The New York Global Partners Junior Programme (NYGPJP), an ongoing children’s workshop, strives to unearth the rich multiplicity of cultures through food.
Art education company The Pomegranate Workshop (TPW) is collaborating for the second year in a row with the New York City Mayor’s office for the programme. The workshop will see children in the nine to 13 age group, from cities across the world, pursue the same curriculum and share their discoveries online.
Last year, TPW’s ‘My City, My Canvas’, helped students from Johannesburg, Sydney and Lima use art to draw public attention to burning issues in their cities.
This year, sessions will be held over two months on the theme, ‘Feeding Diversity’. Children will be taught how to map their city’s history and culture through the ideas of diversity and sustainability in food.
TPW founder Priya Srinivasan says, “The curriculum looks at aspects of migration and changing customs through consumption patterns. It will inculcate awareness in children of how food reaches our table.”
Last year, when TPW, which has been working with children for the past decade, was approached by NYGPJP, Srinivasan got on board. She realised that art was positioned at the heart of addressing multiple issues and concerns of urban society. “The curriculum saw art as a core learning strategy.”
The focal point of the workshops is what the participants will discover based on their research. Children will get to interview members of their family, families in their neighbourhood and vendors at their local food markets to gain an understanding of the assortment and variety of provisions available in the city.
“As their research on Mumbai’s diverse foods fleshes out,” says Srinivasan, “the children will start creating their own personal histories based on their findings, which involves writing poems and shooting videos. Their work will culminate in the final project: a food cart.”
On the final day, the participating children will draw up their own menus by incorporating the sustainability quotient. They will also present a varied range of the city’s food in their carts for visitors to sample.
Today is the last day for registration. See http://www.tpw.in/blog/2016/05/12/new-york-global-partners-junior-program-2016/ for details
The writer is an intern with The Hindu
This year, sessions will be held
over two months
on the theme, ‘Feeding Diversity’
