OUR GRATITUDE TO...

If undelivered, please return to

Madras Craft FoundationG3 Madhuram Flats6 Urur Olcott Road

Besant NagarChennai - 600 090

Tel: 2491 8943 / 2446 2435Email: dakmcf@gmail.com

ON WEEKENDS WE ARE OPEN

TILL 7 P.M.

Madras Craft Foundation

WORKSHOPS (Timings: 10.30am to 5.30pm) DATE FEE

Certificate course on wheel pottery(4 days a week - 15 classes)

Chinese abstract flower vase making

January 9th & 10th January 23rd & 24th

Rajasthani miniature painting on canvasKalamkari

February 3rd to 26th

March 12th & 13th

Rs. 2000

Rs. 2000

Rs. 5000

Rs. 2000Madhubani painting on canvas

WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN(The fee for each workshop is inclusive of material

and transportation only. Timings: 10.30 am to

4.30 pm)

NEWS AND EVENTS - JANUARY TO MARCH, 2016

DakshinaChitraMuttukadu, East Coast RoadTamil Nadu - 603 112Tel: 2747 2603 / 2747 2783www.dakshinachitra.net

For further information, contact Saroja: +91 - 9841436149

DakshinaChitra is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays.Weekends : 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

DakshinaChitra is the project of Madras Craft Foundation.

Design and Content : e Phoenix Company

Rajam Ramamurthy for donating a Karnataka

jewellery box to our museum.

Deborah Thiagarajan for donating a Bidriware

box, two terracotta sculptures, one wooden

sculpture and three posters on Women

Empowerment by Dancer Chandralekha.

V.P. Dhananjayan for donating a Kathakali Mask

- Chuvanna thaadi or Red beard mask.

Sulakshana Rajagopal for donating a Korvai Silk

Saree.

Athiveerapandiyan, Pandiselvam & Shanthi

Chandrasekhar for donating contemporary

paintings.

Vishalam Ramanathan, Alka Pande, Brenda E F

Beck, R. Bhanumathi, Chitra Madhavan & Arvind

Vishwanath for donating books to the library.

Basics of Drawing

May 12 - May 15

Age: 10 - 15 yrs

Fee: Rs. 2,500

Printmaking

April 16

Age: 8 - 13 yrs

Fee: Rs. 800

February 20th & 27th Rs. 2000

TRAINING FOR FOLK PERFORMING ARTISTS

( 4-day certificate class )

Card Modeling

May 21

Age: 8 - 14 yrs

Fee: Rs. 800

TerracottaMask making

June 11

Age: 8 - 13 yrs

Fee: Rs. 800

WORKSHOPS (Timings: 10.30 am to 5.30 pm) DATE FEE

Kalamkari blockprinting on stoles

April 2 & 3

April 9 & 10Photography

Watercolour techniques

April 16 & 17

Rs. 2000

Rs. 2000

Wheel Pottery

May 7 & 8, 14 & 15 Rs. 2000

Rs. 2000

Tribal & folk art - Gond, Kurumba & Chittara painting & Shadow Puppetry }

May 18 to 29 Rs. 500

Kalamkari - Figurative style June 4 & 5 Rs. 2000

Glass - sculpting June 16 & 17 Rs. 1500

Pattachitra on canvas June 25 & 26 Rs. 2000

per workshop

Photography

Pattachitra on canvas

Kalamkari blockprinting - stole

Glass Sculpting

Wheel Pottery

Watercolour techniques Kalamkari (figurative) Shadow Puppetry

FRIENDS OF DAKSHINACHITRA (FOD) HERITAGE TRIP TO NORTH INDIA

NEWS AND EVENTS - APRIL TO JUNE, 2016

DakshinaChitra has been organising training

workshops for folk performing troupes to help

them develop diversity in choreography, build

teamwork and enhance their imagination to

improve performance. Two workshops were

held for the Somana Kunitha troupe from

Karnataka.

The Friends of DakshinaChitra organised a trip to

important heritage sites across north India. Their

journey began at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh,

where they witnessed the ongoing dance

festival. They also visited Orcha, Gwalior, Dholpur

and Agra, before returning to Chennai on 2nd

March 2016.

They stopped at various historical sites like the

ancient Rajmahal palace, beautiful Jain temples

and Tansen’s tomb built by Emperor Akbar.

A few of them went on a jeep safari past the

serene Chambal river and were able to see a

variety of animals and birds including the rare

gharial crocodile in the river as they drove past.

They halted at some villages on the way and

listened to fascinating snippets of village folklore.

The group of 12 enjoyed their trip and took back

many memorable moments to cherish.

Return to your roots this

summer as you rediscover

and learn various folk and

tribal arts through our

workshops. Participants will

learn how to make the

traditional Gond art of

Madhya Pradesh,

Kurumba paintings of Nilgiris and Chittara

paintings of Karnataka apart from the ancient

art of Shadow Puppetry, hailing from Andhra

Pradesh.

Participants can

choose to participate in

any of these workshops,

which will be on May 7

& 8, 14 & 15 and the fee

is Rs. 2000/- for each

workshop.

SPECIAL SUMMER WORKSHOPS

The cover photo is a painting by artist Veerasanthanam. It is one of the paintings which will be on display during his exhibition at the Varija Gallery till May 31.

This three-day workshop will be conducted on

April 2, 3 & 10. On the first two days, participants

will make a 1ft by 1ft mural and on the last day,

they will glaze their product for firing. The fee is

Rs. 2000/-.

CERAMIC CONTEMPORARY MURAL MAKING WORKSHOP

COVER DESIGN ART

DakshinaChitra is very grateful for the CSR funding from Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd. The funding has enabled DakshinaChitra to hold the following programmes - learning through the arts for rural children, internship programmes, research on Kalamkari & George cloth and workshops for performing artists.

GREETINGS FROM DAKSHINACHITRA

MAR 19 – MAY 31:

‘Retrospective of

Veerasanthanam’ -

An exhibition of

drawings & paintings

by Veerasanthanam

including pieces from

1970 till now

VARIJA GALLERYArt Beat

KADAMBARI GALLERY

JUN 4 – JUN 30 : An

exhibition of paintings

by Selva Senthil Kumar

JUN 4 - JUN 30: An exhibition on 'Buddha Purnima' -

Tree of enlightenment by Bodhi Selvam

Veerasanthanam

Selva Senthil Kumar

Bodhi Selvam

Summer’s here and it’s holiday time. We at

DakshinaChitra have got your vacation planned

with fun family retreats, workshops and events.

Many interesting projects and initiatives are all set

to begin as well. There is a lot in store for art and

history enthusiasts too. Read on to find out more..

GREETINGS FROM DAKSHINACHITRA

APRIL 24: GRANDPARENTS’ FUN DAY

Beat the heat this April by celebrating

Grandparents’ Day at DakshinaChitra. Fun-filled

activities and games like paramapadham,

palanguzhi, kolam making, musical chair and

story-telling await both grandparents and

grandchildren. The elders can also visit the

traditional ancient houses and slip into nostalgia

as they recollect and share fond memories,

which will be documented. We offer free entry to

grandparents who are accompanied by their

grandchildren.

MAY 28: GRAMIYA MAKKAL THIRUNAL

The special programme for the village

community in Muttukadu is all set to spice up the

summer with competitions, games, and

performances. The event will see people from

villages around DakshinaChitra participate in

games like pot breaking and tug of war. Other

interesting activities include bioscope, puppet

show, kai and kili joshyam. They can participate

in exciting competitions like kabaddi for men,

kolam designing for women and sack race and

top spinning for children. Visitors can unwind and

relax as they witness a folk dance performance.

They will be given free entry for activities and

games. The function will have stalls selling

delectable village food and snacks.

MAY 18: MUSEUM DAY CELEBRATIONS

Explore ancient history

this Museum day, as

Dakshinachitra opens

the museum free of

charge for all its visitors

on that day. There will

also be a photo

exhibition on ‘Museums and cultural

landscapes’. Save the dates and come visit us!

A shout out to all the art and history enthusiasts. DakshinaChitra is offering an internship in Museum & Arts Management for graduates. The 10-month programme begins in July 2016. It will offer hands-on experience on the running of a heritage museum and interns will work in different departments of the museum.

Graduates from any field interested in art & textile conservation can apply for an internship in Conservation. The two-year (11 months each) programme begins in August 2016.

Interns will be given a stipend. Transportation will be provided from Besant Nagar office. For further details, write to us at: dakmcf@gmail.com

INTERNSHIP PROGRAMMES IN JULY & AUGUST

LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS

Arts can make learning a fun process. This

programme uses theatre, craft, music, dance

and drawing as a tool for self expression and

development of self confidence in rural children.

It creates awareness about oneself and the world

around. The programme is being conducted as

part of a CSR initiative over 10 weekends for each

batch of students.

CREATIVE HANDS AT WORKDakshinaChitra hosted

a drawing competition

for corporation school

children as part of the

International Fine Art

competition organised

by InKo Centre and

K-art Busan. It was held on February 6 & 7. Around

50 children participated from corporation

schools along East Coast Road.

MUSIC VENTURES INTO THE RURAL SPACE

A programme titled ‘Celebrating Music’ was

organised by the US

Consulate in

collaboration with

DakshinaChitra at the

Thiruporur school on

February 1. The children

were taught the essence of music by a group of

3 musicians from USA, Neel Agrawal, Ansley Jones

& Angelique "Giddy" Perez, who were visiting rural

schools across the country for this purpose.

UTSAVAM - A HUGE SUCCESS

Utsavam, the four-day immersion in classical music, dance and theatre, including folk theatre, of Tamilnadu, organised by the Friends of DakshinaChitra (FOD), was well received. The sessions were conducted by experts from different fields. Uma Balaganesan and Geeta Vasudevan were directors of the programme.

The interactive sessions on classical music acted as eye-openers for many. The participants were fascinated to learn about how Bharathanatyam was taught in the traditional gurukulam system. The colourful temple procession was an enjoyable experience as participants understood the significance of music and dance in rituals. Therukoothu, the folk theatre of Tamil Nadu was particularly appreciated as not many had seen it before.

We are grateful to KCP Cements, Oriental Banquets, Suryan FM - Sun group and Global adjustments for sponsoring the programme.

History came alive in the striking photographs

shot by Julie Wayne. Titled ‘From Earth to Earth -

Devotion and Terracotta Offerings in Tamil

Nadu’, the photography exhibition on the

Ayyanar Cult in Tamil Nadu, hosted by

DakshinaChitra in collaboration with IGNCA SRC,

Ministry of Culture, brought to light the less

explored side of temples - their terracotta

offerings.

From tall, garlanded horses to small,

brightly-coloured devotee figures, the painted

clay statues caught your eye instantly. The

pictures told the fascinating story behind each

sculptor and artist. They captured the earthen

hues and intricate handiwork and served as apt

reflections of ancient village practices. The

exhibition was held from February 6 to 28.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON TAMIL NADU HISTORY

The Virudhu award instituted by Friends of DakshinaChitra recognises talented artists who have enriched the field of performing arts and culture through their dedicated practice and propagation of art. This year the award goes to Shri. ‘Bharatham’ R. Mahalingam of Melattur Bhagavata Mela Vidya Sangam, Thanjavur. Fondly called Mali, he has been performing for more than five decades and is currently the Art Director and leader of the Bhagavata group.

HONOURING THE LEGENDARY ARTISTE

A beautiful ensemble enthralled the audience as A.R.Rahman’s Sunshine Orchestra and Miami University Global Rhythms Orchestra performed musical scores of A.R.Rahman, Corelli, Grieg, Piazzolla, Purcell, Rachmaninoff, Pt. Ravi Shankar & Yehudi Menuhin at the Kanali Mandapam, DakshinaChitra. The event was held on

TAAL CHAAL - A MUSICAL EVENING

March 20.

In a continuing collaboration with Hessenpark Open Air Museum in Neu-Anspach, Germany, Dakshinachitra is sending Pattachitra artist Prakash Maharana and Ceramic artist, Potarasan, to participate in a craft exhibition at the museum from May 18 to June 18 this year.