For the 25 final-year students of Bachelor of Fine Arts course at the National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH), nothing empowers them more that the opportunity to showcase their creative talents.
“We might be born with certain disabilities. But, we have learnt to ensure that none of such factors came in the way of expressing ourselves,” says 22-year-old Bobin Bhadhran, who is one of the 13 students who have displayed their art works at ‘Limited Edition’, an exhibition that is under way at the Museum Auditorium.
Speech impaired
Barring Bobin who suffered from hearing loss of nearly 60 per cent, all others of the batch are speech impaired.
“While such factors made the experience of learning a challenging one, they overcome the obstacle by ensuring a great deal of determination in their efforts. Despite various hindrances, they can never be seen as slow-learners,” says P.S. Rakesh, Head of the Department of Fine Arts at NISH.
While the curriculum was largely similar to that followed at the other fine arts colleges, a lesser stress on theory-oriented teaching and an enhanced focus on visuals constituted the style of pedagogy at the institute. “The students and teachers have been trained in communicating using the Indian Sign Language (ISL). ISL signs were being encouraged over the earlier usage of localised signs as part of efforts to democratise the mode of communication. Besides signs, visuals in the form of images are shown while imparting the first lessons of art,” he added.
While some of the students viewed their ability to create art works as one that would make them independent, others hoped to utilise the platform to explore other avenues such as animation and graphics designing.
According to Bobin, the students have organised four exhibitions in various parts of the State during the final year of their course, which will come to an end with a Degree Show that will be held in a few months’ time.
All by themselves
A unique feature of such programmes was that they have all been organised by the students themselves.
The exhibition features 47 paintings, including those prepared using acrylic and water colour, and seven metal works prepared using aluminium sheets. The curtains will come down on the exhibition on Monday.
