A collaborative effort by three local NGOs gave unexpected form to the vision of an art instructor from New York, culminating in the ‘I AM: India’ exhibition that was held on Monday evening at the Hacienda Art Gallery at Kala Ghoda.
Over the past three months, Sasha Sicurella, educational director, OMI International, an arts centre in NY, conducted three-day workshops with the children of Mobile Creches Mumbai, Nanhi Kali and CHIP Mumbai. Focusing on the idea of the self-portrait, they were encouraged to explore notions of individuality through drawings and photographs. The kids were especially excited when a camera was set up on a tripod and they were asked to click photos of themselves with a remote control.
Actively participating through photos, drawings, games, dance, and song, the children have surprised Sicurella at every step. “Many of them function on the mechanism of ‘I need to make it through this day’. They have no past, and maybe no future, but they live intensely in the moment,” she said. Yet, she believes their self-portraits capture feelings and emotions that rise above this sense of survival and are, therefore, remarkably triumphant.
Sicurella’s fondest memory of the workshops is of a boy who stood up in class to thank her for making him temporarily forget about language, a debilitating factor in the education of children who live and grow up at construction sites. Vrishali Pispati of Mobile Creche Mumbai, which runs daycare centres and non-formal schools for children of migrant workers living at construction sites, feels learning through art and play is the best way for them to express themselves. “Sometimes, there are children from as many as 17 different states at a site, so language becomes a hindrance. Since art transcends such barriers, we conduct a lot of art and crafts workshops to help children bond and learn,” Pispati said.
A visibly thrilled Sasha hopes to turn the ‘I AM’ project into a series that will chart an international course, giving children from densely populated and underprivileged backgrounds from across the world a chance to unearth their uniqueness. “I want them to know that they’re one of millions of people but each one is different. It may be as simple as saying your favourite colour is red and her favourite colour is blue. But it is this awareness that I want to inspire in them,” Sicurella said.
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