Do not worry about your clothes getting dirty, just play and enjoy!” These were Gurugram-resident Sagar Batra’s words to his seven-year-old son Aarav before the latter made his way to the art and crafts section at the Kukdukoo Art Festival—a two-day event for children at Airia Mall Grounds, Sector-68, Gurugram. Within a few minutes, Aarav joined volunteers from The Curious Bees—a Gurugram-based educational venture—to try his hand at pottery. Spread over a vast area, Kukdukoo Art Festival features interactive art-based sessions, painting stalls, storytelling events, snacks counter, etc., for children aged between two and 18 as well as parents. The idea of this fest is to carve a space where kids can “learn while doing”.
Talking about putting this event together, Avishek Roy, co-founder, Kukdukoo, shared, “We wanted to put together a festival through which we can ignite love and passion about art whether it is visual art, fine art, or performing arts—something that is missed due to digital distractions. We have added the elements of art, storytelling, and theatre to remove any excessive usage of digital tools.”
Nurturing young minds
When we attended the event on day one, scores of children accompanied by their parents were seen strolling in the ground. Some kids were seen relishing ice cream while others carefully carried activity books and resources they had received at the sessions. The Kukdukoo venue has been divided into three segments—Manch, Chaupal, and Nukkad. An array of activities take place simultaneously in these sections.
On Saturday afternoon, several children congregated at the Chaupal to meet Gurugram-based artist and storyteller Alma who hosted a session on music and stories. “Aao baccho tumhe sunaun ek kahani Hindustan ki…(let me tell you a story about India),” sang Alma as the tots joined in unison. At about the same time, storyteller Simi Srivastava—co-founder of Kathashala—organised a storytelling session wherein she narrated an immersive tale to the children. Another highlight was the ‘Cosplay’—here the children met superheroes such as Captain America, Spiderman, Naruto, etc.
A family affair
A common complaint made by parents was about the weather playing spoilsport. However, many of them were glad about such an event being hosted in NCR. “In Gurugram, you have many parents with young children. However, you don’t have many activity centres, or museums, etc. So it is nice that such an event is happening wherein both parents and kids can participate together,” concluded Shruti Modi, a Gurugram-resident.
CHECK IT OUT
WHAT: Kukdukoo Art Festival
WHEN: Ends Today; 11:30am to 9:00pm
WHERE: Airia Mall Grounds, Sector-68, Gurugram
CATCH IT LIVE
WHAT: Puppetry by Shameem
WHEN: Today; 4:30pm to 5:15pm
WHERE: Manch
WHAT: A workshop on the art of mime with Kunal Molting
WHEN: Today; 12:45pm to 1:30pm
WHERE: Nukkad
WHAT: Art therapy through mandala art
WHEN: Today; 8:00pm
WHERE: Chaupal