The maestro of abstract had a few adult friends but confided on more than one occasion that adult relationships involved expectations (material give and take) that he was not able to meet or just did not want to get into.
Gai was happy in the company of children, who were innocent and direct – something Gai was known for. This is the reason that Gai’s estate pushed us to conduct the 2nd children’s painting competition – the first happened in May 2022 (A couple of pics were located after much trawling through last gen external drives and good old Google drive). The pic below is part of the advertisement campaign for the event in 2022.
The artist’s estate and individual donors pushed us to look for a venue in central Bengaluru to ensure maximum participation from across the metropolis. We liked the BIC (Bangalore International Centre) gallery in Domlur and this is where the 2nd edition happened on 14 June.
To spice things up we brought in Bond Over Bindings and Enlit Kids as co-sponsors and asked them to come up with engaging activities for the participating children. Bond Over Bindings (BOB) lined up a bookmark making session inspired by the abstract art of Gai and also set up a stall of selected children’s books at the venue. Enlit Kids launched their new anthology of children’s stories (Satrangi Re) with an animated reading session from one of the stories.
Here are pics of both –
We were chuffed to partner with Parinaam Foundation who brought in children for the competition and related events. It was a privilege to give these children the time and space to express and enjoy themselves.
Unfortunately we could not interest other Montessori schools to participate in the event because the concept of competition & rewards is contrary to the Montessori philosophy of individual work pace, collaboration and internal motivation. While the estate of V.S.Gaitonde agreed to remove the term “competition” from the event, it was a wee late in the day since the advertisement campaign had started months before the event (Starting with the listing here) and our co-sponsors had also been talking the same language in their communications.
Lesson learnt for the future, for sure! Sometimes the obvious just slides past us.
We would like to share the images of work done by the children – these can be accessed here.
Team Olivia Montessori thanks BIC, BOB, Enlit Kids, Parinaam Foundation, Carol Rao, and individual sponsors who made this happen.
We are also indebted to the judges (Mortimer & Tara) for their support and quick turnaround.
Till the next edition of the V.S.Gaitonde painting festival, you take care!
