Art lovers will gather this weekend in Auroville to participate in a global initiative to dabble in free-form expression of ideas through shapes and colours.
Auroville’s Sankalpa Art Centre is geared up to host Art Break Day on Friday, a community co-creation engagement rallied worldwide by US-based non-profit organisation Art is Moving.
This year, Art is Moving has exhorted art lovers to “sit down, take a break, and make art for free” with “Believe” as the rallying theme of the event.
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“It’s a walk-in community event where we provide all art materials. All we expect from the participants is the fearlessness to express themselves any which way they like,” said Krupa Jhaveri, art therapist who heads Sankalpa.
“There is no right or wrong here,” she added.
Sankalpa, founded by Ms. Jhaveri when she moved to Auroville after a stint at the School of Visual Arts in New York, has been running art therapy and creative empowerment initiatives using “creativity as a unifying force among cultures and communities”.
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Sankalpa is one of the 40 global locations, and one of only three centres in India to be partnering with Art is Moving for Art Break Day.
This is the fourth successive year that Sankalpa is hosting an official hub site for this global art revolution — Art Break Day, by custom, is reserved for the first Friday of September in the calendar.
“We are hoping to bring in more people from outside Auroville, including the hamlets nearby, and just let them express freely. You can take an art break for a few minutes or feel free to spend the whole day together” said Ms. Jhaveri.
There will also be some live music and all the works of art will be exhibited at the Visitor’s Centre.
This year, the celebration is more special for Sankalpa as it has opened an art centre, a geodesic dome structure with a low mud brick wall, to host regular art therapy sessions, workshops and training programmes.
“We’re adding more layers to the event, including having a time-lapse aerial shoot of the collaborative art engagement,” she said.
So, after Art Break Day events from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. near Dreamer’s Café in Auroville, Saturday too has been packed with various programmes between 9 a.m. and noon at the Sankalpa Art Centre behind Tibetan Pavilion.
The celebration of art will feature mixed and multi media — stitching, sequins and stone works.
“We will have a very unique collaborative process for the second event in our art centre plus a few surprises in store,” said Ms. Jhaveri.
Any student / large groups of eight or more, can book slots atsankalpa.art@ gmail.com. Those interested in volunteering can mail too.