A Mumbai trip for the Nareshwadi kids!

On 7th March 2009, SIFE Somaiya arranged a small trip to Mumbai’s Art Circles for the young artists of Warli Painting from Nareshwadi and Dahanu in Thane District. This event was planned as an initiative under the Warli project to give the community members a glimpse of today’s market for art. The kids who had come for the Mumbai visit were Neelam, Pramila, Jitesh, Prashant, Dinesh, Sachin, Ravindra, Pramila.

The kids made an early start to the day, by beginning their journey around 6am and travelling for almost 3-4 hours to reach Mumbai from Nareshwadi, Dahanu. They were accompanied by Rita Kulkarni and Kadu Sir. The team from SIFE Somaiya joined the group when they reached Mumbai CST.

After such a long journey, it was time to relish a sumptuous breakfast at the nearby McDonald’s.

After the breakfast, the next activity planned was to visit the Jehangir Art Gallery, where the kids got to see various kinds of paintings from different artists. The display paintings and the guidance of Rita Ma’am gave them ideas about various styles of paintings, as also an insight of how they can extend their art form. The curiosity of the kids was evident from the questions they asked all along.

The group also visited the neighbouring art galleries, the pavement galleries and a store selling various art-pieces. The kids took notes of the different styles as explained by Rita Ma’am and Kadu sir.

Next visit in line was to the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangralahaya (formerly known as Prince of Wales Museum). The kids were excited as the glorious Art History of India unfolded in front of them, as they saw various forms of ancient art like designs on ceramic pots, paintings and metal-art. Apart from the artworks, they were particularly interested in the Natural History section which had life-size models of different types of animals and fishes on display. The time spent at the museum was thoroughly enjoyed by the kids.

The museum visits were followed by lunch. Due to paucity of time and also considering the fact that kids had to make a long trip back to Dahanu further visits were cancelled for the day. Along the course of the trip; the kids, Rita Ma’am and Kadu Sir were given gifts, as a souvenir remarking this memorable day.

The trip concluded with a sense of fun, frolic and great learning for these young kids. While they enjoyed the day, they also took back a learning of various art forms and thus a direction to channelize their artistic skills. We hope the interaction will enrich their understanding for a long time.