GS Cultural Affairs: Manifesto Review

The Institute General Body Meets (GBMs) are conducted twice every year with the intent to provide all students a convenient mechanism to provide feedback and addressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dress concern to the student representatives responsible for various amenities on campus.

The UG Cultural Affairs 2015-16 GBM is scheduled from 9:50 PM on 30th October in LT (PCSA).

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Events in red are those that haven’t been started or there has been no satisfactory development in this regard.
Events in orange are those that have been initiated but not completed, or there have been some developments in this regard.
Events in green are those that have been completed as described in the manifesto, or have seen satisfactory developments.

INITIATIVES
• Cult School: Yearlong classes conducted by experts; new admissions on monthly basis providing more freedom to explore different genres
• Pahal (पहल): Conduct a showcase event to provide a platform to participants of Cult School, Muskaan, “Cult…not diffiCult” phase II
• Pro week: Introduce professional workshops across all genres spread out over a week to boost the quality of cultural activities
• Cult-X-Posure: Propose providing professional opportunities to outstanding performances of flagship events of dance, dramatics, music and film to provide greater exposure and enhance the quality of these events
• Digitalize Publicity: In coordination with Hostel Affairs council, propose to install screens in common areas to replace flexes
• Cult Magazine: Create a magazine documenting the highlights of cultural activities in the past few months and information of the upcoming events

The manifesto outlined some very ambitious initiatives. The proposal for the conduction of the Cult School efficiently was one of them. Cult School saw the most amount of participation in many genres and was received very well in terms of the quality of the workshops. It culminated with a well-organised “Pahal” giving stage to the beginners. The proposal to introduce professional workshops across genres hasn’t taken off comprehensively, but has still seen considerable progress. The most distinctive initiative, of shifting event publicity from print media to digital media by installing LED screens in campus is being worked upon in coordination with the HA council.

CONSOLIDATION AND FOLLOW-UPS


• Lifestyle Club: Form a council to ensure regular club meetings and increased participation in events and outside competitions
• ‘Cult…Not diffiCult’ Phase II: To be conducted during the semester for those unable to attend phase I in summer; focus is to provide entry point into clubs for freshmen and increase interaction between club seniors and amateurs
• Muskaan: In coordination with NSS, organise regular cultural classes; appoint semester long volunteers to take responsibility for conduction
• Institute Cultural Night: Organize a night, full of low preparation informal events, crossovers and games for recreation
• Design Team: Maintain current structure with additional responsibility of establishing design as a culture in the institute
• Choose your Fest: Propose providing opportunities to different genres to participate in different fests best suited to that genre
• Extend Cult Yatra to all genres and ensure pre-planned trips at least once a semester

The first half of the tenure saw a lot of ground being covered in terms of building upon the work that has been going on for a few years. This includes the formation of the Institute Design Club and a better-structured Lifestyle Club. An effort to increase enthusiasm of students in participating in events outside the institute was also made in terms of the “Choose your fest” initiative, but that is yet to see a full-fledged implementation. The other points covered under the section would be more relevant in the coming semester.

ADMINISTRATION

• Work Review Meets: Conduct bi-monthly meetings of current council with previous year’s cultural council for suggestions and improvements in functioning and events
• Bi-Monthly Genre Reports: Public log of accomplishments made available online of each member of the cultural council
• Genre Committees: Teaming up with hostel secretaries in conceptualizing and executing GCs and hostel events

The tenure has seen an overall increase in the transparency in the working of the cultural council. Regular meetings of the council are conducted, and the coordination with hostel councils in conduction of events, especially GCs has seen an increase.

EVENTS

• Introduce Documentary GC for greater exposure to different types of film making
• Introduce Hindi Creative Writing GC and Hindi Word Games GC in literary arts genre to provide a greater diversity of competition
• Introduce Model United Nations (MUN) GC to revive the MUN culture
• Conduct an institute wide Performing Arts Festival (PAF) Orientation focusing on freshmen
• Conduct Preparatory Sessions well before GCs for each group consisting of 3-4 nearby hostels to increase participation and improve quality
• Music Fest: Propose to restructure Surbahaar or Swarsandhya to showcase and give a platform to a variety of music genres
• Extend Sophie Culturals to music and photography and ensure proper mentor allotment in all genres to ensure quality participation
• Ensure proper orientation and organisation of 3rd SPICMACAY International Convention to be hosted at IIT Bombay
• Propose to provide a platform for performances by students before renowned artists in Virasat
• Cultathon: Introduce crossover competitions to promote inter genre team participation
• Introduce Costume Designing and Modelling competitions in Freshiezza
• Conduct club wise Award Ceremony for Freshiezza
• PG Cult League: Retain the two legged-structure of PG Cult
  League and hold regular workshops in PG hostels to promote learning and exposure towards various genres

The events saw an overall increase in scale, with participation in Dance, Film and PFA events registering a considerable increase. The SPICMACAY International convention was also a highlight of the half-tenure, having been conducted smoothly. There has also been an increase in quality of the preparatory workshops before GCs, but clustered workshops for hostels haven’t been implemented as such. Also, the proposal to introduce sophie cultural in music and photography hasn’t been taken up explicitly. On a whole, the events have received a good response from the people.

INFRASTRUCTURE
• Increased inventory of Amplifiers to be purchased in order to meet every genre`s requirement
• Purchase: Camera, Studio Lights, Boom Mics, Projector
• Discount Stalls: For music instruments; ‘Books by Weight’ Expo; Camera accessories

A sincere effort has been made to improve the cultural infrastructure available to students, by purchase of DSLR cameras, studio equipment for the Photography and Fine Arts studio and also some procurements for Film.

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