(sm)art : divinity and madness

Living Museum Exhibit

I am just walking out of the living museum’s show in Wisconsin : divinity and madness.
I was witnessing what was ‘home’art to my eyes. Something I had been conditioned to and art styles and pieces that had informed me; that I love and cherish; that my family at project onward makes. This was like reliving the styles, the patterns that I could pick out and enjoy.
What was extremely similar was awfully different too. The people that made them were different and had different issues- I am talking mental health issues. Their program operated very similarly and they believe in similar cynical ideas that I had been accostomed to.
The subject matter of this show was restricted to religious art though which clouded a lot of my judgement modules. To prophesize religion as a selective entity is one thing but here it seemed like religion encompassed a large part of the practice. Not only in the depictions in the show but also the arguements made by a person seemed to counter productive of the society. I am coming from a place where there is a choice to believe or not to believe. But to say ALL of them turn to God seemed superficial and mandatory.
Two words I am wondering about.
Why make art about that?

Something I can never know.
Because
We are all biased..

Nevertheless it was a great show of talent and thought which I would like to see in a non religious situation.

Journey into Halloween

That’s how I had my very first Halloween.

I became her. Frida. I felt her.

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Camp – Part II

Who would have thought the sound of this Tamil would make me melt? and fall in love?

It was absolutely confusing, the way i felt about this language- The Sri Lankan Tamil.

Unheard Beauty. Absolute Joy. This is what Bharathiar was probably talking about “Senthamizh naadennum podinile, Inba Thein Vandhu Payudhu Kadhinile”.

There were little drops of joy talking this language constantly bringing warmth to my heart. I almost wanted to move to Sri Lanka that minute.

The school that I went to after a lot of paper work and much fuss was one experience I am not sure words can describe.There were little ones from 2nd grade to 5th grade that were so excited to see me. I kept hearing in passing “Vellakaaranga vandirukaanga” (White people have come) and there was so much excitement in the air. The school was hospitality personified. They were so amazingly friendly to someone they had no idea about and had randomly appeared at their doorstep wanting to do art with a few kids.

I gathered about 13 kids and we worked on PPAD with not apple trees but any trees. It was interesting to see the difference between Indian Kids from my previous PPAD at Olcott and kids here. The cultural difference was so apparent to me and it as getting more exciting as time went by. Some were worried about how pretty the pictures were, the teachers came by one in between to encourage them by saying ” this artwork from our school is going to the US, draw well”. It was hard to describe to them that it did not matter how they drew or what they drew. That was one thing that did not get across no matter what. Language was not the barrier here, it was a mental block against anything but excellence.

Then we moved onto “Dream House” project which was what S had briefed me about. I was interested to see what potential this project holds and also to gather some information for her. I got a few kids to work on it and the results were quite amuzing. There was this regret about living in alien land at such a small age. I did not think I was going to come out with such results but the day ended quite well when everyone was ready to go home for the weekend to play with their dogs “Julie” and “Jimmy” after they escorted me to the camp entrance.

I was invited to come again and visit them anytime I wanted, little did those kids know the pain of getting to see them just for these few hours. Nevertheless, I would do it again a million times.

Part I- Camp

It has been such a great experience filled with emotions, thrill and excitement. After the long journey to Rameshwaram, We reached the hotel, checked in, showered and were ready to head out. My father helped me out by getting us connected to the police commissioner of that area, hoping they could help, in case there is an issue getting inside the camp. Yes, we were heading to the camp at M to meet a few children and see what I can learn from their lives and experiences. Everyone I had come across pre-journey, had let me down saying there’s no way I was going to get inside the camp. It was indeed a huge ordeal. When we got there, it was a segregated area, like any other, and it felt like I was in the border of India-Pakistan or rather an army camp, where no one was allowed to enter.

When we tried to get in, we were stopped by many and after much trouble, we got to the school which was right at the beginning of the camp. Using my mother’s government servant status, we got permission to go there again the next day and work with a few kids for an hour or so without any pictures or mention of any names. I felt a huge relief.

The next morning, gathering all the materials, we set out to go to the school. They were very hospitable and let me sit with about 10 kids 11- 16 years of age in the dusty lab, which was probably never cleaned, had no fan. It looked like a dilapidated 100 year old school building. I had no problems whatsoever. I was thrilled to be able to get anything done there at all.

I gave them art materials and had them draw whatever they wanted to. The results were pretty amazing. I am sure I could learn to evaluate those more than I can now once I get into the program.

Their displacement, moving countries overnight, giving up all their homeland to find safety was so unbelievable. There were some that were happy to be here, while the others did not like moving from their “big” houses to small huts in the camp. They were excited to be able to use color markers and stay out of class to draw whatever they wanted. None of them understood why they were chosen to do this fun assignment.

Once they were done, I had them draw out of scribbles. This was one of the standard tests i had learned about more than a year ago when a fellow art therapy student used it on one of the artists I knew. It came real handy as the children loved this activity. Although there was a little bit of trouble to begin with, I ended up having to give some more than one paper to draw in. They enjoyed every bit of it.

I learned that none of these families get any kind of therapy. They have one doctor on camp to attend to their physical problems but more than anything they would probably need a counselor to help cope with post war issues but there is no one. There is no concept of it. This was a sad state of affairs.

After a fun 2 hours, I left the school with many thoughts and drawings in my hand for future use.

Road trip to .

It was way too early in the morning or so it felt , I did not hear the rooster caw or the crow sing. It was much too early for my brain to wake up and so with groggy eyes I walked around the house trying to get everything in order to leave. Apparently rameshwaram was not a place you can depend on for nothing. All that being said I still have hidden exciteMent about what’s going to come off this trip post the 8 hour long road trip on bumpy not-so-well maintained roads. If it was the U.S. I guess we wouldve covered the distance in half the time.
Anyway, eyes half open, brain dead, I am on the bumpy roads right now with my parents by my side watching Tamil comedy in the oh so fancy cab that we have thrown our life into for the forth-coming four days of our lives. This is going to be one of a kind trips.
Now
Dehydrated
And sleepy.
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Muralized

We finished a mural today. My first mural.

It was fun working with the GW crew and the students from olcott memorial school. They were constantly fascinated by the fact that we were making their walls colorful. While I wait for T to upload pictures of the mural, here’s a description.

It was a large wall (i tried to think about its measurements but it beats me). We got the little kids to draw animals and jungle scene PPAD on paper and copied it on the wall.
Everyday we got kids of various ages to help us paint it. I had the most fun with the older kids though. Conversing with them in the regional language and making fun of each other was so delightful. Time flew by so quickly talking to them. Some of them are so witty that they made me laugh a lot. It was such a wonderful experience that I am so grateful for.

The one thing that none of them understood was, why we were painting a mural there. The enrichment of arts is not a reason they would understand. They laughed at us when I gave them that reason. So I switched it around and said for fun and to help them bunk classes.

I could never explain the significance of the mural and they never understood why the tiger and lion looked so funny (kids’ art). While in the US there would be a huge audience appreciating this work, here they were just laughing. They thought we were a bunch of jobless social workers. Infact, they called helping us clean brushes “social work”.

They wanted their names on the painting though. that was one thing that they were particular about but we couldnt include that in the larger picture as there were too many of them.

In the end, the principal of the school came to look at the mural and she had such a fake smile on her face. The old fashioned lady had no idea what the hell that was doing there. A mural that has no resemblance to real life. She was probably thinking “my kid could’ve just drawn it on paper, what a waste of time!”

All that said and done, the kids were happy about the bright colors and we were so content with ourselves. There was a sense of community accomplishment within each one of us. More than anything it was the funnest thing I had done in a long long time apart from meeting friends.

My holiday began well muralized.