Day 9 - We Are All One Family !

The children got together and planned the display of their work. I conducted a short feedback session, as well as a planning meeting for the same. It was their work and hence, to make them understand the sense of responsibility and pride in the work they do, it was important for me to let them plan the same with me being around for support and guidance.

They  used the the entire space of the Kendra very well to work and dispaly.

It turned out to becoming quite a professional looking display, the kids were proud of their work and equally excited to see what happens to the rest of the day.

We had Manu Parekhji grace the occasion, and come all the way to meet the group. He shared a few of his own thoughts about art, as well as gave some on the spot drawing lessons to the children. He then went thru each participants work, keenly listening to their descriptions as well as adding his own comments.

Sudhir Kakar, Tara Trust board member, and Sulina Kakar his sister were also present for the interaction session. 

We were also visited by the children of Udayan Care, who had come in on the first day to learn origami and drawing.  They all were very thrilled and happy to see the work. 

We also had children on WinCraft Studio, a children's creative studio founded by Renuka Taneja, in New Delhi, come for the exhibition, as well as participate in an impromptu T-shirt painting exercise.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank Mr.O P Jain, for the wonderful opportunity to use Sanskriti Kendra as our space to conduct The 1000 Crane Project workshops in New Delhi. Manu Parekhji and Sudhir Kakar for being there, as well as all the other resident artists at Sanskriti Kendra at that  time.

Also, our partner organisation in New Delhi, Music Basti and Center for Equity Studies. 

The stars of the show were the 10 children from Delhi and Goa, Malik, Akshay, Asma, Shabana, Dilruba and Roni from Dil Se, and Sagar, Santosh, Kavita and Kavya of The Don Bosco School Zuari Nagar, Goa.

Day 8 - Finishing Touches & A Game of Rugby

The collective collages that were started yesterday could not be completed in a day. The largest piece is about 5’ X 5’ in size, and the two smaller pieces are 2’ X 5’ in size.

We also had to deal with a little bit of impatience settling in the group cause it looked like it would never get done, but then once we made them all hold a brush and work on the large piece, it suddenly got exciting, as it seemed to them to come together quicker.

And so they learnt, that they can work faster if they work together, a lesson important for life, and for tomorrow the day of the exhibition.

Most of the day was spent in completion of these pieces, one of which will be gifted to the Sanskriti Kendra for their museums.

Post lunch, was more fun and team building games, and then we had a surprise visit from Pierre Bellemere, a French rugby coach who has been living in New Delhi and working with the Rugby Academy here, along with Kamaldeep Dagar, player of the Indian Rugby team, and Apurv Pandey, a professional in the garment industry in New Delhi but a ardent rugby player, and also my younger brother. These young sportsmen are trying to promote sport amongst the youth and especially Rugby which is a fairly new sport to India but even though it looks rough, the players have to follow a strong code of conduct on the field.

They started with a few warm up exercises, and then divided the kids into two teams and made them play a little game of Rugby. The most amazing part of this exercise was to see the girls and their agility for the game.

The kids were in for another surprise, when Pawan Sharma landed up to meet with them and help them to refine their play that was created and worked on a couple of days earlier. He has done an amazing job in bringing them together as a team too.

We ended the day with a little party in the dorms along with the other resident artists of Sanskriti Kendra, as it was the second last day. The resident artists though generations older to them had grown attached to the kids and were feeling a little sad to see them leave the day after, and hence, it called for a party.

Everyone shook a leg or two, and there were some new dance steps that were created.

Later in the night, they all sat down together and re-capped their last 8 days by looking thru all the photographs and videos I had taken thru the workshops. It was lovely to see them comment about themselves and each other.

Day 7 - Making Textile Masterpieces, Dancing to Hip Hop & Classical and getting a little Musical !

Having worked with paints, the understanding of colour had become pretty strong amongst the children, but, to test them translate the same thru another medium apart from paints, we worked on a fabric collage. 

A collective exercise, where the plan was to make 3 artworks, one a large collective, and the two smaller ones.

We had a alot of scrap material donated by Indigo Exports, New Delhi for this activity, which included fabrics, buttons, laces, threads, and the children were left free to use whatever they pleased.

This activity was co-ordinate by David Rossiter, a resident artist, who helped in drawing the basic outline and putting the story of the 1000 cranes together. I helped the children to create their colour pallete with the fabrics we had. Post which they were left on their own to cut and paste.

Sumaya, a life skills expert, came in during the day, to work with the kids thru colour and spontaniety exercises, helping them connect with themselves. The colours were a riot on each paper, and really spoke about each individual.

Nandini, a classical odissi dancer, who works with a lot of children around New Delhi teaching dance forms, came in for a one hour session with the participants. She was wonderful in motivating every one to get up and dance. A few enthusiasts like Malik, completely enjoyed every move!

Dhruv Visvanath, a young musician and student of Geography, came in the evening, to share his music and teach the kids a little bit about feeling the rhythm and working with instruments. It was amazing and bewildering for some to hear the sound of drums come out of the guitar.

All in all it was a day filled with activities which made the children shake a different leg and listen to some new notes.

Day 6 - Paper Trees, Jumping Frogs, Loads of Drama and Music !

We took a break from painting and drawing. Anna Neizvestnova from Russia, one of the resident artists here at Sasnkriti Kendra, worked with them to develop paper sculptors. A basic tree form, just with a wrapping and crushing of paper technique.

It was an amazing experience for them cause when they began wrapping the paper on the twig they could not imagine that it would turn our looking like a white christmas. Once again, with Anna's English being a little weak, and the children's too, it was amazing how they found their artwork once again as a mode of communication.

Sohei, an illustrator from Japan working for a short while here in Delhi for a book, also conducts some workshops with Music Basti at the homes that they facilitate, came by to add to the origami skills of the children. The Jumping Frog became a toy that the kids loved and played with. 

We had Pawan Sharma return for a second session of theater, as we wanted to evaluate changes in the children from the second day, and also make them learn a collective street play. It was quite an intense workshop, with emotions running high, but at the end of the day, there was a little sense of unity that could be seen in the group.

The day ended in a musical note, by a short sing song evening with Sudev, on the tabla and Sriparna in vocals. They taught a few ragas to the kids as well, and the kids taught them their anthem which they seem quite proud of.

All in all, an activity filled day, with emotions and expressions coming out thru paper, theater and music.