In Summer of 2017,Krishnapriya CP and Narendran Kumar, accepted three UPenn art students into their home and acted as hosts and mentors as students’ developed their own art projects focused on India for the South Asia Center (SAC) Chennai Artist Residency. This October, SAC had the pleasure of welcoming Krishnapriya and Narendran, artists from Chennai, India, to Philadelphia, for an on-campus artist residency. Through art exhibitions, K-12 student workshops, and teacher trainings, Krishnapriya and Narendran have worked towards South Asia Center's mission to promote education and exposure to the region through creative programming.
Migrate: Exhibit and Artist Talk
Earlier this fall, Krishnapriya and Narendran showcased their work alongside student artists’ Laura Altman, Danièle Dennis, and Seung Hyun Chung, who participated in the Chennai Artist Residency. The “Migrate”, exhibit opened on October 26th at the Charles Addams Fine Arts Gallery. During the opening reception Krishnapriya led a talk that examined their perspectives as contemporary artists and how history, society and politics in south India has shaped their work. About 80 students, faculty and public supports attended this inaugural event, which was the first art exhibition organized by the South Asia Center.
K-12 Field Trips to the Gallery
Just one week after a successful opening night, Krishnapriya, Narendran, and the South Asia Center invited six groups of students for K-12 gallery workshops utilizing the art work exhibited in Migrate. Students from north, west and south Philadelphia journeyed to Penn’s Charles Addams Gallery for this interactive session. Three 3rd grade classes from Penn Alexander, one group of 11th and 12th graders from Constitution High School, a group of 7th and 8th graders from Universal Alcorn Charter School, a group of 11th graders from Hill Freedman High School and a group of 4th graders from Holy Innocence School attended.
Following an overview of India and more specifically Chennai, students broke into groups and explored India through artwork. One group practiced writing and speaking Tamil, the regional language of Tamil Nadu, another explored endangered species from south India, and the third interacted with artwork through art mediation activities. The overwhelming majority of students reported that they enjoyed the workshop, learned more about India and loved learning a new language. Many students claimed that "leaving" was their least favorite part of the trip!
Upcoming Educator Workshop
This Saturday, November 11th, SAC is excited to welcome current and future instructors, ranging from K-12 teachers, professors and graduate students, to our first ever art mediation teacher training, located in Charles Addams Fine Arts Gallery. The workshop will be facilitated by Krishnapriya, who will be utuilizing the art mediation toolkit Space for Encounters: Art Mediation for Opening Access. Krishnapriya participated in the development of this tool kit during the Kochi-Muziris Biennale organized by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Lucerne. Participants in the workshop will be able to get a better idea of the exhibition “Migrate”, which Krishnapriya will use to help build perspective and create narratives around interpreting visual text to teach about the world.
Register for this workshop here!