Day 5 - Re-Cycle our Waste and Sculpting with Clay

We explored new mediums and new techniques, learnt a little about re-cycling and also of how to work with clay.

Renuka Taneja, founder of Wincraft Studio, an art studio for children in Delhi, came to the kendra and spent the morning teaching them how to make artworks using old materials like card boards, tetra packs, chocloate wrappers, thread ends etc. She let them follow their heart in creating their own "masterpiece" as well as began the activity with a little warm up and loosening exercise for the mind and body.

He soft, gentle voice and warm attitude got the children really working on their pieces.

In the afternoon we had a surprise visit by Mrs Rajani Balasubramanium, our sponsor for the Delhi Tour and also a huge supporter of Tara Trust. She spent time with the children post lunch, chatting with them about their school, the activities that they participated in for the last four days. The children really opened up to her and shared their ambitions in life, and also sang the famous anthem which has now become a tune that they are always humming wherever they are. 

The afternoon session was with Santosh Kumar, a master potter and a member of the Blue Pottery Delhi. He came in the work with the children and teach them some basic sculpting techniques as well working on the wheel. The children were fascinated with the work they produced. Children always love mud, and smooth clean clay, its a "field day"

Ruth Buck, is a one of the resident artists from Switzerland staying at the Kendra, and she has been observing and interacting with the children for the past couple of days, and then came up with the plan to use them for her next installation project. All we did was record our own names in her voice recorder, which she shall project in another space  as a part of an installation. There was initial hesitation amongst the kids as it seemed strange to them to saying their own names into a mike, but then it also became fun once everyone did it in their own style.

The week is turning out better than planned. The resident artists at the Kendra, Cynthia, Anna, David, Ruth, Jane, Mackenzie, are all wonderful people and though they never heard of us before, just watching the children and us everyday has tempted to join in and contribute in our work and learning, and it is amazing for the children, as it is helping them to open up to different people and learn about newer and far off places.

"Its a Small World After All "