Our Academy is the only cultural institution in Delhi which is an open house for all creative people who want to have literary gatherings, rehearsals of their plays, dance rehearsals, music concerts, literary gatherings, book releases, gatherings of painters for slide shows and talks etc.
Literary activities are promoted through seminars, research, translations, publications and writers' meets appropriately called DIALOGUE. And through a free Library and Reading Room located on the ground floor of the Academy.
The Academy has always been locating, chiseling and promoting young and upcoming talent in painting, music, dance, sculpture, theatre, ceramics, creative writing and translations by offering scholarships and organising their art exhibitions, dance performances, music concerts, plays, releasing new books, translations of important writings in different languages, etc.
Art exhibitions ranging from the paintings of Hussain, Souza and Raza to the work of young talented artists are organised in the Arpana Fine Arts Gallery of the Academy.
In the other gallery, Arpana Caur's permanent collection of canvases, etchings, drawing, gouaches, etc. is on display, and these are not for sale.
The Academy also tries to bring college and school students to see important shows of renowned artists, to create awareness about art and a general aesthetic approach towards life.
Regular subsidized classes in classical Dance and Painting, Ceramics and Sculpture, Theatre and Aesthetic Awareness, Pranayam and Yoga, are conducted by experts.
All these courses are free for the students from disadvantaged sections of society. Stipends are given to the talented among them. All these courses give an added vision to the creativity of interested students and provide opportunity to develop and improve their individual skills.
The Academy locates uneducated adolescent girls and women from the surrounding slums, who are usually scrubbing and cleaning in the wealthy houses in the neighbouring posh colonies. We bring them in our hired buses to the Academy, and give them compact and condensed six-month non-formal education courses and also training in vocational skills.
With the First-ever SAARC WRITERS CONFERENCE in April 2000, the Academy has extended its area of dialogue and interaction among the creative minds of eight sister countries : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. As a result, the Academy has launched a permanent FOUNDATION OF SAARC WRITERS AND LITERATURE (FOSWAL) which is an APEX BODY OF SAARC.
Foundation is the only organisation in eight SAARC countries : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, legally authorized to organize literature-related and cultural interactions, Seminars, Conferences, Festivals, under the SAARC banner and with the SAARC logo.