Shantagouda Marigoud Marigoudra

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA will engage sixth grade students of the Government Higher Primary School, Kurtakoti, in Gadag taluk, Gadag district. This 15-month project Videshi Hhakkigala Taana is centred around the Magadi Bird Sanctuary. Home to diverse birds, this project explores the ecological significance of bird migration through visual, theatre and language arts with the aim of helping students to observe and connect with the natural world around them. Shantagouda Marigoud Marigoudra is the Project Coordinator for this project. 

Shantagouda Marigoud Marigoudra, has been serving as an assistant teacher for the past 14 years, teaching Kannada and Social Science. Having a postgraduate degree in history, he is constantly engaged in documentation of resources on regional folklore and local arts practices. After participating in the training at Gadag a few years ago, he is in constant touch and enthusiastically shares information about the implementation of the arts in his teaching. Given his experience, Shantagouda Marigoud Marigoudra is best placed to be the Project Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.

The lesson Our Proud State of Karnataka in the sixth-grade social science syllabus mentions various bird sanctuaries in Mysuru, Bengaluru, and Belgaum divisions. To enrich this learning, the project will engage students with Magadi Pakshidhaama, a bird sanctuary near the school, through visual arts, language arts, crafts, and theatre arts. 

The Magadi Bird Sanctuary/ Pakshidhaama is a manmade lake that is built on the outskirts of a village in Shirahatti Taluk of Gadag district. Migratory birds from central Asia have been frequently visiting this place for over 20 years. The main water source is rain and it is surrounded by agricultural lands, attracting many migratory birds from both within the country and outside the country.

Bird migration has fascinated man for a very long time, and it has been studied from various perspectives. As a large number of bird species from all parts of the world venture out periodically, seasonally driven, with return migrations of various lengths, one can study their routes and the mechanisms driving this phenomenon. There are different forms of bird migration. Some species fly thousands of kilometres between their wintering and breeding areas, whereas others just move a few hundred kilometres from their breeding grounds to areas of more favourable feeding conditions in the winter. Each migratory bird species has different physiological features that determine its movement behaviour and migration routes. It is a special fact that Magadi Pakshidhaama is a place that witnesses both kinds of migration. It is a feast for the eyes to see more than 130 species of birds from around 130 countries between October and January every year. This migration of birds has become part of the lives of villagers who have a deep connection to it. Therefore, Magadi Pakshidhaama serves as an important resource in this project to explore the syllabus of science, geography, and social science. 

Shantagouda has listed a series of activities like lectures, field visits, literary, drawing, theatre, poster making, and clay modelling workshops to familiarise students with the migration of birds. Shantagouda has a good rapport with several local bird watchers, life science lecturers, litterateurs, visual artists, and photographers some of whom are alumnus of the school, adding an additional specialness to this project.

During field trips, children will develop their language skills by writing down what they have seen and learned in the form of short stories and essays. Apart from observing the way birds fly, playing in water, and flirting with other birds, students will be encouraged to describe their experiences through poems. A travelogue will be an outcome of these activities. Collecting poems written by different poets on birds, reciting, singing, and dancing in school also materialises at this stage. 

Students will also prepare a comprehensive geographical map of the different countries represented by the birds in the sanctuary, and create a permanent display and poster for public information in the school, community centres, and near the office of the School Education Department. Other art engagements in the project include being introduced to ornithologist Salim Ali, exploring the similarities between the flight pattern of birds and the construction of aircraft through screenings of documentary films.

As the final stage of the project, a text for a performance will be prepared by compiling the stories, songs, and experiences documented by the students thus far. With support from friends in theatre, Shantagouda will direct a play and prepare students to perform in public.

The outcome of the project will be a publication, exhibition and performance in the school. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be a copy of the publication, photographs and the video documentation of the entire project.

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Education programme in the manner in which it attempts to connect students and schools to the cultural knowledge and environs of the local communities they live in. 

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens promptly and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.