The 9th edition of the Art Marathon took place on Tuesday, 22nd February, 2022. The students attended the workshop from school while the artists taught them online through Zoom. The participants joined the main meeting where the event and artists were introduced and from there they went to their respective categories.
In ‘Big Picture’, the insightful and engaging session led by Ms. Ayesha Singh opened a new world of hybrid architecture art for the students. Ms. Singh presented a virtual tour of her creative journey, her art exhibitions and the underlying concepts of identity in architecture. The participating students created artworks by layering and assimilating images of everyday surroundings, buildings and monuments in context of the human body. This innovative and fun exercise was a great learning experience that added a new perspective in art for the budding artists.
‘Culinary Arts’ started off with Mr. Arjun Madan, a VVS alum, describing his journey from a lawyer to working in food marketing. He described his various contributions to the restaurants Yum Yum Cha and Noshi. He interacted with the students about the dish they had cooked and what they aspired to be in the culinary world. The session ended with the students trying each other’s fabulous dishes, and learning about the marketing world. It indeed was an insightful session!
Fun-filled activities and exercises to enhance the creativity of students in the ‘Theater’ workshop were the highlights of this session led by Ms. Neelam Gupta. Her enriching experience mixed with the expertise she gathered from being a part of numerous movies and advertisements greatly added perspective to the minds of the young performers. It was, overall, a very engaging and fruitful session to be a part of.
Ms. Anindita Acharjee’s session paved the way for the participating students to learn about the art of Kathak, deriving knowledge from her years of learning and expertise. In the ‘Classical Dance’ category, they learnt by watching videos of Ms. Acharjee’s Kathak pieces as well as asking their own questions. By the end of the session, all the students had learnt a new piece with Ms. Acharjee closely watching and guiding their each movement. It was definitely a wonderful experience for everyone.
In the ‘Music’ category, Mr. Puneesh Suri led a gripping yet technically simple experience, introducing students to the basics of the world of music production. Working with easy-to-use software, he produced a variety of fascinating beats and sounds composed of a myriad of instruments before us in a matter of minutes. This powerful display of the impact of technology on music was truly inspirational, and led to numerous participants inquiring about not only the software, but the wide-ranging implications of it. Some even requested Mr. Suri to have a look at their own personal projects – he gladly obliged!
In the ‘Film Making’ event, transforming reel emotions to real inspiration, Ms. Surbhi Dewan’s enthralling documentaries provided budding filmmakers a chance to analyze the technical and experiential aspects of producing films. Her depiction of each story through the use of simple gear, masterful creative devices such as stop-motion animation, and engaging Q&A sessions, Ms. Dewan proved that excellent filmmaking requires more than just professional gear.
The Art Marathon concluded with a positive and encouraging environment for the students to learn and grow in, proving to be a great success.