Press Release
Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) organised an online workshop on ‘Expressive Art Therapy’ for adolescents and young adults today via Zoom. It was conducted by theatre artiste, Dr. Chirmi Acharya. Over 80 persons registered for the workshop. Participants experienced various activities like — body scanning for stress relief, body movements to open up, interacting with others, verbalizing emotions, enacting one’s daily routine and putting thoughts and emotions on paper during the workshop.
The online workshop began with a ‘Body Scan’ session. In this, all the participants were asked to close their eyes and scan their bodies slowly from head to toe. During the scan, they checked their body for any ailments, stress or tension. It helped them experience being in their personal space and being one with the mind and body. Following this, the participants used movements to slowly open up their bodies. Beginning with their head, neck and shoulders they then moved on to their middle and lower body parts. They moved their bodies as they felt comfortable. A ‘Dupatta’ was used as an extension of the body to allow them to expand their reach and range.
After this, the instructor divided the participants into separate ‘Breakout rooms’ where 3-4 members introduced themselves among each other using body movements and discussed what made them join the session. Thereafter, the participants enacted their daily routines during the pandemic from early morning to late night. They showcased actions like – sleeping, drinking tea, reading a book, doing household chores, etc. The workshop concluded with participants drawing on paper to showcase the changes in their schedule from pre-pandemic to now, any change they would like to make in their daily schedule and the prominent emotion they feel now.