A multiverse of imagination beckons at painting exhibition

Updated on: Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Why does a trip to a botanical garden always have to be about children standing obediently in a row looking at plants with difficult names rather than say, a little boy gazing at a wriggling caterpillar on a petal? Can a picnic with one's family also involve having idlis seated comfortably on the surface of the moon, with a rocket ‘parked' alongside? And what if bicycling with a friend is all about a ride on a grassy stretch along with your dog that is comfortably curled up in a basked placed carefully in the backseat.

A walk through the paintings made by children at The Hindu Young World on-the-spot painting competition, now exhibited at the Lalit Kala Akademi in the city, can introduce a visitor to multiple worlds of imagination. From paintings inspired by famous cartoons to themes very contemporary, including the cricket mania and floods, there a bit of everything in these paintings.
Picture perfect

“My grandson said he painted a picture of our family. There it is,” says S. Raghavan, pointing to a picture of a family watching a kung fu panda movie on TV.
Keen observers

Among the visitors at the exhibition, was Menaka Naresh, a 3D animator and an art teacher.

“I get a lot of inspiration from what children draw. They are often very keen observers,” she said, looking closely at the Mamallapuram shore temple, drawn by a participant.

The best way to get children interested in art is to bring them to exhibitions that display work by children. They seem to connect with them better,” she added, even as her daughters moved around, looking at the display.

The exhibition is open till Sunday.

A multiverse of imagination beckons at painting exhibition

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