(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Our own indian school students put up exhibition depicting varied cultures of indigenous communities
students creating artworks for the indian art exhibition held at gems our own indian school in dubai on thursday. — kt photos by mukesh kamal
twelve- year-old indian national and student of gems our own indian school aliza nawab kidwai speaks very passionately about the ancient tribal indian art forms of the warli people.
“the warlis or varlis are an indigenous tribe or adivasis living in the mountainous as well as coastal areas along the maharashtra-gujarat border. their artwork is unique in the sense that they use only natural colours and draw on mud walls. their simple depictions of geometric patterns usually always have a story behind them and it is mostly something to do with everyday life” said aliza.
gems our own indian school in al qouz dubai held an indian art exhibition (index) on june 19 for its students and parents. the school’s auditorium was transformed into a beautiful exhibition venue with subtle lighting traditional music and activity to augment the artworks done by students.
apart from the warli paintings the exhibition also had madhubani or mithila paintings (a style of indian painting practised in the mithila region of bihar state) gond rangoli (patterns drawn with coloured powder) traditional-looking jewellery designed with paper pot paintings and glass paintings among other artworks. students are also auctioning artworks on wooden tiles glass paintings pottery paintings and henna to the visitors.
the three-day exhibition will continue till monday.
“the gond tribals are is one of central india’s largest indigenous communities and their art is an expression of their everyday quest for life” added aliza one of the students taking part in index. through art education students have been exposed to the rich and varied art culture of their home country and it is in this regard that the exhibition is named “index” (india exhibition). besides indian art index has also given students a platform to showcase their individual creativity on canvas tiles craft work and display their understanding of their adopted land (dubai) in the form of arabian art” she said.
apart from portraits and canvas works the students have also set up a live demonstration of “artisans at work”. the artworks are available for auction and the money raised will be donated to the varkey gems foundation according to school headmistress amol rao.
a majority of the 600-odd participating students belonged to the middle school.
“it is truly unique because the main point of the exhibition was to get school students involved in art which is usually a subject that students do not pay much attention to” said school principal lalitha suresh.
“one of my other main purposes to take this up was to encourage boy students in the art and i am glad to see so many pupils who’ve contributed to the exhibition. we’re planning to make this exhibition an annual event with different themes every year.
“the purpose behind the exhibition is to generate creative content from the students. that is why we want to keep a different theme every year.”
another student tanvi kulkarni (13) said: “apart from coming up with creative ideas the exhibition has also helped us a lot to come forward with our talents and showcasing them to a wider audience.”
grade 8 student and very talented artist rio paul who spearheaded a warli mural for the exhibition said: “about 10 of us worked together on the mural. working on the exhibition also taught us a lot about the rich artistic culture of our country. we generated a lot of the content from pictures on the internet and now because of this exhibition we know a lot about tribal art from india.”
sameera nusrat ali the school’s art teacher responsible for putting together the exhibition said: “the students worked very hard setting the exhibition up and with this they are developing a keen interest in art as a subject.”
dhanushaئkhaleejtimes.com
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