July 13: The children of Snehalaya and SOS Children’s Village in the city can now weave colourful dreams with Gauhati Artists’ Guild planning to conduct free art classes for the children there.

“We planned to conduct free art classes after seeing children of Snehalaya and SOS Children’s Village participate in a painting, terracotta and drama workshop for children in Gauhati Artists’ Guild here today,” the secretary of the the guild, Kishor Kumar Das, said.

The workshop, which is being organised in association with Cat’s Eye Foundation, is a part of the 35th anniversary celebrations of the guild.

Around 30 eager children from Snehalaya and SOS Children Village spent their morning painting and learning the tricks of facial expression and body language of an actor in a drama.

“Our children liked the workshop a lot. They were taught the basics of drawing and they are looking forward to learn the tricks of painting on a canvas, which the instructor will be teaching them in subsequent classes. The drama workshop was an enlightening experience for them as for many it was their first brush with the world of acting,” said Chanda Mani Das, a senior co-worker of SOS Children Village, Guwahati. As the SOS village is near LGBI Airport on the outskirts of the city, it sometimes becomes difficult to bring the children for regular art classes to the capital.

“We have 214 children in the village now. It’s not possible to bring all the children to the guild for art classes. If the guild plans to conduct art classes for the children here, it will be a good opportunity for them to hone their artistic skills under the guidance of experts from the guild,” Das said. The weeklong celebration to mark the 35th anniversary of the guild started on July 11.

A major highlight of the event was the release of the guild’s annual magazine Chihna and an exhibition of drawing and painting by the members of the guild.

The drawings, comprising mainly sketch work, included works of eminent artists like Benu Mishra and Noni Borpujari, among others.

Artist Subhas Chandra Mahanta’s painting, Proud of 78, is a dig at the misleading role of many media houses. Done in acrylic on canvas, it shows a fishing rod with a handcuff in its hook extended from a TV, which is playing a channel called “New Evils”. There is also a plough coming out from the screen. “Proud of 78 is directed at the victorius 78 candidates of the Congress and how a particular media house highlighted their win. It is unfortunate how news channels tries to sensationalise things,” Mahanta said.

The exhibition, which will continue till July 18, is not based on any particular theme. “The drawings done by the artists’ have different themes. From social issues to cultural identity, varying themes are portrayed in paintings by 30 artists,” Das said.