In pursuit of art and culture
When cross-continental cultural exchanges seem to be the order of the day in schools, a different attempt is being made by a school to introduce children to the different facets of our art and culture which they miss in the urban landscape.
The initiative titled ‘Panchajanyam’ by Chin-maya Vidyalaya, Vadutha-la in Kochi, goes into the depth of the art forms through a four-part presentation to make students understand the different layers of their meaning.
First, a PowerPoint presentation about an art form tells the students about its history. Next is a class by the artiste who will clarify the doubts students are likely to ask.
Later, the artiste stages the art form for 45 minutes and in the fourth phase, a worksheet is given to the students to get their feedback and an analysis of the presentation is done.
“This is conducted like a project and we introduce them not only to our native art forms like chakyar koothu, thullal, kathakali, percussion and nadan pattu, but also to art forms of other states such as odyssey and kathak.
We have the full support of cultural organisations like Spic Macay, for this,” says maths teacher Praveena K., who is also a thullal artiste and a mridangam player. She has been co-ordinating the programme.
“Students from class six to 11 are participating in the programme. This will help them experience, explore and love their culture,” said principal Maya Mohan.
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