Shivaji K. Panikkar chairs the committee recommends major revisions to art education in Kerala

The expert committee chaired by renowned art educator Shivaji K. Panikkar recommends a complete revision of the existing courses of Kerala Academy of Fine Arts.

Major reforms to the admission process, assessment methodology and management structure are recommended and transitions to credit and semester frameworks.

Professor Panikkar, former dean and founding member of the School of Culture and Creative Expressions at Ambedkar University, submitted a committee report to the Secretary of Higher Education R. Bindu on Wednesday. Rajan Varughese, member secretary of Kerala Higher Education Commission, attended the meeting. The commission’s requests make recommendations to reform the state’s fine art education.

Under a single entity

An important suggestion is that under the Director of the University Education Bureau or the Director of the individual administrative and academic authorities, there will be functions currently in various university-affiliated art institutions and technical ministries.

Nomenclature changes

The Commission recommends changes to the current term, including the modification of the fine art term to visual art. It also proposes to rename the Academy of Fine Arts as the Academy of Visual Arts, a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) as a Bachelor of Visual Arts, and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) as a Master of Visual Arts.

New University

The group also established a new visual arts college in North Kerala, named after the acclaimed artist KCS Paniker. It further recommends the elevation of the Department of Painting at Sree Sakaracharya University to the current faculty under the leadership of the arts and social sciences. It is also recommended to redefine several universities as schools of visual arts. The RLV Academy of Music and Fine Arts (Tripunithura) is proposed to be reorganized as a professional Academy of Visual Arts, while Raja Ravi Varma will be developed into a dedicated visual arts department at the Raja Ravi Varma Center of Excellence in Mavelikkara.

The report recommends introducing graduate courses such as intermediate practice, curatorial practice, art history and visual research, and interdisciplinary media and design practice. It also calls for departments that are built on the graphic/print production department in all art institutions.