The exhibition Where in the World was held atA & F in Art Foundation, curated by students from School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

March

We held a colloquium based on The One Year Drawing Project: May 2005-October 2007.

Speakers:

Shukla Sawant, associate professor of art history at School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU
Sonal Jain and Mriganka Madhukaillya of Desire Machine Collective, Guwahati based artists who work in varied art practices ranging from photography, multimedia to video and film.

May

High school students from DPS Gurgaon and primary school students from the Ardee school visited and had a walkthrough of our exhibition Resemble Reassemble.

April-May

Middle and high school students from The Shri Ram School, Sanskriti, and DPS Gurgaon visited DAF’s exhibition Vernacular in the Contemporary 2 and had an interactive discussion and workshop with our team there. A public walkthrough was also held. Here is a glimpse of their visit and engagement with the art, as well as images from the walkthrough.

March

We collaborated with Flow India to hold a walkthrough and workshop at our exhibition Elephant in the Dark. Flow works across education and culture to create exciting workshops and learning experiences for children, and work with partners to enhance their public programmes.

June

A group of 40 teachers from different schools in Gurgaon visited Devi Art Foundation to see Fracture: Indian Textiles, New Conversations as part of the International Museum Week organised by Flow India. Here are some of the pictures from the event.

October

Moving Images of Heritage: The DAF Collection at Ashoka University

In the first of a series of pedagogic engagements with educational institutions within the Delhi Capital Region, Devi Art Foundation recently collaborated with the Ashoka University, Sonipat to realise a day long conversation around the moving images. Convened by noted Historian Shobita Punja along with the Devi Art Foundation team, the conversation accompanied a lecture and a one-day exhibition of works from Devi’s collection facilitating discussions on contemporary art and the questions of Heritage.

February

Introductory talk to the DAF exhibition ‘This Night Bitten Dawn’ at 24 Jor Bagh, curated by Salima Hashmi

March

Kinetic Art Workshop at St. Stephen’s College with Susanta Mandal

As part of the ongoing pedagogic initiative we had recently organised a Kinetic art workshop with contemporary artist Susanta Mandal in collaboration with The Fine Arts Society, St. Stephen’s College.

The workshop developed ideas through the basic exercises of mechanical movement, which may be refereed to as Automata. Participants got a hands-on experience to translate their creative ideas to objects, where mechanical movement added playfulness.

Sketchbook Art Workshop at St. Stephen’s College with Gagan Singh

As part of the ongoing pedagogic initiative we had recently organised the ‘Sketchbook Exercises’ workshop with contemporary artist Gagan Singh in collaboration with The Fine Arts Society, St. Stephen’s College.

The Workshop was a way to closely observe the nature of working in a book format, mainly a Sketchbook. This Workshop helped the students explore the possibilities of using it as a tool, as a utility, a way of functioning and an alternative approach to problem solving. The basic exercise was to reflect the relationship between drawing, observation, thinking and using the book format.

July

Today we had a very engaging session with the students of the Ashoka University. Historian and Educator Shobita Punja along with our team led a stimulating discussion on Borders and Boundaries of Culture.

August

As part of presenting their two minute video films on the theme of Border and Boundaries of Culture some of the students of Ashoka University surprised us with their spontaneous interaction with the screen through gestures and live music.

May

Ashoka University Exhibition: INTERPRETING COLOUR

Since 2015 we have been actively involved in the educational programs on Contemporary South Asian Art with Ashoka University. Since September 2016, Shraddha Shivraj and Namrata Chhabria (students from Ashoka University) have been mentored by Devi Art Foundation to conceptualise an exhibition based on their research period with the foundation. This exhibition was mounted for the students of Ashoka University from the 1st of May – 6th of May 2017, featuring works from the collection by artists including Sheba Chhachhi, Avinash Veeraraghavan, Leila Pazooki and others (with these 3 pictured below).

Interpreting Colour
What is colour?
How do we see it?
How do we speak it?
How do we like it?
Colour is that other thing. That thing that to decorate with. That pretty thing.
You know that feminine, frivolous, loud, useless hallucinatory thing, that cartoons have too much of!
That thing artists, architects, filmmakers, designers and leave for sketch-book scribbles and edit-room quibbles.
That thing you use to point out someone in a crowd with – “Look at that person in the red t-shirt!”. That spirited, boys in blue thing!
That emotional, feeling-blue and paint the town red thing. That maligned thing – which ‘colours’ your perception.
That gaudy, loud, pop-kitschy thing. That unrestrained, camp, disco ball, non-serious thing. That formally controlled and regulated in flags, logos and uniforms thing.
That petrifying thing. That untouchable thing. That impartial thing.
Participating Artists: Amir Mobed, Avinash Veeraraghavan, Himanshu. S, Leila Pazooki, Rameshwar Broota, Sheba Chhachhi
Performance designed by Namrata Chhabria & Projection area (Multiple artists)
Devi Art Foundation in collaboration with Ashoka University
Curated by: Namrata Chhabria & Shraddha Shivraj
Mentored by: Shobita Punja & Kriti Sood

August

Educational Module at Jindal University

Devi Art Foundation is delighted to be collaborating with Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities for an educational module designed culminate in an exhibition curated by the students! Here’s a peak at our first interaction with this lively and engaged bunch.

Experimental Learning Module 1: St. Stephen’s College

As part of the ongoing pedagogic initiatives, we are thrilled to announce our collaboration with St. Stephen’s College on experimental learning modules for the students, curated by Prof. Shobhita Punja, Kriti Sood, and Namrata Chhabria.

The experimental learning modules with the Fine Arts Society of St. Stephen’s College left us at the epicentre of discovery, creative interpretation and curiosity! In this first session, we explored identity in relation to art.

September

Experimental Learning Module 2: St. Stephen’s College

Workshop on glitching, data moshing and data bending by Kaushal Sapre as part of the experimental educational modules at St. Stephen’s college.

Experimental Learning Module 3: St. Stephen’s College

Exploring and experimenting with borders and boundaries through art as part of the educational modules with the Fine Arts Society, St. Stephen’s College and Kriti Sood at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Experimental Learning Module 4: St. Stephen’s College

For Devi Art Foundation’s Experimental Learning Module #4, we will be traversing Moving Images with the Fine Arts Society, St. Stephen’s College.

Experimental Learning Module Conclusion: St. Stephen’s College

And we draw to a close of our series of experimental learning modules through Moving Images of Heritage with the Fine Arts Society of St. Stephen’s College – a play field of exciting ideas, interpretations and discussions.

November

Jindal University Exhibition

As a culmination of the educational outreach initiative with OP Jindal Global University, we present to you a few glimpses into our exhibition Unspoken Void: A Dialogic Inquiry into Minor Architecture, featuring artists including Gigi Scaria, Probir Gupta, Baptist Coelho, and Tushar Joag (all 4 pictured). Our thanks to Professor Achia Anzi, Arts Department for this collaboration.

December

Artreach Festival

We are happy to collaborate with Artreach India for their art festival as the knowledge partner.
Exhibition of art works by children, young people and women from marginalised communities, Performances, Films, Workshops and Food (Bengali, Afghan, Somali, Dilli Dhaba and Christmas Bakes!). With all welcome to this inclusive art festival.

March

Learning Module at Ashoka University

Devi Art Foundation in collaboration with Ashoka University conducted a module titled, ‘Looking/Seeing’, presented by Prof. Shobita Punja and Kriti Sood with discussions anchored around works from Devi Art Foundation’s collection.

Through this participants produced video and photo collages as part of an exercise addressing the themes of Loss of Identity, Loss of Beauty and Loss of Pride.

May

Artroom 2018-19

Devi Art Foundation is delighted to collaborate with Artreach India, to produce and curate The Artroom 2018-19:

A series of monthly workshops structured to expose students from marginalised communities to contemporary thematic explorations and opportunities across art, design, filmmaking, conservation, heritage and architecture. It is our aim to expand imaginations, through social and cultural capital, and immerse participants in the extant and continuing heritages that exist.

The first session conducted was an introductory interactive session on the Moving Images of Heritage with works from the collection for the participants of Artroom 2018-19. Featured Artwork: It doesn’t bite! V by Susanta Mandal

Participating NGO’s:
Udayan Care, Rainbow Homes and Salaam Balak Trust

Artroom: Conservation and Restoration with INTACH

Workshop on the basics of Conservation and Painting Restoration held at INTACH, as part of Artroom 2018-19 with Artreach in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.

Artroom: Gender and Identity

Devi Art Foundation’s curator Kriti Sood led the very first Artroom session for 2018-19, on Gender and Identity. With original artwork by Ram Rahman and Nikhil Chopra and an informative slideshow Kriti helped children question social and visual gender stereotypes. We ended with each child creating an artwork with a story in mind.

June

Artroom: Exhibition Walkthrough at National Museum

Devi Art Foundation in collaboration with Artreach India organised a curated Walk of the exhibition India and the World at the National Museum as part of Artroom 2018-19 – a journey of exciting discoveries and conversing artefacts.

July

Internship with an Artroom Graduate

An art room graduate interned with us over the summer on archiving and research. She was a part of the Artroom group and had joined us for a month under Artreach India’s Apprenticeship Program. She was right out of school, applying for colleges, and had expressed her interests in researching, art and sociology while here.Apart from working on researching some loaned artworks that had travelled the world from Devi Art Foundation’s collection, she also read some of our recommended books, shared her insights on the same, paid a visit to the restoration lab, and looked at art on display and in storage.

Thank you Artreach.india and Udayan care for making this happen!
Here are some photos of her on a visit to the Foundation’s private farm where much of the artwork is on display.

Artroom: Photography with Vicky Roy

Devi Art Foundation in collaboration with Artreach India organised a Photography workshop covering the basics of the technique by Vicky Roy, who shared his life journey and taught the participants to work with light and shadow. This was followed by a workshop by Vinit Gupta on Staged Photography, technical aspects of camera-work and Storytelling through Photography. The session also featured works from Devi Art Foundation’s collection to enhance the overview and understanding of different practices.

Artroom: Workshop on Sound

Workshop on Sound, Meditation, Frequencies and Projection based Movement by The Nada Yoga Foundation at the Sanskriti Kendra as part of Artroom 2018-19, presented by Devi Art Foundation in collaboration with Artreach India.

August

Presentation at College of Art, Delhi

We made an interactive presentation at the College of Art, Delhi on the Foundation and previous exhibitions. This is part of an effort to open up the collection to students for research and for drawing from it for their own art practices.

Ashoka University Workshop with Shobita Punja

Photo snippets from, ‘Lend Me Your Ears’, presented by Devi Art Foundation in collaboration with Ashoka University as part of a series of talks on heritage aimed at using the vocabularies and strategies of contemporary art to give voice to themes of declining natural and cultural heritages that have little media, parliamentary or legal representation.

Presenting the zines, videos and installations that emerged in the concluding session of ‘Lend Me Your Ears’, with Professor Shobita Punja, Kriti Sood and Namrata Chhabria.

College of Art Workshop with Sumakshi Singh

Devi Art Foundation presents an educational outreach initiative in collaboration with the Department of Painting, College of Art, Delhi. The program is designed as a series of curated artist-led workshops, video screenings, artist presentations and visits to exhibitions. This is aimed at enriching extant studio practices of the students, and expanding the paradigm of painting through generative, experiential and interactive inquiries into contemporary art. The first session, led by Sumakshi Singh was a presentation on her practice and process.

September

Artroom: Illustration with Lokesh Khodke

Devi Art Foundation in collaboration with Artreach India organised an illustration workshop with artist Lokesh Khodke as part of Artroom 2018-19. Drawing inspiration from a beautiful accordion bookby Gond artist Durga Bai, the participants assembled a playful collective narrative connecting several stories.

December

Artroom: Environmentalism with Ajay Mahajan

Snippets from the session with eminent environmentalist Ajay Mahajan on the life of trees, and interlinking it with art at the Sanskriti Museum as part of our Artroom initiative in November.

April

Artroom: Open Day and Exhibition

Huge thank you to everyone who joined in on 27 April at Unfolding Stories, an Open Day & Exhibition for Artroom 2018-19, curated by Ita Mehrotra and Kriti Sood. Thank you to all who helped us conduct these workshops (INTACH, National Museum, Vicky Roy, Vinit Gupta, Nadayoga Foundation, Pratyush Gupta, Lokesh Khodke, Ajay Mahajan, Nilanjana Nandy, Anurupa Roy).

Big ups to Artreach India for doing the amazing work that they do! Special thanks and mention for all the participants of the Artroom participants and their care homes – Udayan Care, Rainbow Homes Program and Salaam Baalak Trust.

Following are the names of kids who participated:

Aarti, Akash, Ameena, Anjali, Anjali, Arif, Bansi, Chameli, Dilruba, Gaurav, Gulfiza, Hanif Sheikh, Jyoti,Jyoti, Kajal, karan, Marjina, Muskaan, Nargis, Parega,Rani, Reena, Sachin, Sadyyak, Sanjana,Santosh, Santosh, Shabnum, Shahana, Shahjahan, Shahrukh, Shanti, Sonal, Soni, Sonia, Sonu, Summi, Uma, Vanshita.

This ArtReach India Initiative was presented by Devi Art Foundation. And, this Open Day was a culmination of their experiences over the exciting journey of the years artistic growth.

Artroom: Drawing Narratives

Nilanjana Nandy, a visual artist, art educator and researcher, in a workshop aimed towards drawing narratives, asked participants to examine their own past drawings and artworks, select fragments of these and reconnect them to form intersecting narratives across time, in a whole new artwork.

Following are the names of kids who participated:

“After a year long program packed with museum visits, nature walks, sessions on conservation, photography, music and movement, book making and illustrations, it was time for the Artroom workshop participants to put their distinct experiences in their picture compositions. The young learner’s were asked to create compositions out of what they see around them through an eye window. To create without a topic or theme, with no message to give, but rather just to find interesting forms around themselves through a small paper cut out of a window frame was a bit challenging. How important is ‘what appears interesting to me’ as an individual? How to render what I see in the given space (the A3 size sheet in this case)? Can that be a wholesome visual expression not only for me but for the viewers also? Some of these questions came up as we worked. Arising out of what they were doing, the queries were addressed. This definitely has a greatbearing on their ways of seeing and drawing. A long term engagement with ways of seeing, experiencing and drawing can help them get rid of the burden of the conventional, so called real looking visual vocabulary.” Shared Nilanjana Nandy.

Artroom 2018-19, a pioneering arts mentorship programme presented by Devi Art Foundation & Artreach India, took 35 young people from three different care homes under its wing for monthly workshops held at Sanksriti Kendra.

Artroom: Ecology

Environmental activist Ajay Mahajan led a nature walk through Lodhi Gardens, sharing his deep understanding of the world of trees and their surrounding ecology. With Ajay, participants identified various plant and tree types, understood how trees communicate and what a healthy ecosystem means.

Artroom 2018-19, a pioneering arts mentorship programme presented by Devi Art Foundation & Artreach India, took 35 young people from three different care homes under its wing for monthly workshops held at Sanksriti Kendra.

Artroom: Visual Storytelling

Lokesh Khodke (@lokeshkhodke) is a visual artist and Illustrator of children’s books and publications. Here he speaks about his workshop for the Artroom Batch of 2018-19 wherein the participants where introduced to the world of visual storytelling. Each participant created their own visual stories and also worked together on a collective visual scroll which was inspired by the Gond artist Durga Bai’s scroll.

Artroom 2018-19, a pioneering arts mentorship programme presented by Devi Art Foundation & Artreach India, took 35 young people from three different care homes under its wing for monthly workshops held at Sanksriti Kendra.

Artroom: Pop-up Book Making

The Pop-Up Book Making and Graphic Design workshop was one of the most exciting workshops planned for Artroom 2018-19. Conducted by Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Musician Pratyush Gupta, the workshop provided the participants with a glimpse into the graphic designing world and the many interesting ways of communicating a tale visually! Pratyush led the workshop with his book on Indian Classical ragas ‘Swarpeti’. he also interacted with participants on what design education means today and shared his graphic design work through a visual presentation.
Artroom 2018-19, a pioneering arts mentorship programme presented by Devi Art Foundation & Artreach India, took 35 young people from three different care homes under its wing for monthly workshops held at Sanksriti Kendra.

Artroom: Techno Music and Meditation

The workshop by Nadayoga Foundation (@nadayogafoundation), conducted by Nikhel Mahajan focussed on meditation through sound and vibrations. Nada Yoga is an ancient Indian Tantric science, which incorporates sound as its primary element. The workshop provided a mix of both practice and creativity to the Artroom participants. A part of it was dedicated to understanding production of techno music while other focussed on analysing self ‘deeper within’, and to observe how music affects our mind and body.

Artroom 2018-19, a pioneering arts mentorship programme presented by Devi Art Foundation & Artreach India, took 35 young people from three different care homes under its wing for monthly workshops held at Sanksriti Kendra.

Artroom: Photography

After an enthralling day spent with Vicky Roy, the Artroom participants had the pleasure of carrying forward what they had learnt in second session of the Photography workshop, lead by Vinit. Like Henri-Cartier BressonI says, in photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv, similarly we feel, just a small nudge in the right direction can set the creative mind rolling.

Artroom 2018-19, a pioneering arts mentorship programme presented by Devi Art Foundation & Artreach India, took 35 young people from three different care homes under its wing for monthly Artroom workshops held at Sanksriti Kendra.

Artroom: National Museum Visit

What better way to expose some fertile minds to ideas and vastness of what exists and can be understood than to take them on a visit to a place that houses more than 5000 years of history in the form of some odd 2,00,000 objects – and – even better when an exhibition as special as India and the World is on display. With nine fascinating stories stemming from shared beginnings, the exhibition showcased important works from the Indian subcontinent in dialogue with some iconic works from the British Museum’s world collection. The whole idea of all these workshops was to transfer learning in and through arts to other disciplines, to discover and understand human behaviour, thinking, potential, and learning especially through the close observation of works of art and various forms of involvement in arts experience.

Artroom 2018-19, a pioneering arts mentorship programme presented by Devi Art Foundation & Artreach India, took 35 young people from three different care homes under its wing for monthly workshops held at Sanksriti Kendra.

Artroom: Understanding Heritage

The aim of Artroom sessions has been to bring forth art education through investigations into learning through art experiences. In this context, the arts can include performing arts education (dance, theater, music), literature and poetry, storytelling, visual arts in crafts, design, media and photography.

Understanding Heritage – as the first workshop for Artroom 2018-19 – was an important introductory session that was planned around unlearning how we approach art and heritage and in-turn everything that co-relates the two. This workshop was conducted by Kriti Sood, the Assistant Curator for Devi Art Foundation.

May

Artroom: Environmental Film Session

The first workshop for Artroom 2019-20 involved watching inspiring environmental films and videos and each participant began creating storyboards of what will grow to become their own short film and/or illustrated story based on their understanding of environmental concerns.

Participants include young adults from care homes across Delhi – Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program and Udayan Care. We’re thrilled to see their creative journey and stories unfold!

June

Ashoka University Collaboration: Experimental Learning Module

We kick started one of our recurring education projects recently, i.e., the Young India Fellow Experiential Learning Module (ELM 2019-20) with Ashoka University.
The Experiential Learning Module (ELM) is a core component of the YIF curriculum where the Fellows work on real-life projects. It compliments academic learning at the YIF by equipping Fellows with structured problem solving techniques, while also training them in designing and implementing sustainable solutions.

For this particular project of 6 months, the Fellows will be given access to the art collection and other resources, for them to research and study thematics, artists, curation, and the behind the scenes work that is usually curtained, particularly to facilitate the realisation of an exhibition within the campus of the Ashoka University, by the end of this ELM session. The exhibition project will be developed by the fellows through close consultation with the curatorial team here at DAF.
For this year’s session, we have 4 fellows on board who are being mentored by Kriti Sood, and this is an image from their first session where they are getting to know about the work DAF has done in a little over a decade.

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 Conservator Deepshikha Kalsi

What better way to culminate the show PRA-KASHI: Silk, Gold & Silver from the City of Light than to have our inquisitive little group of talented Artroom kids come visit the exhibition and have a session of learning around the same!
This past Sunday, the last day for the exhibition was spent taking the kids around the exhibition and engaging their interest through an in-depth conversation around the exhibition through a curated walk done by Vinay Singh, a textile specialist from the ASHA Workshop and Deepshikha Kalsi, the textile conservator who worked on the exhibition. The kids were flabbergasted with the motifs, the stories, the weaves; and they were taken especially by the Shikargahs and how the animals chosen to be depicted in the contemporary textiles were endangered. A sit down workshop followed where the kids were explained different weaves through different cloth samples which they could take back for their collages.

July

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲

“For me art is the means and not the end”, Nilanjana says. Her sessions with the Artroom group were focused around the body and self. Through various observations and exercises, she engaged the participants into learning about one’s body and understanding physical impersonation, directly and from memory and delineated on how to reflect that through visual art and drawing.
Nilanjana Nandy is a visual artist, educator and researcher.
ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Arts, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐇 centred around film making

Spread over two days, the workshop was facilitated by Intach Delhi Chapter with first, the sit-down sessions, conducted to discuss visual storyboards and understand the technical aspects of film making, vis-à-vis the angles, editing etc. As a follow up, a short film on the theme of ‘environment’ was made from scratch. Titled “Mitti”, this short was a story of how from soil we come and to the soil we go, and such is the circle of ‘life’.

ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Arts, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫-𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬

What happens when you stop to observe and look at the stories that surround you? Be it the people, the place itself, the walls, the structure, the animals – big, small and unseen – inhabiting the space? Well, that is what a fun session with Chandan Gomes entailed for our Artroom participants. It comprised of a visit to Qutub, where everyone was divided in groups to take pictures and make stories in the fashion less conventional than usual. Questions like “what does the monument stand for different people” were put forward and visual stories were captured to tell the tales, with ultimatum of being presented in the form of a photography book.
Chandan Gomes is a Delhi-based photographer. He currently teaches at the Sri Aurobindo Center for Arts & Communications, Delhi and Ashoka University, Haryana. Themes of beauty, imitation, and abandonment interest him as an artist.
ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Arts, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐬

Tehmeena conducted a session on collaging and experimentation around creating photo-montages, exposing the students to new visions and techniques to play around with.
Tehmeena’s work centres around aspects like pulling the popular imagery out of context and appropriated to create seemingly surreal narratives, and hence, through her understanding of juxtaposition of visuals, the workshop helped the students to explore a fresh way of looking at collages.
ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Arts, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 & 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐲

Revolved around delving deep into abstraction of circular forms – from the galaxy to molecular structures alike. The participants were encouraged to play with the shape and produce artwork using various collaging techniques. The works were then shown at Steve’s exhibition at the Sanskriti Kendra later the same day, which was an exhilarating experience for students.

Steve is a visual artist, consultant and educator.Described as ‘explosion in colour’, his art is influenced by cultures throughout the world. Images here, shared by Artreach India. Swipe to see more pictures from the session.
ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Arts, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐲

A 5 day intensive series of sessions that focused on explorations around shadow through images, cutouts and projections – addressing how they work, what are the limitations, how to build a narrative, and so on. A word-to-word story was created that was almost absurd, and conversations surrounding what a narrative of absurdity brings to the table as a creative exercise and how we are so used to things being formalised even though life around is absolutely absurd, were discussed. The exercise highlighted through the story and the process how we should embrace absurdity in some way or the other.
Anurupa Roy is recognised as a major creative force in Indian Puppet Theatre and has been with us twice for Artroom series’, engaging the participants with her thoughtful and engrossing sessions, tapping into their young minds to nourish seeds of imagination.
ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Arts, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.

August

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 publisher S. Anand

In an intensive workshop this past weekend, our Artroom participants got to delve into the world of publishing, collaborations between writers and artists, and new ways of communicating, of storytelling.
S. Anand, of the independent publishing house Navayana, took our Artroom participants on a visual journey as he spoke and discussed at length about Bhimayana – a graphic biography of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar created by artists Durgabai Vyam, Subhash Vyam and written by Srividya Natarajan and S. Anand. The book itself, be it the subject matter, the storytelling or the use of pardhan gond art (digna, specifically) offers so much to encapsulate oneself with and learn from, that the session with the author only amplified the effect. It was filled with conversations around the challenges faced in a society dictated by caste and the discrimination that comes along with it. The workshop culminated with the participants making their own single page stories, visually inspired from Durgabai and Subhash Vyam’s work and based on the conversations that happened throughout the session.
Artroom 2019-20 is a collaborative venture by Devi Art Foundation and Artreach India, curated by Kriti Sood and Artreach India, that produces and curates workshops structured to expose students from care homes across Delhi NCR to contemporary thematic explorations and opportunities across art, design, film making, conservation, heritage and architecture. It is our aim to expand imaginations, through social and cultural capital, and immerse participants in the extant and continuing heritages that exist.

September

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 theatre artist Maya Krishna Rao

As the new weekend approaches, we look back at the one that went – while some of us here at DAF were occupied with preparations for the exhibition at National Museum to open, a part of the team was looking after ongoing projects.
Our Artroom group this past weekend had the pleasure of being in company of acclaimed theatre artist Maya Krishna Rao. Maya Krishna Rao’s fiery presence in the Artroom, brought more than just a push into the creative direction, it introduced the group to the world of theatre, expressions, stories, sound and movement. The session touched on the theme of self in nature. Through various performative activities and her guidance, the participants did small series of acts pieced together by themselves. It is such sessions that leave an imprint on the minds of the young creators, artists, performers, learners. The zeal with which the stories took form as enactments and ideas took shape was a sight to see!
Maya Krishna Rao is an acclaimed Indian theatre artist, stand up comedian and social activist.
ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Arts, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.

October

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐢 𝐚𝐭 ‘𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢: 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐤, 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝 & 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭’ 𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦, 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢

In October 2019, the Artroom group visited the special exhibition ‘Pra-kashi’ at National Museum, New Delhi for a curated walk through, led by Vinay Singh, a textile specialist from the ASHA Workshop; followed by a session with Deepshikha Kalsi. The exhibition covered a millennium of woven textile history, coupled with extraordinarily woven textiles from the ASHA Workshop and the National Museum collection. The works were supplemented with Miniature Paintings and stories laced with history of textiles. Artroom sessions that happen at an exhibition always leave the participating students in awe and this one was no different. The group took part in a hands-on activity, with Deepshikha Kalsi to understand different forms of weaves and worked on small samples as well.
ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Arts, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.

ELM students (of Ashoka University) visit Prakashi, National Museum

Ashoka University students part of the ‘Experimental Learning Module’ visited the special exhibition by Devi Art Foundation, Rahul Jain and Eka Resources at National Museum.

Library Sessions students of with Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication

‘Library Sessions’ – were devised and initiated with the students of Masters of Photography at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication. The aim of these sessions is to integrate Devi Art foundation’s collection as part of the curriculum for the students and provide the same as a resource for their research and practice. In this regard, photographers from DAF’s collection are invited, to have a conversation around their works from the collection, as well as their current practice.
DAF’s Education Programmes are curated and designed by Kriti’s organisation – LAND (Learning Through Arts, Narrative & Discourse).

Library Session with Gauri Gill

Bharat Choudhary on the Library Session for students of SACAC with Gauri Gill:
“Devi Art Foundation organised a session for our students of photography where they got to interact with and view the works of Gauri Gill. It was a great opportunity for our students to spend a lot of time with Gauri who is such an accomplished and respected photographer. This interaction taught them how one could look at the seemingly obvious, or the supposed stereotypical situations with a completely new perspective. But most importantly, it taught the students the value of creative and experimental collaborations with other artists. Like Gauri’s collaboration with the indigenous artist, Rajesh Vangad, where her photographs are transformed so beautifully when they become the surface for Vangad’s drawings. I think through this interaction, the students could understand the importance of multi-dimensional and diverse ways of storytelling through the medium of photography. And how through photography they can raise important questions about society, culture, and politics.”

November

Library Session with Praveen Jain

The Department of Photography at SACAC collaborated with Devi Art Foundation for a lecture series, where lens based practitioners were invited to interact with the students. As part of these library sessions, artists and photographers shared their work and journeys. This initiative was amongst the highlights of our previous academic session.
Chandan Gomes on the Library Session for students of SACAC with Praveen Jain:
“Mr. Praveen Jain is amongst our most celebrated photo-journalists. His documentation of the Hashimpura Massacre and the lead up to the Babri Masjid Demolition are important parts of Independent India’s political and social history. His photographs of politicians and their private and public lives are par excellence! He was kind of to share with the students his journey of over three decades as a photo-journalist. His session left the students with many questions which he patiently addressed. We hope to have Mr. Jain with us again.”

ELM students visit the farm

Ashoka University students part of the ‘Experimental Learning Module’ visited the residential farm where much of the DAF collection is on private display. Here are some images of the students looking at the art.

January

Library Session with Ravi Aggarwal

The Department of Photography at SACAC (Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication) collaborated with Devi Art Foundation for a lecture series, where lens based practitioners were invited to interact with the students. As part of these library sessions, artists and photographers shared their work and journeys. This initiative was amongst the highlights of our previous academic session.

Chandan Gomes on the Library Session for students of SACAC with Ravi Aggarwal:

“I was personally looking forward to Ravi Agarwal’s session, an artist whose practice I really admire. It is difficult to box Ravi into a single category – he is a photographer, artist, ecologist and activist. But most importantly, he is a thinker whose preoccuption with the Human Condition in his practice and work is admirable. In his session, Ravi shared his journey as an artist and some of his projects and books. More than providing answers or solutions, Ravi’s session taught the students the importance of engaging with questions, even those whose which are difficult to answer.”

February

Library Session: Amit Dutta’s films screening at ‘Suññatā Samānta: 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲’

Amit Dutta, an Indian experimental filmmaker and screenwriter, is considered to be one of the most significant contemporary practitioners of experimental cinema. His works mostly deal with subjects of art history and cultural inheritance through cinema, many times merging research and documentation with an open imagination. Two of his films were screened at Devi Art Foundation’s 2020 exhibition, where students of SACAC were invited to view them.
Bharat Choudhary on the film screening:
“For our students of photography, Devi Art Foundation screened two films by the very wonderful filmmaker, Amit Dutta. One of the films was Jangarh and the other one was Nainsukh. Amit Dutta is one of India’s most significant experimental filmmakers and his cinema is an exploration of love, compassion, colour, darkness, movement, stillness, etc.
“For our students of photography, it was great experience to view this kind of cinema, where the filmmaker’s exploration of the traditions of painting, storytelling, the sounds of nature, or other tender ideas like the textures of human relationships, occur in a cinematic world of refined techniques, with the beautiful use of light and colour, creating a masterpiece of sound and imagery. As photographers, our students could understand how all the visual and audio material could be designed not to represent just a fixed or static idea but also to explore and discover the nature of the human condition.”

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ‘Suññatā Samānta: 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲’ 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐤𝐡𝐥𝐚, 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢

This February 2020, the Artroom group paid a visit to Suññatā Samānta: Emptiness Equality – an exhibition curated by S. Anand, presented by Devi Art Foundation.
The aim of the session, apart from discussing the theme of the exhibition with its relevance today and understanding its nuances, was to understand the very making of an (any) exhibition and the roles that make it possible. The group was taken for a walkthrough by DAF’s Collection & Program Manager, Priya Chauhan.
The follow-up session comprised of understanding the political unrest and translating thoughts and opinions surrounding the same into drawings. This session, led by Artreach India’s Anarya and Ita Mehrotra started with them showing their own works and narrating situations that lead them to make these. This exercise resulted in some very moving sketches done by the participants on the spot, some even inspired by the artworks displayed at the exhibition.
ARTROOM – an Artreach India initiative– is a pioneering arts mentorship programme for young people living in care homes in Delhi. Since 2018, Artroom has been presented by Artreach India in collaboration with Devi Art Foundation.
The programme is designed & conceptualised by Deeksha Nath (Artreach). Its 2019-20 Session is co-curated by Ita Mehrotra (Artreach) and Kriti Sood (LAND — Learning through Art, Narrative and Discourse).
Participating NGOs for this session are Salaam Baalak Trust, Rainbow Homes Program, Udayan Care and Karam Marg.