Lalit Kala Akademi Announces 20 Awards at 65th Art Exhibition

The correct answer is 20. A second-tier jury, set up only to judge the prize entries, selected twenty artworks by twenty artists for the Lalit Kala Akademi Awards at the sixty-fifth National Exhibition of Art. Options A, B and D do not match the number announced by the Akademi. The figure to keep separate in memory is the count of works shortlisted for display, which was two hundred and seventy, chosen by the first-tier jury from the entries received. Aspirants should also note that the awarded works span several media, including terracotta and ceramic sculpture, oil and acrylic painting, etching in printmaking, panel work in drawing and mixed media entries, which is why the awards are listed by category as well as by artist. The Akademi also thanked the members of both juries for sifting the entries before the winners were declared.

The correct answer is 6,175 artworks. These came from two thousand four hundred and ninety-five artists spread across twenty-seven States and Union Territories, which is why option A is a trap: that number counts the artists, not the works. Option C names the works the first-tier jury shortlisted for display at the exhibition, a much smaller set drawn from the total entries. Option D does not appear in the announcement at all. The chain of numbers is worth memorising in order: entries received, then works shortlisted for display, then works given awards. The wide participation across twenty-seven States and Union Territories is what the Akademi points to as proof of the exhibition's national character. The Akademi presents the show as a boost to the creative economy as well, since works on display are sold and artists earn from them directly.

The correct answer is 270. Selection for this exhibition happens in two stages. The first-tier jury went through the entries and shortlisted two hundred and seventy artworks for presentation at the show. A separate second-tier jury was then constituted to choose the award-winning works, and it picked twenty artworks by twenty artists. Options A, B and D are not figures given in the announcement. Remember that the shortlisted works cover painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing and mixed media, and that the artists used materials ranging from terracotta, ceramic and teak wood to white marble, oxidised copper, oil and acrylic on canvas, watercolour wash and etching, a spread the Akademi treats as a sign of continuing experiment in Indian visual art. The two-stage process is itself a fair question: first-tier jury for display, second-tier jury for the awards.

The correct answer is art. The Lalit Kala Akademi is the National Academy of Art and works under the Ministry of Culture, and it is this body that organises the National Exhibition of Art every year along with the Lalit Kala Akademi Awards. Option A describes the field of the national academy for the performing arts, which is a different institution. Option B points to the academy concerned with letters and literature. Option D refers to bodies dealing with crafts and handloom, which are separate again. For the examination, tie the Akademi to three things at once: the field of visual art, the annual National Exhibition of Art now in its sixty-fifth edition, and the twenty awards announced this year to twenty artists. The exhibition is held annually and is counted among the most prestigious shows of contemporary visual art in the country.