Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Mar 5: In the last three days the students of School of Communication were busy learning various artistic tasks like carving wood, kavi painting, pottery, creating toys or shapes in clay, seed painting and palm leaf origami etc.
The students enjoyed and experienced the real sense of rural art.
43-year-old Raghuram Kulal from Kundapur is the trainer for this workshop, on behalf Namma Bhoomi. He received training at Namma Bhoomi, an NGO for many years. He is now an independent potter and has continued his hereditary profession. He has been running his own workshop at Kundapur since 21 years. There are six employees working at his shop.
Raghuram said, “I have come here for the second time. We are teaching this art just for experience. I have participated in many workshops. In the last three days the students of School of Communication were busy learning various artistic activities like wood carving, kavi painting, pottery, creating toys or shapes in clay and seed painting etc. I have participated in workshops conducted at MIT, MIC. I also received special training at NIFT, Delhi for two months.”
“Though there is demand for pottery work, only few people are engaged in this profession. We cannot gain profit, but we can feed our family. I do more designed pot pieces than simple pots, clay ornaments, statues, showpieces. Today, there is demand for creative and showcase pieces. As the trend is changing, people like mud pots. Small sized pots are used at hotels for serving curd and other edibles,” said Raghuram.
Raghuram further said, “I did not receive any help from the government to start my workshops, because it requires basic documents, which I do not have. There is scarcity of clay. The government is not allowing us to extract clay. So far I was able to manage and store clay. I get demands for my pots from far off places because of the finishing and quality of my product. I am very disappointed that the future generation is not showing much interest in continuing rural art, because of less income.”
Speaking to Daijiworld Media, Suchi Rai, project manager said, “This workshop is just to gain experience. We got more knowledge than we expected and it is a nice experience. Artisans of Namma Bhoomi team came here to teach us the craft. We feel proud that we are doing it for a good cause. SOC students met Namma Angandi twice to make them understand what we actually want from them. We are so excited about the three day annual exhibition. We wanted to cross the earlier target of Rs 20 lac. We are receiving good response from the customers and it is increasing every year. This time, we will have special things that shibori patterns and prince on the men’s clothing, more designs and antic pieces will be in expo cum sale of products.
“They learnt how to make their desired structures from wood planks like key holders, lamps, key chains and the like. In addition to this, they also learnt how to use different carpentry instruments to cut and carve out their designs.”
Toys from trash workshop began with the help of Pallavi Behera, who runs a library called ‘The Purple Space’ located at Ananth Nagar. Her main motto for the workshop was to teach the art enthusiasts to create products using as much non-wet trash as possible. This way, the children learn how to be environment-friendly at a tender age and therefore carry this trend forward with them. Children learnt how to make puppets, crocodiles and chocolates using bottles, caps, matchboxes and empty pens by
understanding the use of re-cycling waste material to make something re-usable out of it. This workshop was quite engaging with background music on recycle and a discussion with Behera.
On the following day were two more workshops, Kaavi Painting by Janardhan Rao. Kaavi Painting is an art form that was introduced by the Portuguese in Goa, and it slowly started growing in Karnataka. The MAHE and non-MAHE participants were given designs and other materials like mud colour, bushes and paper. Through this workshop, Rao wants to spread awareness of Kaavi Painting to be used in the present era since it is diminishing. Each participant created their design and enthusiastically learnt about the art form. This workshop was followed by pottery workshop where participants from in and around Manipal were made to mould a pot of their choice made from mud and water. Apart from pots, participants also made figures like elephants, Lord Ganesh, cats, dogs, flowers, guitars, penguins, diyas, cars and more. People of all ages participated enthusiastically in the workshop.
The 15th edition of Namma Angadi:
This is a three-day annual expo cum sale of products, which will be held from March 8 to 10.
Founded in 1985, CWC is a non-profit organisation dedicated to tackling issues surrounding child labour and empowering underprivileged children. The NGO is also responsible for the conception of Namma Bhoomi, a community campus housing a residential school for underprivileged children, where the children are provided education and vocational training. Hundreds of artisans, who learnt here have come out as independent businessmen.
School of Communication:
Pioneered in 1997, School of Communication (SOC), is a media institute that prides itself in training students to become excellent professionals in various fields of media and communication. The institution truly believes in constant progress and therefore orients the students with the latest trends in the industry.
Concern for Working Children (CWC):
Active since the 1970s and a strong advocate of children’s rights, CWC is a pioneer, not-for-profit organisation that focuses on working children and their needs. It works with local communities and governments to implement comprehensive solutions for the problems faced by these children.