North East Zone Cultural Centre is one of the seven zonal cultural centers under the Ministry of Culture Government of India comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh Assam Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Sikkim and Tripura it was established in 1986 with its headquarters at Dimapur Nagaland the center was established with the main objectives of promoting. Disseminating and preserving the folk arts and the rich cultural heritage of the region. As an extension of its activities, the NEZCC established its Shilpgram (a crafts village)at panjabari, Guwahati in 2006 with the objective of providing a platform for men and women in the field of art and culture to congregate and demonstrate their skills in varied trades with an eye on the market. The Shilpgram houses 45 crafts stalls, 8 pavilions, 8 food stalls, a dormitory for artists/artisans, an air-conditioned Auditorium, and an open-air stage for organizing various cultural activities. As part of its annual programs and activities, NEZCC organizes a range of programs at Shilpgram, Guwahati around the year. NEZCC organized a long series of virtual Community Cultural Programmes in the year 2020-21 and 2021-22, during the covid-19 pandemic at the premises of Shilpgram, Guwahati.
The artists who are dependent upon performing arts who were adversely affected by the pandemic were given relief financially to some extent by the virtual programs. For the financial year 2020-23, the Centre is to organize more such programs entitled “Community Cultural Programme- A Cultural Series” -An evening event of Folk songs and dance performances including vanishing arts of different communities of North East India at Shilpgram Complex, Panjabari, Guwahati from June 2022. The inaugural program of this cultural series will be kicked start on June 11, 2022, at 3:30 p.m.
A highlight of Virtual Community Cultural Series/Programmes organized during the years 2021- 2022 (During Cocid-19 Pandemic):
| Total Number of Virtual Series/Programmes (2021-22) | 45 Days(45 No.) |
| Total Number of Communities Participated from Assam (Including Troupes Nagaland, Manipur, and Meghalaya) | 37 + |
| Total Art Forms Presented (Dance, Music, Traditional Drama including Vanishing Art forms) | 100+ |
| Total No. of Folk Troupes | 225 + |
| Artistes Benefited during Covid-19 from NEZCC | 3150 + |
Dr. Prashanna Gogoi, Director NEZCC along with Joint Director D.Vashum, Deputy Director Administration Z. Lhousa, and Officer In-charge Shilpgram V.Phesao & Accounts Officer Ashim Debnath was addressed the Media
