‘
Exploring Art – an art programme by Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC), has been officially launched today, to mark Children’s Day at Kudakudhinge Hiya. Local artist Hassan Niyaz, Programme Specialist at ARC, commenced this programme with an initialization week, and will conduct the classes every weekend for a period of 3 months. ARC’s Managing Director Muruthala Moosa and Director Hawwa Shazra also participated at today’s event.
‘Exploring Art’ has been designed by Mr. Hassan Niyaz to develop the children’s technical and creative knowledge, and help them discover their individual talents and skills. The classes for the initialization week included a focus on pencil drawing, symmetry drawing, introduction to colors and making sketches. During the full programme, students will be introduced to basics of drawing and painting such as composition of landscapes, seascapes, perspective drawings, and integrate them with fun activities such as creating stories and characters from their paintings and drawings.They will also be encouraged to gain inspiration from their surroundings, from still-life objects to nature. The children will also be provided with simple reading materials designed to enrich vocabulary and grammar, which will include fun facts about Art History. ARC hopes that this programme would work towards promoting creativity and confidence, as well as provide opportunities for self-expression.
ARC notes that the ‘Exploring Art’ programme is immensely popular with the children, with the numbers of children participating in the programme increasing to over 40 by the end of the initialization programme. A total of 66 children between the ages 10 to 18 currently live in Kudakudhinge Hiya.
ARC’s annual Ramazan Collection for Children in Shelters, in partnership with Centre for Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), was also held from 1-9 May, and gifts from the public will be delivered to the children shortly. Over 170 boys and girls of ages ranging from 0 to 18 live in Children’s Shelters at present.