The art within

It was beautiful to see how their faces lit up when ideas bloomed in their minds. There were 34 children and all of them thoroughly enjoyed what they were doing. The venue was the Museum of Kerala History in Edappally, Kochi, where an art workshop was held on the 8th and 9th of April. Seema C.R., a freelance artist from Mulanthuruthy, led the two-day workshop.

“Art lies within everyone, but they are expressed in different ways,” says Seema, who had associated with the event Art by Children held as part of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. She had volunteered to work for the biennale from the beginning. The workshop was meant for adults, too. The children were confused in the beginning as they were asked to sing and dance. “They wondered if it was really an art class, but those activities are part of improving their concentration,” says Seema.

Her method of teaching was very different as most of the participants were children. She started from physical training such as walking and jumping, and finally, they lay on the ground. “All these physical workouts will make them tired, but will help them concentrate on a particular subject for a long time. It is really helpful for children who are less attentive.”

Then the children were asked to make a collage using leaves, and they all were eager to do it. “I learned this method from my husband, who works in the film field,” Seema says. “Most of the children are not able to make decisions on their own. It is because of parenting and teaching mistakes. Children are taught to be perfect in everything, but it is wrong as everyone has different abilities and concepts,” she adds. At the workshop, kids learnt many things through art as they were asked to do works on their own.

There are other workshops and activities happening in the museum. They started on April 3 and will continue till April 10, and are open to kids and adults. It is a nice chance for children to learn something during the holidays.