Following the trail of paint...

Namrata wrote in to tell us about a workshop she had conducted as part of the weekend activities of Hippocampus, the children’s library in Koramangala, at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore earlier this month... I took a group of twelve excited children aged between 8 and 10 years. On the way to the gallery we had a very interesting discussion about artists and art galleries. We reached the magnificient Manikyavelu Mansion in which the gallery is housed and went up to the first floor into the room displaying Jamini Roy’s works. I introduced them to Roy via Anjali Raghbeer’s A Trail of Paint. It was a hit, the kids listened with great interest, especially because they were surrounded by the works in the book! After we read the story they had many questions. The assistant curator of the gallery Tejshvi talked to them about the techniques that Roy used and it was very useful to have the book and the works to explore together. Then we asked them to create their ‘own Jamini Roys’, here’s what they created! The children went around the gallery and looked at many other works before we had a snack and made our way back. From their animated discussions, it seemed like a spark of art appreciation had been ignited. Thank you NGMA Bengalooru and Tulika! Note from Tulika: And thank you, Namrata! Twice over. Once for organising the workshop and once for writing in to tell us about it.

November 1, 2010