Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Come and Join -'these walls are meant for murals' project # III in Calicut-

Our  Third Mural Installation covering an area of 200sq ft  as part of our public campaign for reclaiming blank wall spaces for murals titled 'These walls are meant for murals', has entered the 5th week.
There has been tremendous progress so far with upto 10 volunteers  on sundays, and 2-5 volunteers on weekdays..participating,and , may be in 2 weeks time, the layout will be complete..leaving only the 8 panels on 4 four walls vacant.Its an excellent opportunity for hands-on experience.If you are in Calicut and have 1-2 hours or more to spare, do join the team..For details ,
pl call Sreekanth:0495-2330364 and 9961109770


Now, here is a re-cap on Dhyanasankalpam-an Openstudio for Murals,Calicut:
We are  presently spearheading a successful public campaign to reclaim blank wall spaces for kerala murals.

Dhyanasankalpam began as a group that wished to bring classical art forms to the neighbourhood in Mankave,Calicut and called itself Sangeethasabha.
A series of concerts were sponsored featuring violin,veena,vocal exponents and Saint Tyagaraja Kriti Appreciation Classes were conducted,between 2005 and 2007.
Produced a Kathakali 'Nauka Charitam' in 2007(based on Saint Tyagaraja's Dance Opera-Nauka Charitam),It was premiered at the Temple Fest 2007 ,
it was recorded/canned and telecast several times by DoorDarshan 4 Malayalam Channel.
Summer Camps in Mural Painting and Spoken Sanskrit were conducted in the initial years.
The weekend calsses in Mural Painting led in 2009, to the commissioning of a 6 ft x 4 ft mural,based on 'Krishnageethi by Manavedan'.
A team of 10 students toiled every Sunday for over a year , to complete the mural.
The success of the first project has given us the impetus to launch a public campaign to reclaim blank wall spaces 'titled 'These walls are meant for murals'.
In Oct 2011 the studio was invited by Dolna,Mumbai and Mumbai Cricket Association Club to exhibit over 30 murals at the exhibition titled 'Samruddhi'.

The event saw our team skills and resource capabilities mature and peak, to mount an exhibition of over 30 canvasses, totalling over 120 sq foot area, covering fresh and original themes within a time-frame of 40 days.
In June 2012 we commissioned a second mural depicting the presiding deity at Thrissala Bhagavathi Temple,Mankave Palace,Calicut. This 6 ft by 4 ft mural was completed in under 25 sittings/days.

We started full-time and regular classes in Mural Painting in June 2012.
The Third Mural Installation covering an area of 200sq ft at the Krishna Temple, Thrissala Bhagavathi Temple Complex,Mankave Palace,Calicut,has entered the 4th week,with 5-10 student-volunteers working on any given day.
So far,a total of 250 sq ft are of wall space has been covered by us as part of the public campaign :These walls are meant for murals'.Our target is to add 500 sq ft of wall space for murals in a calender year.
Mural Painting is to young students what Natural farming is to plants ,crops and the environment. Young students of Dhyanasankalpam - at Calicut have already demonstrated to anxious parents in the community ,that they could score A+ in all subjects -without attending coaching/tuition classes.
Mural painting is a wonderful way to relax ones mind and train ones thoughts. For the young and developing minds..it lets them dream and refresh themselves, while learning the value of team effort and splitting large projects and epic stories into simple manageable and perfect components.
We want the Ministry of School Education to put Mural Painting in the curriculum of schools across the country and the art form should become an essential event in School and College Youth Festivals.Once the art form is recognised , there will be demand from students to learn the art form ..just the way the students in Kerala are learning other classical art forms. 
Dhyanasankalpam, is engaged in reviving public interest in Traditional Kerala Mural Painting Tradition.

Your support will be a BIG step towards realising our dream mission :

To put Mural Painting in the curriculum of schools across India ,

and spread the idea of 'Art as Yoga' in the midst of public discourse and

to see that individuals and communities appreciate the benefits they can reap from such an effort.

Longevity—the desire to be immortal—we hope, will make the individual and the community to take Indian Murals seriously.
The video links to our work in reclaiming blank walls in public spaces for kerala murals under the public campaign titled :These walls are meant for murals' can be accessed at :
http://www.youtube.com/user/Dhyanasankalpam