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ARTS

arts

 

YCF believes that the arts offer organisations the perfect tool with which to initiate dialogues that lead to thoughtful interventions, which is why art finds its way into everything that we do. YCF has a network of arts practitioners that we work with at the grassroot level as well as artists capable of being master trainers for our facilitators.

Arts to heal - "How the Elephants Were" Textile Identity of students from Magge Village, Mysore

Dijana Zoradana Elfadivo
Adivasi child from Magge Village, Mysore, wearing a costume they designed with the help of the artist, exemplifying their identity. Photo courtesy: Dijana Zoradana Elfadivo

In 2013, as part of its work with the Goethe-Institut Max Mueller Bhavan, YCF collaborated with the German fashion designer and collage/drawing artist Dijana Zoradana Elfadivo to initiate a dialogue with adivasi tribal students from the Children’s College in Magge Village, Mysore District, about their textile identity. Her workshop with the students resulted in an exhibition titled “How the elephants were—the children from the village here and now.”

For our Halasuru Traverses project, puppetry artists worked with the children from a school in Halasuru to help them make puppets that told their personal, local stories. Their puppetry show was put on display for the public.

Arts to initiate play - IBM's STEM for Girls and YCF's STE(A)M-Ed curriculum

STE(A)M-Ed

As part of IBM’s STEM for Girls project, YCF trained its facilitators to use theatre and fine art to start dialogues on their identity, on the stereotypes and prejudices that surround them, on superstitious beliefs, etc. These activities had the additional benefit of helping students develop the confidence to communicate better and begin to question some of the practices surrounding them towards helping them develop a 21st century mindset.

The arts play a significant part in YCF’s STE(A)M-Ed curriculum, which seeks to engage children in activities that make learning fun, while also teaching them important skills. The arts component of this curriculum is also designed to help students learn the process of observation and critical reflection and how to give and receive feedback respectfully. These skills are vital to the development of a 21st century mindset and can be achieved very effectively through the arts.

Arts to engage communities

As part of IBM’s STEM for Girls project, YCF conducted a series of street plays in three districts in Karnataka, to get community members to send their children to vatara shaales or community schools during the COVID lockdown. These shaales sought to prevent a complete break in the education of students from vulnerable communities who were already on the verge of dropping out from school.

YCF’s expertise in the arts - the Hutti Gold Mines project

YCF has a track record of engaging with the arts at multiple levels. YCF’s founder and managing trustee, Anupama Gowda, is a critical curator who has worked on numerous projects across the country. In 2020-21, YCF was awarded the opportunity to articulate a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to conceive a vision document for a heritage centre in Raichur district of Karnataka with special focus on the Hatti Gold Mine. The Hutti Gold Mines Company Limited (HGMCL) wanted to place Raichur on the cultural tourism map with the mine being the basis for the project since it is what gives Raichur its identity, producing 80% of the gold consumed in India. Towards this end, Anupama Gowda worked with Suresh Jayaram, Art Historian, Meeta Jain, Architect and Space Designer, Saravanan, Creative Technologist and Naveen Mahantesh, Architect and Space Designer to conceptualise a museum space, a solar park, a space for an annual Hutti Chinnada Habba or festival, a travelling exhibit, showcasing the story of the mine and a geological research centre, among other things.

YCF worked with a team of experts, travelled and documented the whole process extensively to put together the DPR. The vision document in line with the DPR has been completed and now awaits approval from the board of the company for implementation.