REPORT – MAP WORKSHOP conducted by Education Department of the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), Bangalore
SEPTEMBER 23 – SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
CLASSES INVOLVED – CLASS VI TO CLASS VIII
MODE OF WORKSHOP – ZOOM ONLINE MEETING
NAME OF RESOURCE PERSONS:
MS. SHILPA VIJAYKRISHNAN AND MS. SHUBHASREE PURKAYASTHA
A very interesting workshop was conducted by the Education Department of the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), Bangalore with the unique concept in two sessions that explore ideas of wellness, psychological health and self-reflection by making use of the museum’s art collection.
All the students of Classes VI to VIII attended the workshop with full enthusiasm and participated actively.
The workshop commenced on September 23 and concluded on September 29,2020. Some interested teachers and Art teachers have also attended the session and gave a very positive feedback.
There are two slots for the workshop. The first slot is 11:00 am to 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm. There were two themes:
I. Art Musings – Classes VI and VII attended Art musing. Students did individual and group activities. All the Activities were based on photographs or paintings were. The students were asked to describe them with their perspective. In one of the activity, they made a boomerang of a still picture.
This workshop explored the relationship between art and wellness, especially focussing on psychosocial and mental well-being – a conversation that has become so important in the current scenario of the global pandemic and the sudden disruption of our normal lives. Through an hour and half long online session, it aims to encourage slow looking and deep thinking, and prompt patient investigation and mindful reflection among learners.
The students had experienced the relation of the thinking process and an art piece. While looking at an art piece. It was a new experience for the students to think about the paintings and art pieces which they had never thought in that way.
II. Who Are We?
This session was attended by class VIII students. This session was very informative and made the young girls to know about themselves and their surroundings. They have done many activities based on stereotyping about gander, qualities, our thinking for others. They were also asked to explain about themselves through drawing with the help of things and object which define them.
This workshop used artworks from the collection to explore the contexts that frame identity, while unpacking ideas of shared identities and stereotypes, hoping to direct learners to better understand their own selves and the world around them.
LEARNING OUTCOME OF THE WORKSHOP –
1. The art pieces and pictures are reflections of our life. They tell us our mood, hobbies and mental status.
2. Our imagination leads to creative and critical thinking.
3. By creating an art piece we can be more self-aware, others and surroundings.
4. It leads to deep thinking which normally we overlook or ignore.
5. how the things and thinking go stereotyped.
6. How to describe self with the help of objects and explain their personality.
7. The most important, how to create a conducive environment for the learning and connect to the students.
All the students enjoyed the workshop. In their words, it was one of the best workshops they have attended and they would look forward to more workshops like this. Some students of class VIII submitted their artwork done during activities with their art teachers, which was compiled and shared with resource person through mail. Both the resource persons were amazing and able to convey the objective of workshop in a clear way. I believe this workshop has given a new vision and way of thinking to the students as well as the teachers and will help them to be self-aware and enhance deep thinking and creativity to be a better learner.
Regards
Neelam Sharma
Feedback from Student
I really enjoyed being a part of the MAP Workshop, and I’m so glad that I attended it. It was a very interactive and fruitful session. Here are a few things that I learnt from the workshop:
· It was kind of about self-awareness. First, we were asked to put gender tags on certain things and actions, like flowers, giggles etc. We weren’t exactly told the point of all that we talked about but thinking about it brought me into this realisation that we were actually made to recognise some of our implicit gender stereotypes. We may deny that we don’t have any or we may not recognise them, but subconsciously, they do exist. I believe that it is very important to recognise them, because they hugely influence our actions and doings, and we probably don’t want them to affect the building of a community, where everyone feels safe.
· Secondly, we were made to work on our implicit stereotypes about gender. We were shown that certain things, clothing materials, and activities, that we believe are meant for a certain gender are for everyone, no matter whether they’re a woman, a man or non-binary. It was about not putting gender tags on things, and how wrong it is.
· Lastly, I really liked how we were asked to explain ourselves through a drawing, in which we were supposed to draw things that we identify with. I believe that most of the time when we aren’t able to explain ourselves through material things, it is because we don’t even know who we are. Figuring out your identity may not be a very easy process, but we all figure it out eventually. So, the activity was really nice, since we were asked to put ourselves into a box and try to explain ourselves.
I loved learning about all this and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I’m looking forward to attending more such workshops!
Good evening, ma’am. I’m Vidhi Miglani, and here is the report of all my learning outcomes from the MAP Workshop. I hope that it is okay 🙂
Thank you.
Vidhi Miglani
Grade VIII A
