Children's art and culture spaces look beyond the metros

A storytelling session at Mysticeti.
A storytelling session at Mysticeti.

Summary

A niche, albeit growing, set of art and culture spaces for children is opening up in tier 2 and 3 cities and towns

In June, twin brothers Advay and Reyaansh Kapoor, 11, stepped into a new art and culture space, Centre for Art and Storytelling by Mysticeti in Varanasi. They enrolled for an immersive set of summer workshops conducted by mentors from across the country—ranging from poetry by Rohini Kejriwal to stop motion film using clay by visual artist Anushree Joshi. It was not just the nature of the workshops that made these sessions interesting but the location as well.

Located in Chaukaghat, five minutes from the city centre in Varanasi, Mysticeti is emerging as a favourite with families for its multidisciplinary approach to the arts. Mudita Kapoor, an architect and mother to Advay and Reyaansh, says the city did not have a space for children. “In metros such as Delhi and Bengaluru, it is common to have sessions by professionals who specialise in children’s activities. Here, until now, amateurs conducted art and craft classes. Mysticeti has changed that by bringing in expert mentors from different parts of the country, specialising in diverse mediums and forms that inspire children to think and create."

Run by Varanasi-based Stuti Sareen, 28, Mysticeti is part of the niche, albeit growing, set of cultural experience centres located in tier 2 and 3 cities and towns. These centres are not just opening up new ways of thinking about art but are also rooted in the context of the city, and have emerged as meaningful spaces for both locals and families visiting from other parts of the country.

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Take, for instance, the Arthshila centres, run by the Takshila Foundation, which is helmed by the father-daughter duo of Sanjiv Kumar and Setika Singh. Envisaged as an immersive platform for artistic expression and creative experiences for people of all age groups, Arthshila has centres in Ahmedabad and Santiniketan, launched in 2021 and 2022, respectively, besides one other in Delhi, which was launched in January. These are open spaces, with curated programmes across disciplines, that hope to democratise art. The fourth centre, all set to open in October in Patna, will have a dedicated children’s experience centre.

“A lot of curation in cultural spaces is aimed at adults. Children’s programmes are often a by-product. But we want to respond to their curiosity and imagination. Say, if we have a family coming in on a weekend, how will the general programming appeal to kids?" asks Singh. Hence the new centre for kids, which will engage those in the age group of 6-14 through books, design activities and art events. “We are working very closely with experts such as ThinkArts, based in Kolkata, who specialise in diverse programmes related to literature, visual and performing arts, storytelling, and more. Conversations are happening with the theatre and puppetry group, Katkatha, about creating an immersive puppet corner and other pedagogical activities. There are plans for a music wall in collaboration with Svaram from Auroville, who research and develop musical instruments," elaborates Singh. The vision is to keep the space flexible to allow for different kinds of curation to take place through the year.

A visit by Dehgam International School to one of Arthshila's centres
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A visit by Dehgam International School to one of Arthshila's centres

Meanwhile, a unique kind of space has come up in Paradsinga village of Madhya Pradesh, run by artist Shweta Bhattad and members of the Gram Art Project. The latter is a collective of artists and farmers creating collaborative work on issues related to organic farming, education, village welfare, collective conscious living and rural self-reliance. This summer, they converted an old defunct government facility into a temporary art space for kids after taking proper permissions from the management.

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“Now, we meet there three times a week to work with children and teens on land art, natural dyeing, making paper from agricultural waste, and more. We are also trying to create a museum of found objects related to the biodiversity of the land, which is getting threatened due to construction and other activities," elaborates Bhattad. Those from other cities can also head to Paradsinga to participate in such efforts.

While students from the local government school have been training with a fashion designer, science toy makers and theatre practitioner—all friends of the collective—to come back as mentors, those from other cities can also head to Paradsinga to participate in these cultural activities.

Each of these spaces has evolved over time. Mysticeti, for instance, has its roots in a platform for aspiring writers Sareen started in 2020. She named it Mysticeti after the baleen whale to reflect her love for diving, and the sense of calm that the vast ocean brings. “This prompted me to start The Pod, an online group of Mysticeti’s readers and writers, which I hosted every Sunday. During the sessions, we crafted impromptu short stories and poems based on prompts, reading them aloud to the group," says Sareen.

Last year, she turned Mysticeti into a space for children dedicated to art and storytelling. The centre, also called Kauri, is now a meeting space for artists and children from Varanasi and outside. “It is important for kids to meet mentors from other parts of the country and be introduced to different perspectives," she adds. Her long-term goal is for the centre to foster a connection with the city, its artists and residents through activities such as open mic sessions, weekly art sessions and storytelling organised at Sarnath and the many ghats. “Weekly Kathak and music activities will be led by members of the Banaras gharana," says Sareen.

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Another focus are is preserving intergenerational connections by inviting elders to lead sessions. “For instance, Mrs Tripat Kaur, a grandmother known for her recipes, hosted a cooking session in June. Similar events will be held throughout the year," says Sareen. Senior citizens can also volunteer to engage with children through board games and gardening in an unstructured setting in a bid to build cross-generational friendships.

For children like Advay and Reyaansh, it is the openness of both the space that is appealing. “Creating two stop motion films required time and attention, but I liked pushing my imagination. We also did a session on photography, and after that I have been examining photos more closely for hidden details," says Advay.

Ita Mehrotra, Delhi-based visual artist, researcher and author of Shaheen Bagh: A Graphic Recollection (2021), conducted a two-day workshop in June on developing characters for comics at the centre. Mehrotra, who also runs programmes in a village school in Bihar, says several civil society groups and village-level community spaces are making efforts to have children think critically about artistic learning. “How can art be looked at as a way of encouraging self-learning, as a means of enquiry and collaboration? That understanding doesn’t come from usual hobby centres," she says.

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