Creativity for a cause

T12.jpg

A group of 40 artists have used their creative prowess to speak up for a very relevant social cause — child labour and Right to Education. And that, using an apt symbol, a humble kettle, which is often used to pour tea by children working at the roadside dhabas and stalls.

For the show, Arte Kettle Garden, organised by Kalacare at Delhi’s India International Centre, the artists have used these kettles as canvas to paint their stories of despair, dreams, hopes and aspirations for these kids. The 53 pieces on display also included paintings, sculptures and multi-media works. Delhi-based artist Jo Singh Saran’s work has teenage girls sitting hopelessly at a red light as their world seems to be at a standstill. “That’s the story of thousands of children who are toiling as labour when they should be going to schools,” says Saran, who has been taking up various issues through her art. Artist Hetal Shah feels that in spite of this issue being talked about, it remains the dark truth. Red and black colours dominate Hetal’s work with two human hands in the foreground. “These are the hands of a child worker. One hand is clean, white and the other hand is black with all the hardwork that he has done. And both hands together pose in a ‘stop’ gesture. It’s the cry of innocence to put an end to this vicious cycle,” says the artist from Gujarat, who adds that artists should also take it as their responsibility to come out and get actively involved in the cause. Shweta Zharotia, founder Kala Care, an initiative that organises art exhibitions on socially-relevant issues, says that art is an important medium that transcends language barrier. Talking about the theme of the show, she said, “Kids serving tea at stalls is a common sight across the country. And in today’s busy life, we don’t have time to think about their background, or future. This show is about shifting the spotlight on these little champions, who, if given a proper platform can become heroes of tomorrow,” she says. The exhibition was inaugurated by filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda, who has made films like I am Kalam and Jalpari on the same theme said that creative artists have a role to play when speaking of the social issues. “Artist community using their creativity for a cause is a positive sign,” he said.

Post new comment

<form action="/comment/reply/235348" accept-charset="UTF-8" method="post" id="comment-form"> <div><div class="form-item" id="edit-name-wrapper"> <label for="edit-name">Your name: <span class="form-required" title="This field is required.">*</span></label> <input type="text" maxlength="60" name="name" id="edit-name" size="30" value="Reader" class="form-text required" /> </div> <div class="form-item" id="edit-mail-wrapper"> <label for="edit-mail">E-Mail Address: <span class="form-required" title="This field is required.">*</span></label> <input type="text" maxlength="64" name="mail" id="edit-mail" size="30" value="" class="form-text required" /> <div class="description">The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.</div> </div> <div class="form-item" id="edit-comment-wrapper"> <label for="edit-comment">Comment: <span class="form-required" title="This field is required.">*</span></label> <textarea cols="60" rows="15" name="comment" id="edit-comment" class="form-textarea resizable required"></textarea> </div> <fieldset class=" collapsible collapsed"><legend>Input format</legend><div class="form-item" id="edit-format-1-wrapper"> <label class="option" for="edit-format-1"><input type="radio" id="edit-format-1" name="format" value="1" class="form-radio" /> Filtered HTML</label> <div class="description"><ul class="tips"><li>Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.</li><li>Allowed HTML tags: &lt;a&gt; &lt;em&gt; &lt;strong&gt; &lt;cite&gt; &lt;code&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt; &lt;dl&gt; &lt;dt&gt; &lt;dd&gt;</li><li>Lines and paragraphs break automatically.</li></ul></div> </div> <div class="form-item" id="edit-format-2-wrapper"> <label class="option" for="edit-format-2"><input type="radio" id="edit-format-2" name="format" value="2" checked="checked" class="form-radio" /> Full HTML</label> <div class="description"><ul class="tips"><li>Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.</li><li>Lines and paragraphs break automatically.</li></ul></div> </div> </fieldset> <input type="hidden" name="form_build_id" id="form-2f29ebc57a23b819eed3de6d8d6b6542" value="form-2f29ebc57a23b819eed3de6d8d6b6542" /> <input type="hidden" name="form_id" id="edit-comment-form" value="comment_form" /> <fieldset class="captcha"><legend>CAPTCHA</legend><div class="description">This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.</div><input type="hidden" name="captcha_sid" id="edit-captcha-sid" value="80060057" /> <input type="hidden" name="captcha_response" id="edit-captcha-response" value="NLPCaptcha" /> <div class="form-item"> <div id="nlpcaptcha_ajax_api_container"><script type="text/javascript"> var NLPOptions = {key:'c4823cf77a2526b0fba265e2af75c1b5'};</script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://call.nlpcaptcha.in/js/captcha.js" ></script></div> </div> </fieldset> <span class="btn-left"><span class="btn-right"><input type="submit" name="op" id="edit-submit" value="Save" class="form-submit" /></span></span> </div></form>

No Articles Found

No Articles Found

No Articles Found

I want to begin with a little story that was told to me by a leading executive at Aptech. He was exercising in a gym with a lot of younger people.

Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen didn’t make the cut. Neither did Shaji Karun’s Piravi, which bagged 31 international awards.