Channakeshava Koffee

Channakeshava is a visual artist who graduated from College of Fine Arts Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath Bengaluru with an interest in and commitment to arts education. As a practicing artist he has showcased his work in many art exhibitions.

Channakeshava will work on an arts education project among the cluster of Government Primary Schools at Ikkibeelu Marathi, Murralli, Udakisara and Holagaaru, near Nittur, Hosanagara Taluk, Shivamogga District. He has chosen these schools because the students there come from isolated communities settled and the challenges faced by them include social and economic marginalisation. The richness of this multilingual environment and their location in the thick forests amidst natural abundance is sharply contrasted with the problems they experience given their remoteness and seclusion. Channakeshava has recently shifted to Hosanagar and participated on one of the Kali Kalisu workshops organised by IFA held in Kundapura for teachers of SVYM Hosahalli. His experiences at the workshop encouraged him to look at the possibilities of arts education enriching the lives of the students in the abovementioned schools.

The schools have students who speak both Marathi and Kannada and the grantee has worked out a detailed plan of intense engagements with the students, and the larger community comprising of both young and older members of their families. One significant aspect of this project is to encourage the teachers, most of whom at these schools are women, to become participant learners and later evolve as facilitators once the project is completed, so that they can continue with the processes learnt even after the grant period. He will introduce the students and teachers to a variety of visual art techniques and activities such as drawing, collage making, painting and mural making to explore their inner realities and express them creatively. An attempt is also intended to expose students and staff to the basics of theatre with their own stories. He will work with the students once or twice every week through the year. A public display of creative works will be put up by the students at the end of the project.

The deliverables of the grant would include visual documentation. A ten to twelve minute video document is optional.

This grant was made possible with support from Citi India.