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A Bihar school is an unlikely canvas for artists from India and Japan
Niranjana Public Welfare School organises a Wall Art Festival every year which sees enthusiastic participation by Indian and Japanese artists. The Festival aims to bring attention to social problems faced by the villagers and children.
Every year, the Niranjana Public Welfare School in the remote Sujata village located in Bihar adorns hues of brilliant colours and designs as the school organizes the Wall Art festival. Artists from India and Japan spend 3 weeks in the village producing art using the walls of the school’s building as canvas.
During the festival, the artists interact with the local children and conduct art workshops for them. The initiative hopes to help bring attention to various issues confronting villages in India such as poverty, education and employment through cultural and artistic exchange.
The Japan condition was established in 2006 when about 50 students from Tokyo Gakugei University donated money that they made from working part-time jobs to an NGO in India to construct a new school building for the Niranjana Public Welfare School in Bihar, near Bodhgaya. The school was built in response to the poor education system in the region.
However, the school administration soon realised that it was important to provide ongoing support and thus the idea of conducting an art festival that would help convey the problems faced by villagers and children in Bihar was germinated.
Yusuke Asai is one of the artists who has participated in the festival 3 years in row. Inspired by traditional Indian wall paintings, Asai filled the walls and ceiling of a classroom with paintings made using mud. Working with children, he collected soil from various sites in the village and mixed them with water to make pigments. To bring about a simple participation from the children, Asai encouraged them to make hand-prints on the wall as a sign of their hopes for the future.
After the festival was over, Asai enlisted the children once again, this time to help wash away the mud paintings, returning the material to the soil. According to Asai, painfully wiping away their own work can teach the children the meaning of life as a cycle.
Photo Credits : Patna Beats