Art workshop in the Lower Hutt celebrates Diwali
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On Wednesday 30 September, 27 enthusiastic children fought the bleak weather to take part in a day-long arts workshop called Di-fusion. Coordinated with support from Hutt City Council and funded by Asia:NZ, it took place at leading arts venue the Learning Connexion in Lower Hutt.
“The main purpose of Di-fusion was for schools to learn about a piece of Asia, i.e. India ,and more specifically their most grand festival of Diwali through arts, colours and designs,” said workshop coordinator Kashmir Kaur. Kashmir is a member of the Young Leaders Network and a Policy Advisor with Hutt City Council.
Ranging in age from eight to 12 years, the participants represented different schools around the Wellington region.
The young artists learnt two types of Indian art on the day, according to Kashmir. “The first is rangoli –the traditional Indian art of floor designs. It is the art of drawing images and designs on the floor using different colour powders."
She explained that rangoli is an age old custom of India, practiced all over the country and of the most popular arts among Indian women.The term rangoli is derived from 'rang'(colour) and 'avalli' (coloured creepers).
Kashmir continued: “Diwali is a major festival of India and drawing rangoli is a part of Diwali celebrations. Rangoli is made outside the house, next to the main door and is a way of decorating the floor during festivals to welcome guests.”
Kashmir said that rangoli tested the young artists’ concentration level as well as their creativity with designs. “The perfectionists found it astounding to concentrate and not to make any mistakes while others tried to get the patterns right not worrying too much about the fine designs. At the end, it was amazing to see everyone’s rangolis taking shape.”
The second major task was clay modeling on painted canvas. “Canvassing through the periods of drawing, object modelling, prospective building, human figuring and 3-D modelling, the young artists were able to create wonderful sculptures,“ according to Kashmir.
She outlined the ultimate goal of the workshops. “This will ultimately broaden the understanding and acceptance of Asian cultures and their values in the Kiwi society. Through this age group, their experiences are bound to be shared amongst their peers as well as their parents.”
And Kashmir added that the creativity and work didn’t end on the day. “One of the criteria for participation was for the participants to take their art pieces back to their schools after the school holidays, write a short description of what the artwork signifies and display both the art pieces and their descriptions in the school library or office for at least a month. The main purpose of this is to raise Asia awareness through the displays and word of mouth.”
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See our main Diwali page
