worker Sreeraman Koyyon is vice-chairman, while Pradeepkumar M. Payyannur, a former secretary of the academy, returns as member-secretary.
The appointments follow a prolonged period in which several cultural institutions were functioning without full-fledged leadership.