Dr. Chakradar Behera is the HOD PG of the Visual Arts Department at the Utkal University of Culture. He completed his PhD and Masters at BHU. Since 2012, he has been teaching at UUC. Dr. Behera is a well-respected expert in the visual arts Industry and has been featured in different magazines and conventions throughout the world.

Utkal University of Culture

Being a Professor at UUC, What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

We always try to maintain better teaching methods and educate our students in accordance with our motto, “To the student, for the student, and from the student.” Education is one side of the coin, while mannerisms, proficiency, and knowing our culture are the other side. We strive for the overall development of our students.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects and make it industry-oriented?

Visual Arts is a practical and hands-on subject, but we do not restrict it to the classroom. We take the students to different camps, art galleries, and exhibitions. We also make sure they meet artists to gain some real-life experience, network and build realistic expectations when they graduate.

What are the challenges you faced/ are facing to uplift the quality of education of your department?

Student attendance is a big problem for us, as this is a practical subject. If students don't show up to class, they lose an opportunity to learn and practice to become better. If you lose your practice hand, it takes a long time to get it back.

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How does UUC enhances the skills of the faculty and prepares them according to the industry standards?

From time to time, the college provides training to the faculty and takes us to exhibits, both physical and virtual. These are meant to teach us about new techniques and methodologies. We keep our staff up to date with the latest techniques as well as the old ones so that our heritage is preserved through the students for the future generation.

What do you see as UUC’s greatest strengths?

This university is the first of its kind to offer proper degrees in different Arts like table, flute, art, and sculpting. When the university was incepted, we hardly had ten seats in each department and now we have moved to a new campus much larger than the previous one with a lot of space to work in different fields.

How did UUC operate during COVID 19 and what strategies were formulated and used to keep education ongoing? Is any of those strategies still in effect?

Covid 19 was a very challenging time because all of us were restricted to our households. We took the help of online classes to reach our students, and it was a massive success, especially for the Art department, as this was mostly a visual subject. It was a big issue for the other departments due to the lag in virtual mode, which kept messing up their rhythms. Many students today still prefer the online method, both due to convenience and ease of access.

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What valuable advice would you like to the students for them to have a prosperous career ahead?

Practice. As visual arts is a practical subject, my only advice would be to keep practicing and upskilling your proficiency. Communicate and collaborate with your peers and colleagues, and take every opportunity as it arises.