Indian Offerings

I may be back in dreach and snowy Scotland, but I am finally getting the chance to write a little of what happened this time in India. My project brief being very different, and really only 2 weeks long, I planned a lot more for myself this time and set up extra work to keep me occupied for 6 weeks!

After the success of Delhi and a little visiting of last year's projects in Mumbai I caught the train down to Goa for a working holiday! My aunt is currently the project director for Sunaparantha arts centre in Panjim and she had been desperate to get me to do a bit of work for her. I started my work off with a 2 hour music skills workshop for trainee SEN teachers at Nirmala College in Panjim which went down well. A group of 25 women quickly shedding their inhibitions to become fairly outlandish and imaginative performers in some cases. We worked on some body percussion together and the results were very creative and confidently shared amongst the group.

I was very excited to be a workshop leader on India's first ever Art Skills Mela at Sunaparantha over the weekend of 15th-17th February. I conducted 3 days of music workshops for mainly non musical professionals including teachers, social workers, education development workers, designers and many others, whilst other artists were leading workshops in Creativity and Wellbeing, Photography, Visual Art, 3D Modelling and Drama. 

There seemed to be a real hunger and enthusiasm for learning new skills, trying out new ideas and being creative. The atmosphere that the participants brought was very mutually supportive and whilst a few of my activities were challenging for some, people were genuinely interested in helping others. My workshop was based on group activities and the fact that the groups really connected well meant that the work was very effective. Sharing, supporting and listening were all attributes that the participants naturally brought with them. 

a musical conversation between participants...where will it go?!

I feel that the participants in Goa, had never experienced anything quite as interactive, creative or freeing musically as my workshop. Many of them gave me verbal feedback that they would really appreciate more training in this hands on way because it helped them become more imaginative, interested, engaged and motivated.

Being part of the skills mela was wonderful, not least because it’s great to be part of a bigger concept of art skills training for practitioners in India. The opportunity to work in conjunction with other art forms is very limited for me so it was great to see other workshop leaders at work and hear a little of their experience. There was a lovely sense of creative cohesion throughout the Mela. 

Here's some of the feedback from the participants:

-’Mind blowing sessions'

-’I learnt how music and sounds can be used creatively and differently by anyone’

-’I’ve learnt lots of interesting activities which I will use to entertain, capture attention, and teach children, which I am certain they will enjoy’

-’I just felt that today was a fantastic experience’

-’I felt on top of the world’

-’I will make use of the ideas in my class and I know my children will enjoy this too!’

-’I’m going to be much more playful in my approach to music’

participants on the skills mela at Sunaparantha practising their musical creations

So after the hard work a much deserved rest on the beach with much sea swimming in mighty waves and a trip up the river at Chapora - we saw crocodiles!! Very exciting! A few pics below to show just how much fun I had - it's not all hard graft!

THEN...back to Mumbai for a week or so. I did 2 pieces of work which were both really enjoyable. The first with my friend Ayush who is starting his own business providing music workshops. We combined forces for a day long workshop at Magic Bus Centre near Karjat, just outside Mumbai. We had a totally mixed bag of kids - 20 from Mercedes Benz International School and 20 from a local school all around 11 or 12. The day before the workshop we went along to meet the kids and had a visit to the local school which was amazing. The welcome was out of this world - all the children dressed up in traditional dress and performing dances. Here's a few pictures to give you an idea of just how beautiful that morning was!

The following day our workshop got off to a great start with lots of mirroring to music, non verbal communication games and then a workshop with mask making and music making with found junk. We ended the day with performances from small groups using both masks and junk percussion and it was great fun! The real challenge of this workshop for us was that the kids didn't share a language but by the end of the day we felt they had really made the effort to communicate in whatever way they could - our goal was achieved. 

Pics coming soon...