By IANS,
Chandigarh : It was only one of its kind experience for young Indian and Swedish artists who gathered here Wednesday with the sole motive of saving the mother earth through the medium of art.
Artists from both countries gathered under a single roof at Government Museum and Art Gallery here Wednesday. Then the day saw a distinctive amalgamation of ideas, thoughts and skills between the artists of two diametrically opposite nations.
“I am enthused to see the response of Indian community. They have come out in huge number to participate in this initiative. All the artists here are very immaculate in their work and together we pledge to bring a radical change in the environment,” said 14-year-old Cecilia Roa Toren, who is studying at Botkyrka Friskola School in Stockholm.
Amanda Roa Toren, 15, who is studying nature science in Stockholm said: “I have seen the works of both Indian and Swedish artists. One thing unique about Indian artists is that they have countless innovative ideas and themes that are depicted clearly from their work. This could be because of multi-hued culture prevailing in this country.”
This was the initiative of Tellus Art, a non-government organisation based in Stockholm, Sweden. Twelve Swedish and nine Punjabi artists conducted a painting workshop on �Global warming, nature and environment’ that saw participation of nearly 150 students of Chandigarh.
Anetie Anderson, one of the senior artists from Sweden, said: “We have lived our lives but we have to preserve earth for our children. That is why we have associated children of both countries with this venture as we want to sensitise them.”
“Art is a non-political and non-religious medium of communicating, it is just like music that attracts everyone on this earth,” added Anderson.
Telling more about the project, Namrata Tandon, core member of Tellus, told IANS: “We started our project �Young thoughts about Tellus’ in 2008 and would continue it for next five years. In the first phase we have come to India and brought Swedish artists with us. We conducted a similar workshop from Feb 22-26 in New Delhi. We are overwhelmed with the whopping response here.”
Tandon said Tellus is a Greek word that means �mother earth’. Now we will select some dedicated young Indian artists and take them with us to Scandinavian countries including Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. These Indian artists will conduct similar workshop for children of these countries, she pointed out.
“This will be followed by workshops in European and American countries and in every country our main aim will be to associate maximum number of children in our drive,” said Tandon.
Swedish artists will also visit Kasauli hills in Himachal Pradesh Friday to capture the real essence of nature on their canvas.
“Children have a vivid imagination and it was not only enlightening for us to witness their thoughts about the changing environment through their drawings but provided us an assurance that they are conscious of the ill-effects of the worldwide climate change,” another Swedish artist, Charlotte Ronnlund, said.