MRITTIKA’s
mission is to propagate the language and cultural heritage of India and Bangladesh, both to the second-generation immigrants from that region and to people at large in the United States. We do this without discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or disability.
MRITTIKA’s
major goal is to promote the education and appreciation of South Asian languages and art, preserve art forms and cultural history of that region through workshops, exhibitions, audiovisuals and variety performances, attempt to create public awareness of the rich heritage, and make it an integral part of New Jersey life.
Our
artistic philosophy is to bring the rich and sometimes dying or disappearing art forms of Bengal (India and Bangladesh) and other rural parts of India to the awareness of the citizens of the United States. MRITTIKA does this through a variety of means, for example by staging dramas, recitations, topical discussions, narrative folklore, storytelling, music, dance, rhythmic exercises, and puppet shows. We also use audiovisual materials such as slides, films and documentaries for this purpose. In addition, MRITTIKA carries out its cultural instructions through the medium of arts and artworks, and occasionally puts up exhibitions related to native forms of artistic expression from South Asia in New Jersey schools and libraries.
Aside from language instruction, MRITTIKA organizes typically one large and two or three smaller programs each year that focus on its goals and mission. MRITTIKA stages student productions of dramas and puppet shows in local schools, libraries and museums. Furthermore, it aims to make its students familiar with folk art forms of the Indian subcontinent, such as narrative scroll painting, decorative floor painting called "alpana" and the making of terra cotta and "shola" (pith) art objects. In pursuit of this goal, students actively participate in creative art forms, and their output, along with original artifacts sometimes brought from India, are combined in exhibitions that MRITTIKA puts up almost every year in schools and libraries.
