Thursday 28 Mar 2024

Painting brings out the best in visually impaired

| OCTOBER 20, 2018, 03:57 AM IST

the goan I network

Panaji   

When one thinks of a person with visual impairment, the first thought that comes to mind isn’t usually “painter.” But the art exhibition ‘Kala Chaitanya’ currently underway at Institute Menezes Braganza makes one rethink this perspective.   

Out of the 95 paintings by special children which are on display, four canvases were done by visually impaired children. These four were directed by Uday Chari, artist and RJ at BIG FM.   

Said Uday, “I worked with around 20 visually impaired children. I had to explain the concept of colour to them, since they had never seen colour in their lives. I thought of ideas for the canvas and conveyed it to them.” Uday also explained to them in simple terms, about very light, 

heavy, and very heavy colours, and then asked them to decide which colours they wanted to use where on 

the canvas.   

The children had more fun than Uday himself, and told him they wanted to do even more, when they were done with their canvases. ‘The Goan’ also caught up with two young artists themselves. Said Akshay Salelkar, age 17, “The experience taught me that even I can become a painter, and that I am in no way hampered or disabled.”   

Tanish Kinalkar, age 12, said, “I enjoyed myself with the colours. After having painted, I felt even I could become an artist when I grow up.”   

The art exhibition was initially conceptualised by Raj Vaidhya, Secretary of the Lokvishwas Pratishtan trust which has eight schools for special children in Goa. 

“We could see that the children were really talented through the paintings they did in class,” said Vaidhya, talking to ‘The Goan.’ “So I asked the Art teachers whether they would be able to pull off an exhibition,” he said. The art teachers immediately agreed.   

Shweta Chari, an art teacher in one of the schools, explained that since the abilities of each child were different, the teachers first had to see which child could use which skill while contributing to the canvas. Some children were given big strokes to do, while others were given smaller strokes.   

This is the first time that the children have put up an art exhibition. “The children wanted to do more,” said Shweta. She also said that even though she had suggested canvas so that the children could paint over any mistakes they made in a second take, that was not even necessary as they had done a perfect job in the first try. The canvases took around four months to complete. 65 children either with visual impairment, hearing impairment, or mentally challenged children all participated in the exhibition.  

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with Giant Group of Panaji and Institute Menezes Braganza.  

Share this