Portraying the Pandemic on Canvas, Children takes Art Workshop, Global

The 30th edition of the Apeejay Anand Art Workshop was hosted in Kolkata recently. The theme this year was “Sakaratmak Parivartan –  How has my life changed?”. Children from all over India and neighbouring countries like Nepal and Pakistan, used the paintbrush, as part of the Art workshop to depict how life has changed after the unprecedented and unimaginable pandemic.

Organised in the precincts and ground of Apeejay House Lawns on Park Street, the workshop is like a festival that commemorates the birthday of late Mr. Anand Paul. This year’s Apeejay Anand Art Workshop is special for the Apeejay family celebrating the 50th birth anniversary of late Mr. Anand Paul, who was known to be full of life and loved children. The family lost him in a tragic accident at the tender age of 17.

“We want to make students do away with the fear of the uncertainties that they have encountered in the past years and bring fresh rays of hope and positivity. We want children to enjoy provoking and mindful happiness sessions with peers and educators from across the country making our schools spaces of wellbeing, where children would be nurtured with care, love, and affection so that they settle and get used to this new normal with ease and at their own pace,” said Mr. Kiranjit Singh Pannu, Chief Executive Officer, Apeejay Schools.

More than 1000 students aged between nine and twelve joined the workshop in both online and offline mode to light-up canvases with their imaginations. Students from various corners of India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Haryana, Madurai, and Hyderabad joined the workshop virtually. Children were provided A4 size papers along with pencils, erasers, and pastels to explore their creativity.

With the desire to reach out to the lesser privileged, Ms. Priti Paul, Director, Apeejay Surendra Group and sister of late Mr. Anand Paul conceptualized and initiated the venture of opening the doors of Apeejay Anand Children’s library to the children of the slums in 1992 and in the following year, the Apeejay Anand Art Workshop was launched.