Kochi: The Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) seems to believe in the ‘catch them young’ dictum. For, it has allocated space under a canopy of trees at the main venue, Aspinwall House, for children to unleash their creativity.
Hundreds of children made use of the space, painting and drawing on Thursday.
The initiative, part of the Art By Children (ABC) programme, an innovative art education and creative learning outreach initiative by the Kochi Biennale Foundation, is aimed at introducing art to schoolchildren in a manner that is fun-filled and easy. The ABC team is also organising a storytelling session for children at 3.30 p.m. on Friday at Aspinwall House.
“It is a lot of fun for children to explore art in their own way. They are free to sketch anything. The effort is to give them a feel of this international event,” said Manu Jose, who heads the ABC programme.
The children are seated in the shade of a cluster of trees in the courtyard of Aspinwall House and are provided paper and colours to express their creativity. The programme saw a steady flow of children through the day.
“We thought of setting up an ‘art canopy’ here to attract kids and engage them in art work. I was surprised to see that the space was jam-packed with kids within a couple of minutes,” Mr. Jose said, adding that children would be provided a different media, like clay, in the coming days.
ABC also hosted a free three-day workshop, with art and story-telling programmes, for children aged between 12 and 13 at Cabral Yard, one of the 12 KMB venues located at a stone’s throw away from Aspinwall House.
