Kerala Lalithakala Akademi is an autonomous institution of the Government of Kerala established in 1962, with the objective of conserving and promoting the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture and graphics. It has had a line of illustrious artists at its helm, starting with M Ravi Varma Raja, son of Raja Ravi Varma the great artist, as its first chairman.
The Akademi is now a centre for cultural, artistic and educational activities. It encompasses both the traditional fine arts of the state as well as the contemporary art, including newer media like cartoons and photography.
The Akademi's activities include camps, seminars, workshops, lectures, exhibitions, film shows, art appreciation classes and others. It also conducts programmes targeted at specific audiences like art appreciation for children, painting workshops for women, workshops on tribal and indigenous art and craft for fine art students and craftsmen and so on.
The Akademi has galleries in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kanhangad, which it lets out to individual artists, societies and cultural groups. It has a reference library as well as a huge collection of paintings of eminent artists; it also has an archive of documentaries and films related to artists. It also publishes books, catalogues, reproductions and monographs.