Following techniques while doing an art piece or giving a performance is all well and good. But having fun and bringing your own thoughts and ideas to it is much more important. And this is what Priya Srinivasan strives to encourage through her art education company The Pomegranate Workshop which she started 11 years ago in Mumbai. "I noticed that a lot of art education is result oriented. Children as young as five years old were making these perfect pictures or craft pieces as instructed and I began to wonder, ‘Shouldn't art be more about exploration and play?' Creative expression, I felt was not given as much emphasis as techniques," said Srinivasan. And thus she set about changing things by setting up The Pomegranate Workshop which conducts workshops in all age groups in the area of theatre, creative writing, visual art, film making and animation. "Having structure is good, but individual freedom is important. For instance while doing a theatre piece we do not give a readymade act for kids to do. We let them adapt it from a famous story or they can devise their own performance. Thus there is ownership of the material," explains Srinivasan. Similarly, rather than focusing on the rules of photography, participants are allowed to take their cameras outside and just shoot. "What is important is what is the story that they are trying to communicate," says Srinivasan.
This freedom of taking control has greatly helped children as they progressed in life, states Srinivasan. "Some of the children have grown up with us and as they got into higher education they know now that high academic marks is not all that matters. They are more adept at taking the lead in things. While academic achievements may be all good, companies today are looking for much more when they hire. They want to see your creativity and what new ideas you bring to the table," she says. "Some of the children have come back to intern with us which to me is the biggest compliment."
Pomegranate's student theatre productions have also been featured at the National Center for the Performing Arts, Mumbai and in 2016, Pomegranate's Antigone 2.0 was picked in the top 10 Theatre Picks of Mumbai by the Mumbai Theatre Guide. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Pomegranate's student films have made it to an aggregate of 15 International Film festivals including Norway, Los Angeles, Turkey, Kenya, Bucharest and have won several awards including ‘Best Film' in the youth category at the 19th International Childrens Film Festival of India (ICFFI).
"This just shows that when the process is right, the authencity shines through," says Srinivasan.
Apart from conducting individual workshops, the company has also worked with schools, museums, art galleries and other social sectors."When schools are willing to give a chance to do even one programme we know that they are open to change. The school that has worked with us the longest has been doing programmes with us for ten years now," says Srinivasan, adding that they will be looking at approaching schools here in Goa too soon. "We chose to branch out into Goa mainly owning to it's proximity to Mumbai which allowed us to manage the two better," says Srinivasan. "We are however keeping it organic. We come to Goa with a fresh slate. Every place has it's own special needs and a different market. For instance in Goa the theme of ecology and environment can be explored more."
The company threw open their doors in Goa with a Halloween special workshop in October and since then have been conducting a bunch of exciting activities. With World Human Rights Day all set to be celebrated on December 10, the company is now all set to begin it's new programme Staying Alive on Saturdays, a one of its kind weekly creative expression initiative for the entire family. The first event will be centred around the theme of human rights.
Participants as young as 5 years can have a take on their rights as children. Beautiful stories by leading contemporary children's authors on the ideas of child rights and human rights will be explored through creative expression by both adults and children, even as they pick up exciting new skills. While adults can be a part of a unique print making workshop.
The other events under this programme (Staying Alive on Saturdays) will see, the stage thrown open to selected participants who send in their works - be it poetry, recordings of a theatrical piece, stand up comedy, music or dance performance. The expression could take any form - satire, stand up comedy, slam poetry, theatre, music or dance.
