How do you see the Sundarbans?: Creative Workshops with young people in Bali and Kuminmari islands, Sundarbans, India.
by Dr Niki Black, Professor Maggie Roe, Swastik Pal and Professor Souvanic Roy
Photography Workshop with young people from Bali island, 22 March 2023
One of the highlights of our visit to Bali island was hosting a special event to celebrate the photographic artwork created by a group of young people; with artist Swastik Pal in a series of workshops on the island at the end of 2022. We held an exhibition of their work, mounted on a ‘flex’ or waterproof tarpaulin sheet and invited their families to celebrate the work they’d made with some drinks and light snacks. We were even treated to a song in both Bengali and English by the five year old daughter of Sanjay, our boatman for our visit.
Some of the participants showing their parents their work. Niki and Maggie in front of the exhibition of photographs. Credit:
Swastik ran a series of creative photography workshops in 2022 with young people living on Bali island aged between 8 and 16 years. Cameras were given to all participants, along with some training on how to use the cameras and frame shots. The young people were then given a short brief to explore their home environment to capture images which illustrate aspects of their island life which are significant to them. Over a series of days images were taken, curated and finally printed on the ‘flex’ as an exhibition of their work. Using a flex was a very deliberate decision. It was a very versatile means of exhibiting their work, including a mini-tour around the islands on the side of the boat. In addition, once the island exhibition is over the flex will be donated to a participant’s family to form a waterproof shelter for their boat.
Taking the exhibition ‘on tour’ on the side of the boat around the island. Credit:
Creative Art Workshop, Kuminmari High School, Kuminmari Island. 24 March 2023
As part of our research into cultural engagement and relationships within the delta environment in the Sundarbans we ran a Creative Art Workshop with approximately 40 students, aged between 11 and 16 years, at Kuminmari High School. The workshop was led by Swastik Pal (independent artist) and Dr Niki Black and Professor Maggie Roe from Newcastle University along with Souvanic Roy from IIEST. Swastik also acted as translator for the children’s narratives.
Following a brief introduction with a presentation of the work of Living Deltas (including previous work in Bangladesh) by Maggie and Niki, and a short introduction of Swastik’s involvement in the project, the children were asked for some key words which they associate with life in the Sundarbans. These were written on the blackboard in both Bengali and English. The children were then split into eight groups, given A2 paper and pastels and asked to draw images that showed what they liked, and what they didn’t like, about their home in the Sundarbans. We deliberately kept the guidance to a minimum in terms of leading their interpretations and we didn’t have time for artistic instruction (nor was that the point). We had been given an hour for the total workshop of which the children were to spend about 40 minutes on their artwork. This was extended by the teachers after seeing how enthusiastic and committed the children all were. We eventually ran the workshop for nearly two hours. At the end we wrapped up the session with another call for Key Words to add to the blackboard before asking each group of children to show their drawings and recount a short narrative of the contents. We captured these in both image and audio recordings.
Blackboard key words at start of workshop
Groups of high school children working on their representative artworks of the Sundarbans.
Group 5. “This group shows that they live on the other side from the forest and they cross the river to get there by boat. They have lit a fire to make smoke at the base of the tree whilst they gather honey so that the bees don’t attack. One person is waiting with the kettle to fill up with honey whilst his friend is climbing up and chopping the honey from the hive. Another person is waiting in the boat to take them back.”
Group 2. “They are depicting the flooding which is rampant in the Sundarbans. That girl has lost her house and so she’s clinging onto a log and that other girl is carrying a pot of water, probably drinking water. Now the houses are flooded and the mangrove forests are in the background.”
Group 8. “The dependency between the cycles and the animal kingdom; where the deer is feeding from its mother, and the tiger is sitting and waiting for the deer as its food and then the crocodile is waiting for the fish or the snake and the monkeys are eating fruits from the trees and the bees are going around looking for nectar. So it’s a complete ecosystem and also the mangroves act as a buffer for major storms and cyclones hitting this small island. Along with that they’re also concerned about the poaching. They think the government should be very strong and stringent about poaching and stop it so that these animals are protected.”