Teaching kids to be the change they want to see through art

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Some of the sights at the Shoobh Arts Competition 2012 that was based on the theme of the “Be the change you want to see in the

While most people in the north have been complaining about the bitter cold, I have been revelling in it for many reasons — the major one being that I can wear my favourite fabrics, silk and pashmina. I wait for seven month for this weather and the only thing I have against it is that it gets over too soon and the endless wait begins yet again.

I wonder if it is merely human to wait for the bad rather than enjoy the good while it is happening or am I simply pessimistically masochistic or cynical or whatever jargon is doing the rounds. The other thing that I enjoy in this weather is the hot art scene.
This year the season has been rather thanda but I think people are quickly waking up to the fact that all too soon, this golden weather will end and art events are quickly being scheduled. I myself have had a very eventful week this time with lots of arts events that I enjoyed attending. One of them was declaration of the final results of Shoobh’s Arts Competition-2012 held in schools all across the country. This year’s topic was “Be the change you want in this world” — the popular lines by Mahatma Gandhi. The children had the option of choosing areas that ranged from environment to literacy and everything else in between.
The works of children always fall into two categories: the genuinely creative and free souls who are not bound by typical formula teaching and the victims of teachers’ formulae style of painting. It is my experience that the primary children excel in painting with the heart of artists. Their works are more creative and have unconventional perspectives and the older they grow, the pressures of academics and patina of their teachers’ perspective takes over.
The results and next year’s topic, “Water”, were declared at the frighteningly huge Noida mall Great India Place and the rather eclectic jury comprised of Anjolie Ela Menon, Nupur Kundu, M.K. Puri, Umesh Verma, Ranjita Kant and yours truly. After the judging and the results, a lazy wonderful afternoon was had by us all. Bharat Gauba, the spirit behind the Shoobh, has launched the event as purely non-commercial venture and deserves kudos for making so much effort to spread awareness of socially relevant subjects through art at the school level.
The other art venture that is generating a lot of interest is the Niv. Tucked into the elbow of a lane just off the main road, Niv is quietly holding artists’ residencies and providing studios to artists and holding exchange programmes with artists in other parts of the world. They have a well-appointed gallery as well on the rather compact premises and Aruna and Shahji Mathew, the husband-wife duo behind the project, are art lovers who are trying to do something different.
Much as I laud the thought and actions of the project, it is my sincere wish that it becomes self-sustaining. For only once it is self-sustaining will it be here to stay. At the moment they have about a dozen artists working in their studios and their bubbly and infectious enthusiasm was most endearing. Two works that caught my fancy were installations by young artists. The first one was an extremely elegant work in terra-cotta by Sarika that resembled a river of dried leaves and the other was a tap whose water had become putrid and its algae was tainting everything it touched and the second was a stunning work where the artist Rahul Modak has created terra cotta leaves — each one individually created to resemble a bed of autumnal leaves. No colour has been used and the inherent beauty of the mud and the natural hues of the terra-cotta have lingering impact. I do hope Niv is an idea whose time has come.