Hyderabad, January 1, 2026: The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) launched the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) on January 1, 2026, becoming the first IIT in the country to establish a dedicated centre focused on creative arts education.
The new centre marks a milestone in integrating creativity and cultural awareness into technical education. It aims to nurture interdisciplinary thinking among students while maintaining the institute’s focus on technological excellence.
The Centre for Creative Arts builds upon IITH’s existing commitment to liberal and creative arts. The Creative Arts programme was formalized in 2014, starting from heritage tours for first-year students and evolving into a structured academic offering with credited courses across Photography, Fine Arts, Performing Arts and Crafts.
Currently, nearly 10% of the undergraduate curriculum at IITH is dedicated to liberal and creative arts, ensuring students develop empathetic and multidimensional perspectives alongside technical skills.
The CCA, established within the Department of Liberal Arts, will offer 1-3 credit courses in creative and performing arts for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The centre plans to appoint performing artists of repute as adjunct faculty and distinguished professors.
The centre will host Artist-in-Residence programmes and facilitate collaborations that bring artistic perspectives into engineering, science and design education. It will also promote research in arts, encouraging doctoral studies where visiting artists may serve as co-supervisors.
Prof. B S Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad, said: “The Centre for Creative Arts reflects the belief of IITH that creativity, culture and technology must grow together. By integrating creative arts into our academic fabric, we aim to nurture empathetic, imaginative and socially conscious technologists who can innovate for humanity.”
He added that creative arts activate right brain activity, encouraging intuitive thinking essential for innovations, aligning with IITH’s motto of “Inventing and Innovating in Technology for Humanity”.
The CCA will engage with the wider community through outreach programmes for school students and art teachers. Collaborations with organizations such as SPIC MACAY will further enrich the cultural landscape of the campus.
Dr. Aalok Khandekar, Head, Department of Liberal Arts, said: “The establishment of the Centre for Creative Arts will enable us to further build the creative arts program that has been part of our department since its inception. We are excited to host leading artists through the CCA, creating exciting possibilities for new course offerings and research collaborations.”
