Material Encounters
This project is a collaborative initiative by the Education Department at the Museum of Art & Photography.
MAP’s Education Department collaborated with several artists to explore thought, emotion, memory, mindfulness and aspirations through the immersive journey of “creating” with young and old audiences.
MAP’s programming is committed to bringing the wonders and insights of art and culture to the public, young and old alike. As part of its educational programming for Mindscapes, the team focused on building and supporting interventions, through collaborations with artists, that blended art, play and learning to foster reflective inward and outward thinking.
The common thread running through these projects is the creative process as a means of discovering our truth, learning to speak it and finding snug pockets in the world where there is wholehearted acceptance for who we are. As we create, we understand, which paves the way for authentic expression and exchange.
Art and the act of creation can be immersive, empowering and can enable the articulation of thoughts, emotions and stories in relation to ourselves and the world. It is this gentle unravelling of the self that happens through the process of ‘doing’ and ‘making’ that was explored through these projects for Mindscapes.
For Art Summer Camp at Namma Katte, MAP’s Education Department collaborated with several artists to explore thought, emotion, memory, mindfulness and aspirations through the immersive journey of “creating” with young and old audiences.
The concept of mindfulness, originating from Buddhist practice, reflects an awareness of the present moment. An awareness of emotions, physical sensations in the body and thoughts that you’re experiencing. Art, in many ways, can serve as a natural way to practise mindfulness. The colours, textures and ideas that shape creative expression can be immensely immersive; alongside building a space for freedom, play, curiosity and discovery. Springboarding from this idea, the Education Department at MAP Bengaluru organised a five-day art summer camp of mindful art-making for the young ones of Lingarajapuram.
For a couple of hours each day over a week in May 2022, the children got together with facilitators from the MAP team at Namma Katte - a space of rest and chit-chat conceived by Mindscapes artist in residence Indu Antony - to look at art, think through artworks, and engage in a creative output exercise. Each day, something new was made - from happiness mobiles to creating intuitive paintings with music. Each day, the children learned a bit more about the world, about each other and about themselves by interweaving art with questions about what truly matters to them as they grow by feeling, thinking and making sense of their experiences.
Namma Mane Ba (Welcome Home) — a workshop conceptualised and facilitated by Rency Philip
This workshop explored themes of emotional safety and security with the teens belonging to the neighbourhood of Lingarajapuram, through elements of puppetry, theatre and storytelling. The workshop series kicked off in August and concluded in September with an exhibition.
Through mini dioramas and simple puppets, the children put together a unique moving-parts exhibition at Namma Katte that told stories, not necessarily with words, of spaces in their homes where they feel most themselves, doing things there that make them feel most joyous.
The aim of this workshop series was to spark a larger conversation within the community on identifying and gently fostering such spaces of refuge and solace for the young to feel like they can just be, without having to perform.
Mindscapes Zine Exchange on Belonging and Mental Health
What does it mean to belong?
MAP’s Education Department collaborated with Christine Wong Yap, Mindscapes artist in residence at large, to creatively unpack understandings and experiences of belonging with students from different socio-economic backgrounds.
Teenagers and young adults in Bengaluru explored this pivotal question through closed group workshops facilitated by Mindscapes’ Artist-in-Residence at large, Christine Wong Yap.
Christine Wong Yap is a visual artist and social practitioner who uses participatory research to explore dimensions of psychological well-being. The sessions offered the participants a safe space to nurture ideas of inclusion, belonging and authenticity through creative processes.
The concept is rooted in the philosophy that a strong sense of belonging can encourage growth, vulnerability and authenticity among people. Christine’s workshops attempted to carve out a niche for self-reflection and artistic collaboration where individuals could share and learn from one another’s personal and unique experiences of belonging.
A compilation of these sharings will be celebrated in the form of a zine (self-published magazine), with the goal of circulating a box set of zines among participating groups in Mindscapes cities—Bengaluru as well as New York City, Berlin, and Tokyo—weaving together a varied and empowering collection of perspectives on the theme.
ART-e/affect!
ART-e/affect! is a collaboration between Pallavi Chander and MAP’s Education Department that attempted to offer and build playful, explorative, and creative experiences for participants from diverse groups.
The programme particularly wished to explore diverse ways of connecting with groups who often do not access museum spaces because of various presenting issues that could be restrictive, exclusive, and inaccessible to their experience. The process was anchored in exploring meaningful ways to expand the scope of these creative conversations and learn from the experiences of the facilitators, participants, and host organisations.
Project facilitators - Pallavi and Aruna Manjunath, worked closely with different focus groups with the support of host organisations - Colours Centre for Learning, COGWORKS, and Buguri Community Library in Jyothipura - to explore MAP's collection with the participants. This engaging exploration culminated in little exhibitions of participants’ handiworks in each of these venues.