OUR GRATITUDE TO...
If undelivered, please return to
Madras Craft FoundationG3 Madhuram Flats6 Urur Olcott Road
Besant NagarChennai - 600 090
Tel: 2491 8943 / 2446 2435Email: [email protected]
ON WEEKENDS WE ARE OPEN
TILL 7 P.M.
Madras Craft Foundation
WORKSHOPS (Timings: 10.30am to 5.30pm) DATE FEE
Certificate course on wheel pottery(4 days a week - 15 classes)Chinese abstract flower vase making
January 9th & 10th January 23rd & 24th
Rajasthani miniature painting on canvasKalamkari
February 3rd to 26th
March 12th & 13th
Rs. 2000Rs. 2000
Rs. 5000
Rs. 2000Madhubani painting on canvas
WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN(The fee for each workshop is inclusive of material and transportation only. Timings: 10.30 am to 4.30 pm)
NEWS AND EVENTS - JANUARY TO MARCH, 2016
DakshinaChitraMuttukadu, East Coast RoadTamil Nadu - 603 112Tel: 2747 2603 / 2747 2783www.dakshinachitra.net
For further information, contact Saroja: +91 - 9841436149
DakshinaChitra is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays.Weekends : 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
DakshinaChitra is the project of Madras Craft Foundation.
Design and Content : �e Phoenix Company
Rajam Ramamurthy for donating a Karnataka jewellery box to our museum.
Deborah Thiagarajan for donating a Bidriware box, two terracotta sculptures, one wooden sculpture and three posters on Women Empowerment by Dancer Chandralekha.
V.P. Dhananjayan for donating a Kathakali Mask - Chuvanna thaadi or Red beard mask.
Sulakshana Rajagopal for donating a Korvai Silk Saree.
Athiveerapandiyan, Pandiselvam & Shanthi Chandrasekhar for donating contemporary paintings.
Vishalam Ramanathan, Alka Pande, Brenda E F Beck, R. Bhanumathi, Chitra Madhavan & Arvind Vishwanath for donating books to the library.
Basics of Drawing
May 12 - May 15Age: 10 - 15 yrs
Fee: Rs. 2,500
Printmaking
April 16
Age: 8 - 13 yrs
Fee: Rs. 800
February 20th & 27th Rs. 2000
TRAINING FOR FOLK PERFORMING ARTISTS
( 4-day certificate class )
Card Modeling
May 21
Age: 8 - 14 yrs
Fee: Rs. 800
TerracottaMask making
June 11Age: 8 - 13 yrs
Fee: Rs. 800
WORKSHOPS (Timings: 10.30 am to 5.30 pm) DATE FEE
Kalamkari blockprinting on stoles
April 2 & 3April 9 & 10
PhotographyWatercolour techniques
April 16 & 17Rs. 2000Rs. 2000
Wheel Pottery
May 7 & 8, 14 & 15 Rs. 2000
Rs. 2000
Tribal & folk art - Gond, Kurumba & Chittara painting & Shadow Puppetry }
May 18 to 29 Rs. 500Kalamkari - Figurative style June 4 & 5 Rs. 2000Glass - sculpting June 16 & 17 Rs. 1500Pattachitra on canvas June 25 & 26 Rs. 2000
per workshop
Photography
Pattachitra on canvas
Kalamkari blockprinting - stole
Glass Sculpting
Wheel Pottery
Watercolour techniques Kalamkari (figurative) Shadow Puppetry
FRIENDS OF DAKSHINACHITRA (FOD) HERITAGE TRIP TO NORTH INDIA
NEWS AND EVENTS - APRIL TO JUNE, 2016
DakshinaChitra has been organising training workshops for folk performing troupes to help them develop diversity in choreography, build teamwork and enhance their imagination to improve performance. Two workshops were held for the Somana Kunitha troupe from Karnataka.
The Friends of DakshinaChitra organised a trip to important heritage sites across north India. Their journey began at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, where they witnessed the ongoing dance festival. They also visited Orcha, Gwalior, Dholpur and Agra, before returning to Chennai on 2nd March 2016.
They stopped at various historical sites like the ancient Rajmahal palace, beautiful Jain temples and Tansen’s tomb built by Emperor Akbar.
A few of them went on a jeep safari past the serene Chambal river and were able to see a variety of animals and birds including the rare gharial crocodile in the river as they drove past. They halted at some villages on the way and listened to fascinating snippets of village folklore.
The group of 12 enjoyed their trip and took back many memorable moments to cherish.
Return to your roots this summer as you rediscover and learn various folk and tribal arts through our workshops. Participants will learn how to make the traditional Gond art of Madhya Pradesh, Kurumba paintings of Nilgiris and Chittara paintings of Karnataka apart from the ancient art of Shadow Puppetry, hailing from Andhra Pradesh.
Participants can choose to participate in any of these workshops, which will be on May 7 & 8, 14 & 15 and the fee is Rs. 2000/- for each workshop.
SPECIAL SUMMER WORKSHOPS
The cover photo is a painting by artist Veerasanthanam. It is one of the paintings which will be on display during his exhibition at the Varija Gallery till May 31.
This three-day workshop will be conducted on April 2, 3 & 10. On the first two days, participants will make a 1ft by 1ft mural and on the last day, they will glaze their product for firing. The fee is Rs. 2000/-.
CERAMIC CONTEMPORARY MURAL MAKING WORKSHOP
COVER DESIGN ART
DakshinaChitra is very grateful for the CSR funding from Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd. The funding has enabled DakshinaChitra to hold the following programmes - learning through the arts for rural children, internship programmes, research on Kalamkari & George cloth and workshops for performing artists.
GREETINGS FROM DAKSHINACHITRA
MAR 19 – MAY 31: ‘Retrospective of Veerasanthanam’ - An exhibition of drawings & paintings by Veerasanthanam including pieces from 1970 till now
VARIJA GALLERY Art Beat KADAMBARI GALLERY
JUN 4 – JUN 30 : An exhibition of paintings by Selva Senthil Kumar
JUN 4 - JUN 30: An exhibition on 'Buddha Purnima' - Tree of enlightenment by Bodhi Selvam
Veerasanthanam
Selva Senthil Kumar
Bodhi Selvam
Summer’s here and it’s holiday time. We at DakshinaChitra have got your vacation planned with fun family retreats, workshops and events. Many interesting projects and initiatives are all set to begin as well. There is a lot in store for art and history enthusiasts too. Read on to find out more..
GREETINGS FROM DAKSHINACHITRA
APRIL 24: GRANDPARENTS’ FUN DAY
Beat the heat this April by celebrating Grandparents’ Day at DakshinaChitra. Fun-filled activities and games like paramapadham, palanguzhi, kolam making, musical chair and story-telling await both grandparents and grandchildren. The elders can also visit the traditional ancient houses and slip into nostalgia as they recollect and share fond memories, which will be documented. We offer free entry to grandparents who are accompanied by their grandchildren.
MAY 28: GRAMIYA MAKKAL THIRUNAL
The special programme for the village community in Muttukadu is all set to spice up the summer with competitions, games, and performances. The event will see people from villages around DakshinaChitra participate in games like pot breaking and tug of war. Other interesting activities include bioscope, puppet show, kai and kili joshyam. They can participate in exciting competitions like kabaddi for men, kolam designing for women and sack race and top spinning for children. Visitors can unwind and relax as they witness a folk dance performance. They will be given free entry for activities and games. The function will have stalls selling delectable village food and snacks.
MAY 18: MUSEUM DAY CELEBRATIONSExplore ancient history this Museum day, as Dakshinachitra opens the museum free of charge for all its visitors on that day. There will also be a photo
exhibition on ‘Museums and cultural landscapes’. Save the dates and come visit us!
A shout out to all the art and history enthusiasts. DakshinaChitra is offering an internship in Museum & Arts Management for graduates. The 10-month programme begins in July 2016. It will offer hands-on experience on the running of a heritage museum and interns will work in different departments of the museum.
Graduates from any field interested in art & textile conservation can apply for an internship in Conservation. The two-year (11 months each) programme begins in August 2016.
Interns will be given a stipend. Transportation will be provided from Besant Nagar office. For further details, write to us at: [email protected]
INTERNSHIP PROGRAMMES IN JULY & AUGUST
LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS
Arts can make learning a fun process. This programme uses theatre, craft, music, dance and drawing as a tool for self expression and development of self confidence in rural children. It creates awareness about oneself and the world around. The programme is being conducted as part of a CSR initiative over 10 weekends for each batch of students.
CREATIVE HANDS AT WORKDakshinaChitra hosted a drawing competition for corporation school children as part of the International Fine Art competition organised by InKo Centre and
K-art Busan. It was held on February 6 & 7. Around 50 children participated from corporation schools along East Coast Road.
MUSIC VENTURES INTO THE RURAL SPACEA programme titled ‘Celebrating Music’ was organised by the US Consulate in collaboration with DakshinaChitra at the Thiruporur school on February 1. The children were taught the essence of music by a group of 3 musicians from USA, Neel Agrawal, Ansley Jones & Angelique "Giddy" Perez, who were visiting rural schools across the country for this purpose.
UTSAVAM - A HUGE SUCCESS
Utsavam, the four-day immersion in classical music, dance and theatre, including folk theatre, of Tamilnadu, organised by the Friends of DakshinaChitra (FOD), was well received. The sessions were conducted by experts from different fields. Uma Balaganesan and Geeta Vasudevan were directors of the programme.
The interactive sessions on classical music acted as eye-openers for many. The participants were fascinated to learn about how Bharathanatyam was taught in the traditional gurukulam system. The colourful temple procession was an enjoyable experience as participants understood the significance of music and dance in rituals. Therukoothu, the folk theatre of Tamil Nadu was particularly appreciated as not many had seen it before.
We are grateful to KCP Cements, Oriental Banquets, Suryan FM - Sun group and Global adjustments for sponsoring the programme.
History came alive in the striking photographs shot by Julie Wayne. Titled ‘From Earth to Earth - Devotion and Terracotta Offerings in Tamil Nadu’, the photography exhibition on the Ayyanar Cult in Tamil Nadu, hosted by DakshinaChitra in collaboration with IGNCA SRC, Ministry of Culture, brought to light the less explored side of temples - their terracotta offerings.
From tall, garlanded horses to small, brightly-coloured devotee figures, the painted clay statues caught your eye instantly. The pictures told the fascinating story behind each sculptor and artist. They captured the earthen hues and intricate handiwork and served as apt reflections of ancient village practices. The exhibition was held from February 6 to 28.
SHEDDING LIGHT ON TAMIL NADU HISTORY
The Virudhu award instituted by Friends of DakshinaChitra recognises talented artists who have enriched the field of performing arts and culture through their dedicated practice and propagation of art. This year the award goes to Shri. ‘Bharatham’ R. Mahalingam of Melattur Bhagavata Mela Vidya Sangam, Thanjavur. Fondly called Mali, he has been performing for more than five decades and is currently the Art Director and leader of the Bhagavata group.
HONOURING THE LEGENDARY ARTISTE
A beautiful ensemble enthralled the audience as A.R.Rahman’s Sunshine Orchestra and Miami University Global Rhythms Orchestra performed musical scores of A.R.Rahman, Corelli, Grieg, Piazzolla, Purcell, Rachmaninoff, Pt. Ravi Shankar & Yehudi Menuhin at the Kanali Mandapam, DakshinaChitra. The event was held on March 20.
TAAL CHAAL - A MUSICAL EVENING
In a continuing collaboration with Hessenpark Open Air Museum in Neu-Anspach, Germany, Dakshinachitra is sending Pattachitra artist Prakash Maharana and Ceramic artist, Potarasan, to participate in a craft exhibition at the museum from May 18 to June 18 this year.