Grounded in influential German artist Joseph Beuys’ powerful conviction that ‘everyone is an artist’, ‘Art Stories’ brings together artists with disabilities and without, believing that artistic potential exists in all of us and that the act of creating itself can be profoundly restorative,” says the curator of ‘Art Stories’, Samira Sheth. Led by art facilitator Lioba Knepple, artists with intellectual disabilities from Divya Sadan (a project of caritas Goa in Porvorim, North Goa); St Francis Xavier vocational centre (education and vocation centre for children with disabilities), and participants of the ‘art as a healing tool’ workshops (organised by Caritas Goa at Panjim) come together to tell their diverse stories through the shared language of art, finding healing through self-expression, story-telling and connection. “I was really touched when I was approached to curate this show as i strongly believe that art has the power to shape our perception and the more we include every kind of mind and body into the cultural conversation, the more our creativity expands and evolves. Interesting things are happening in the world and I feel it adds great value to include artists with disabilities and without in one exhibition. It gives me great pleasure for instance, to see that this year Scottish artist Nnena Kalu has been awarded the turner prize for work that includes vivid abstract drawings and hanging sculptures, the first artist with a learning disability to win Britain’s most famous visual art award,” says Samira. The exhibit displays a selection of about 102 artworks – about 61 from Old Goa Centre for Children with Disabilities; about 20 from Divya Sadan which is the centre for adults with disabilities and about 21 works from the workshop participants. The exhibition is on display at Kala Academy under the aegis of the Serendipity Arts Festival and is in collaboration with renowned architect Gerard Da Cunha, who generously provided the display panels and lighting to show the artworks to best effect. “Lioba is a fantastic facilitator and has really spent time with our art makers over the last year showing the artists from both Old Goa and Divya Sadan im ages of other national and international artists’ works like Souza, Van Gogh and Klee; encouraging them to respond to different visual prompts,” shares Samira. The children and adults from both centres express themselves so honestly and intuitively and it’s truly wonderful to see her process and theirs. She’s also held a few workshops for people without disabilities and it’s really interesting to see how these participants have evolved over the last year, working with different mediums to discover their individual voice “Artists whose lives include disability share the worlds they carry- worlds of memory, humour, quiet strength, and an unbridled imagination. they explore a variety of themes – Goa – its fiery monsoons and languid f ields; faraway lands they may never visit but they’ve seen in pictures Lioba has shown them; responses to their daily lives – meals they’ve had – vada pav for tea, black forest cake; festivals they regularly celebrate at both centres – Christmas, Diwali, Narkasur. we have a lot of abstract work as well where the artists just explore or enjoy the pleasure of scribbling and doodling with pastels and crayons and their process of finding their rhythm, energy and agency, just expressions of their inner feelings and emotions – it’s wonderful to watch their art come into being,” says the curator. Ashita Abraham, coordinator of Divya Sadan speaks of its unique model where the community engages in daily activities like maintaining the house and garden, working on products for sale, singing, dancing, praying and celebrating all the festivals together. Once a week, members attend an art session by Lioba exploring their creativity experimenting with different themes and techniques, an activity that brings great joy to the participants. Lioba believes in expressing oneself freely without societal do’s and don’ts that can stifle creativity. “Everyone can enjoy art,” she emphasises, “and the process of art making can be very healing.” ‘Art Stories’ is an invitation: to look longer and deeper and to recognize that stories told honestly have the power to shift the way we see-not just art, but one another. The inclusive exhibition honours the artists who, through their distinctly individual ways of perceiving the world, remind us that diversity in creative expression is not an exception to be noted, but a richness to be celebrated. ‘Art Stories’ is on view at Kala Academy until December 21.
JOY OF ART MAKING AND THE ABILITY TO ENJOY IT
