Facilitating the new generation to get to know about the human body and its dynamics, the National Museum organised a puppetry workshop for children over the weekend.
During the workshop, around 25 children were led by the noted puppeteer and theatre-person Anurupa Roy of Katkatha which is a 1998-initiated organisation functioning in the capital. The workshop was themed on Exploring the Human Body in tune with The Body in Indian Art exhibition.
Art historian Naman P Ahuja, who has curated the eleven - week show slated to conclude on Wednesday, gave a lecture on Saturday evening on Rapture — a key theme in the eight-gallery exhibition.
The participants at the puppetry workshop were initially taken a round of the exhibition, following which they did several arts exercises. These were followed by theatre games on the five senses and the ways of movements of the human body.
The sessions led the children to make the simple Bunraku puppets, using paper and tapes. While teaching them about the techniques to play them, the children were also given an idea about the science behind the body movements and the construct of human bodies.
The workshop ended with a small presentation by Roy and her team of puppeteers on a play titled About Ram. The show featured a puppet of Hanuman and Ram dancing Chhau from West Bengal.
Roy, while expressing happiness over a multi-disciplinary approach the National Museum was taking in understanding art, said it was important to know a bit of dance and music to know puppetry better. She also said that it is a wonderful combination when the performing and fine arts come together to complement each other.