Learning arts from the heart

A film capturing the essence of IFA’s ongoing arts education programme shows that there can be many effective ways of disseminating knowledge

Kali-Kalisu (learn and teach) was a meaningful project launched by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) in 2010. With seven years of training, 47 art projects with over 1,000 teachers and artists and 1,00,000 children in Government schools in 20 districts of Karnataka, the initiative became an extensive programme. “We felt the need to tell the story in a short crisp way. It was needed to capture the essence of the programme and share with people,” says Arundhati Ghosh, executive director, IFA, explaining the reasons for making 7 Years of Kali-Kalisu: Arts Education Film .

The 13-minute film, made by Raju Hittalamani, was launched late last week at Rangasthala, Rangoli Metro Art Centre. The film shows teachers and artistes talking about the practices they adopted and students talking about their participation. “It was difficult to make only a 13-minute film out of so much footage as the team had travelled to all the places. So we decided to share the captured material with grantees too. They can individually make a film on their work and their processes,” reveals Arundhati.

For instance, Satish KC from the Government High School at Malur in Shimoga is exploring texts from the school syllabus by interpreting it through the poly-vocal rendition of Vadapu which is used in Puravanthike performance, a local folk art of the region. Through this, they will consider multiple possibilities of creating performance pieces.

At the Government school, Ramalingapura in Tumkur, Arpita RG is working towards a series of comic strips and a calendar of community food recipes, using culinary practices that find their way into songs and stories.

The film will be uploaded on YouTube and Vimeo as well as screened at various other IFA events to get the word out. Though it is an ongoing project which has a long way to go, it, nevertheless, has made some key achievements, feels Arundhati. “It has empowered a teacher to be an agent of change in a school. A government teacher works with very poor infrastructure. For a child, who could be a son or a and daughter of farmer, agricultural labourer, a migrant, the knowledge from the book has been enabled to connect to his/her life, real lived experiences. The syllabus is being integrated with local culture and knowledge and schools have turned into a hub for the community by bringing in multiple stakeholders. Local artistes are getting exposure.”

The objective of the programme is to enable young people to start thinking about the pressing issues of society critically. And with different art forms connected with a specific subject, it works in that direction.

IFA gave out two kinds of grants — teacher’s grants, who became key facilitators in bringing local historians and other experts to conduct various activities, and artiste’s grants to artistes, who want to work in schools. Through local channels and training workshops, the message was spread and applications poured in.

“The proposals were fabulous. And the teachers were stunning. We realised that despite the lack of funds and infrastructure, the passion, inspiration and the relationships they share with children are extraordinary.”