JORHAT: The Assam Women’s University on Wednesday hosted a one-day International Symposium on ‘endangered percussion instruments of Northeast India and the need for collection, documentation and preservation of these instruments’.
The symposium was organized at the varsity premises in Jorhat as a part of an ongoing project of the Department of Cultural Studies, Assam Women’s University on ‘Endangered Organology of North-East India: Classification, Documentation and Presentation’ in collaboration with experts from Ohio Arts Council, USA and King Monkut’s Institute of Technology, Thailand.
In her inaugural speech, Vice Chancellor of Assam Women’s University Professor Ajanta Borgohain Rajkonwar, drew a picture of the current state of the university.
She also focused on the need for preservation and research on the endangered percussion instruments of the seven states of Northeast India.
Dr. Noni Gopal Mahanta, Advisor to Assam Education department, in his speech pointed out the role played by Assam Women’s University in developing human resources of the region and the need for up-to-date infrastructure for the university in the coming days.
Mahanta further assured of permanent faculty positions and adequate infrastructure in the near future for Assam Women’s University.
Speaking on the theme of the symposium, he highlighted the variety of musical instruments in the Northeast and the scope for academic research in this direction in the context of the New Education Policy, 2020.
In the subsequent academic sessions, the invited resource persons spoke at length on the stated theme of the symposium.
Dr. Utpola Borah and Dr. Hans Utter, both ethnomusicologists from Ohio Arts Council, USA spoke on organology and fieldwork in researching percussion instruments respectively.
One of the leading exponents of Dhol in the country, Dhol Samrat Somnath Bora Oja presented a demonstrative display of Dhol and spoke on its evolution in Assamese culture.