Trip to Kalaghoda Arts Festival

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas

 

As an art integration in the current Unit in Class II, ‘How we express ourselves’, the students visited the KalaGhoda Arts Festival.
The students viewed the Visual Art Installations and other artworks by various organizations and artists from across the country, depicting strong social messages on the environment, gender equality, and saving natural resources. The students were most excited to view the art installations exhibited by almost 30 schools across Mumbai and Pune, in which DAIS was also a participant.

 

 

After viewing the installations and exhibits, the students gathered at the CSMVS children’s museum ground, where they were given post-its, on which they filled in a Visual Thinking Routine on an ‘I SEE - THINK - WONDER chart’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was followed by an origami workshop conducted by Origami artist Bobbie Vijaykkar. The students learned origami craft and created their own origami birds and horse. The students were engaged and engrossed in the activity and enjoyed interacting with the artist and his team members.

 

 

A reflection activity was conducted at school in the art class, after the visit to Kala Ghoda, in which the students viewed a slide show on the installations. They responded to some discussion questions like; What is the purpose of the installations? Have you identified any installations on the streets of your city? Have you seen any installations in any other part of the world? How are the installations connected to the concept of international mindedness?

 

The students freely expressed their opinions about the artworks, made connections to them, and wrote a guided reflection on their understanding and learning.

 

 

 

 

The students enjoyed the field trip as they got first-hand experience of the festival. It gave them a chance to think about the theme from a different perspective, build cultural understanding and develop their critical thinking and social skills.