Art Teaching
Drawing Class with Pudiyador
From the beginning of 2015 to 2017, I ran a weekly ‘visual art’ class for kids from working-class communities of Chennai, through the NGO Pudiyador.
Click here for the full article describing our art class, published in Aainanagar in May, 2016.
Most of what we do would not be called ‘teaching’ in a traditional sense. The kids have almost never seen me draw anything. I never discuss drawing techniques, or give drawing exercises. I’ve rarely even told them explicitly what they should draw.
So what do we do? On a good day, we have a discussion, or maybe play a game, then give them materials, sit back, and watch them draw. Some of them produce images inspired by the discussion, and some of them just do their own thing.
If I do have an ulterior motive in these classes, it comes from the belief that art can help make unseen forces more perceptible. And that there is something powerful in the connection that emerges during the act of drawing, a sort of confidence that can lead to insight and discovery.
Pudiyador Art Show
We had an exhibition of some of the Pudiyador kids’ work at Spaces on July 5, 2016.
