The children from Army Public School, Nandambakkam, were listening fervently as Indu Bala explained the strokes and qualities of the colours yellow and blue at the Lalit Kala Akademi. She took out a canvas and crayons and began drawing a sun and blue clouds around it.
“When these two colours, mix it turns green,” she said. The children too followed her instructions and experimented with the colours and the theme. Some drew a ‘smiling sun’ spreading its light to the world below, while others included birds in their drawing.
The children were taking part in an art demo held at Colours of Life — A Different Perspective, an art exhibition by a group of individuals, who are intellectually disabled. As Indu Bala, who was born a blue baby, patiently explained the concepts of colour and palette, she was joined by 50-year-old Bharatwaj.
“There is no right or wrong in art. One has to experiment with one’s imagination and showcase it,” she said.
The week-long exhibition was inaugurated on Wednesday by A. P. Sreethar and Lt. Colonel Seema Sharma. The exhibition has the artwork of five artists with intellectual disabilities. Niranjan Ravi, who is autistic, displayed his photographs, one of which was selected for an award at the Madras Photography Club recently.
“It is a great opportunity indeed to have got this space to display their artwork,” said S.R. Padmavathi, a curative educator, who also organised the exhibition.
“The artistes here have come a long way and are very enthusiastic and experimentative with their ideas. We hope to display more of their work,” she said.
