GLOCAP’s Art Workshops for Youth in India, 2016
In the summer of 2016 Global Children’s Art Programme established it’s first art workshops in India. Coordinated by Ayesha Rabadi (Phd candidate, Columbia University Teachers College) and Timothy Lomas we held 2 art events for youth. One at the Gurunanak School in Mumbai and one in the rural mountain area of Panchgani at the Partavdi Village School.
Art projects consisted of a study of traditional “Madhubani” artwork and GLOCAP’s signature “Children’s Mandala Mural for Peace” which has now been recreated in over 20 cities throughout 7 different countries, each with it’s own unique style specific to the region. For our “Mandala Murals” in India we added bindi gems which added a distinctive Indian esthetic to the overall design.
Madhubani painting (also known as Mithila painting) is practiced in the Mithila state of Nepal and the Bihar state of India. Originally these folk paintings were created using fingers, twigs, brushes, and matchsticks using natural pigments and dyes. These ornately designed works were traditionally painted by women for occasions of births, marriages, and festivals and often pictured gods and goddesses with symbolic metaphors of the divine. Interestingly, “Madhubani”(‘Madhu’-honey, ‘Ban’-forest or woods) loosely translates as “Forest of Honey”.
In Mumbai we were joined by Ms. Preety Kothari and Hrishi Raol. At the Partavdi Village School our team included Hrishi and Zavareh Sethna.
We brought back samples of our Indian students’ “Madhubani” drawings for exhibition at The IDEAL School of Manhattan so that students in the U.S. could learn about Indian culture through the artwork of children like themselves.
Guru Nanak School, Mumbai, India. 2016
Partavdi Village School near Panchgani, India. 2016