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This view of the arts, integrated with the essential to the larger matrix of human culture, is predicated upon Smt. Gandhi’s recognition of the role of the arts as essential to the "integral quality of a person, at home with himself and society". It partakes of the holistic worldview so powerfully articulated throughout Indian tradition, and emphasized by modern Indian leaders from Mahatma Gandhi to Rabindranath Tagore.

The arts are understood to comprise the fields of creative and critical literature, written and oral; the visual arts, ranging from architecture, sculpture, painting and graphics to general material culture, photography and film, the performing arts of music, dance and theatre in their broadest connotation, and all else in fairs, festivals and lifestyle that has an artistic dimension. In its initial stages, the Centre will focus attention on India; it will later expand its horizons to other civilizations and cultures. Through diverse programmes of research, publication, training, creative activities and performance, the IGNCA seeks to place the arts within the context of the natural and human environment.

The fundamental approach of the Centre in all its work is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. It has been conceived with the following aims:

1. To serve as a major resource centre for the arts, especially written, oral and visual source materials;
2. To undertake research and publication programmes of reference works, glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopaedia concerning the arts, the humanities and general cultural heritage;
3. To establish a tribal and folk arts division, which will build a core collection of originals and reproductions, undertake field studies on lifestyle, focus attention on oral traditions;
4. To provide a forum for creative and critical dialogue between and among the diverse arts, traditional and contemporary, through performance, exhibitions, multimedia projections, conferences, seminars and workshops;
5. To foster dialogue between the arts and current ideas in philosophy, science and technology, with a view towards bridging the gap in intellectual understanding that too often occurs between the modern sciences on the one hand and the arts and culture, i.e., traditional skills and knowledge, on the other;
6. To evolve models of research programmes and arts administration more appropriate to the Indian ethos;
7. To elucidate the formative and dynamic factors in the complex web of interactions between diverse social strata, communities and regions;
8. To promote awareness of and sensitivity of historical and cultural linkages between India and other parts of the world;
9. To develop networks of communication with other national and international centre of arts and culture, universities and other institutions.

Through specific programmes and projects the inter-dependence amongst the arts and between the arts and other form of cultural expression, the mutual influences between diverse regions and the interrelationship of the tribal, rural and urban as well as the literature and oral traditions are being investigated, recorded and presented.

The Centre comprises five divisions viz. Kala Nidhi, Kala Kosa, Janapada Sampada, Kala Darsana and Sutradhara.

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