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TEENS/ADULTS
Shadow Stories
Date : 7 June 2025 - 8 June 2025
Time: 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Venue : KNMA, Saket
About the Event
As part of the Enchanted Space installation at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), this hands-on workshop invites participants to explore the often-overlooked world of insects through the magical medium of shadow puppetry.
Shadow Stories will guide participants through the process of designing their own insect-inspired shadow puppets, crafting original narratives, and animating them on screen through hands-on performance.
This two-day workshop merges storytelling, science, and shadow play to awaken wonder and curiosity about the tiny lives that surround us.
Audience Takeaways:
- Explore insect life through the lens of art and imagination
- Learn to design, build, and animate shadow puppets
- Create and perform your own insect-inspired story as a storytelling tool
- Reflect on the vital role insects play in our ecosystem
- Engage with Enchanted Space through a unique, performative lens.
About Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust
Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust is a registered culture trust that is a professional puppet theatre company that has been creating original productions using puppets, masks and objects and touring to international and Indian performing arts and theatre festivals.
Katkatha has also worked with museums to create installations, site-specific projects and exhibitions about and using puppets. At the core are sculptors, dancers, designers and puppeteers whose vision is to support a professionally set-up and managed space for the promotion, preservation and development of Puppet Theatre. This includes training the next generation of puppeteers and creating a new space to seedbed new puppet groups and companies by holding annual master-classes, mentorship projects, internships and residencies.
Who is the Pot?
Artist in Me series
by Sangeeta Jawla
Step into a world where stories take shape in clay and tradition comes alive through touch and movement. Join us for a unique storytelling performance and pottery workshop with researcher, potter, and storyteller Sangeeta Jawla. Through folktales passed down by generations of Indian potters, experience the deep-rooted narratives of craft, culture, and identity—all while getting your hands into the clay.
What Awaits You?
- Be transported into the hidden world of Indian potters, where storytelling isn’t just about words—it’s about hands shaping, wheels turning, and clay breathing life into age-old myths. Through songs, folktales, and philosophical reflections, Sangeeta will guide you through the wisdom and traditions carried in every pot.
- Engage with Clay & the Pottery Wheel - Feel the earth between your fingers as you explore the techniques of traditional pottery-making.
- Throughout the session, interactive cue cards will invite you to explore questions like: What if I fail to create? What does an “uncentered” pot say about identity? How do our hands shape stories, just as they shape clay? This is a space for play, reflection, and expression, where every piece you create carries a story—your story.
- Work in small teams, shaping a shared narrative through clay. Experiment with forms, let your imagination guide your hands, and leave with a piece of pottery infused with the essence of storytelling.
- Discover how pottery connects with Indian folklore, material culture, and even Urdu poetry. Watch videos of rural potters at work, listen to songs that celebrate the craft, and immerse yourself in a world where every object has a story to tell.
Whether you're an artist, a storyteller, or simply someone who loves discovering new experiences, this session is an invitation to slow down, listen, create, and connect—with clay, with stories, and with yourself. Come ready to explore, to get messy, and to shape something truly unique.
Artist Bio
Sangeeta Jawla is a research scholar, a practicing potter, and a storyteller. She has been collecting the folklore of the potter community across India from the last seven years. Her Ph.D. is titled Potters’ Narratives: Identity, Social Relations, and Material Culture (2018–2024). She is certified in diploma courses such as Folklore and Cultural Studies (PGDFCS) and Certificate in Programming Arts - Hindustani Music (CPAHM) from IGNOU and a one-year certificate course in Sanskrit from the University of Delhi. She trained for three years in classical vocal at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and attended a Short Course on Fundamentals of Arts Management by ARThink South Asia & Khoj Studios Delhi.
She has been a resource person for events organized by FICA, CCK (Ambedkar University Delhi), Kochi Biennale Foundation, and Sunaadam Trust, Bangalore. Sangeeta has performed as a storyteller at Ambedkar University Delhi, Triveni Kala Sangam, Sanskriti Museum, Red House Delhi, Museo Camera Gurgaon, and Visthar Academy Bangalore. She has also displayed her work at the India Art Fair as a collaborative project with Indian Ceramic Triennale. Currently, she works as a tour guide with India Art Fair 2025 and has worked as a research fellow with reFrame on the gendered taboo around pottery. She also received a research grant from Sangeet Natak Akademi for the musical aspect of a folk instrument “Ghadvā”. Sangeeta is a potter artisan authorized by the Ministry of Textiles.
Found Forms
Artist in Me series
By: D. Priyanka Bajaj
Date : 15 Feb 2025
Time: 2:00pm
Venue : KNMA Noida
Shapes, textures, and colours surround us in ways we often overlook. In this workshop, we invite you to slow down, observe, and discover the artistic potential hidden in everyday objects. Using found materials—stones, twigs, roots, and other organic forms—you’ll explore how nature inspires creativity, transforming the ordinary into something unexpected and extraordinary.
What to Expect:
Collect & Curate Begin by bringing or gathering found objects—rocks, pebbles, leaves, or anything that catches your eye. You’ll explore how these natural forms hold stories, textures, and unique characteristics waiting to be reimagined.
Sketch & Imagine Use quick sketches to explore possibilities. How does a root resemble the spine of a mythical creature? Can a pebble transform into a character? Let your imagination flow as you blend drawing with the tactile qualities of found objects.
Assemble & Transform Bring your ideas to life by combining objects, adding details, and experimenting with materials. This is where play meets intuition—shapes come together, new forms emerge, and unexpected creations take shape.
Color, Texture & Detail Dive into patterns, colour relationships, and the feel of different surfaces. Whether through paint, ink, or simply the natural textures of your materials, explore how small details can shift the way we see and interact with objects.
No prior art experience needed! This is a space for curiosity, hands-on discovery, and playful experimentation, a fresh way to engage with the world around you.
Artist Bio
D. Priyanka Bajaj (b. 1978, Haryana, India) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice blends ancient Vedic philosophy, folklore, speculative archaeology, and material culture. A graduate of the College of Arts, New Delhi (BFA, 2001; MFA, 2017), she was mentored by A. Ramachandran, shaping her approach to storytelling and visual exploration.
Her ongoing series, Chronicle of Lainika (2018–present), envisions a fictional civilization, Lavnik, where history, myth, and materiality intersect. She has exhibited widely, including at Space118 Mumbai APRE Art House, Threshold Art Gallery, Mdina Biennale, India Art Fair, and Pune Biennale, and has received awards such as the HRD Ministry Art & Science Research Scholarship (2015) and Emerging Artist Award (2015, 2017).
Priyanka’s work invites a reimagining of the overlooked, transforming found objects into vessels of meaning. She lives and works in New Delhi.
Blooming of the Heart
Artist in Me series
Date : 22 Feb 2025 - 23 Feb 2025
Time: 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Venue : KNMA Saket
Join us for a soulful exploration of Sufi poetry and music, where we delve into the mystical verses of Amir Khusro and Jalaluddin Rumi through song, discussion, and vocal expression. This two-day immersive workshop invites participants to experience the profound beauty of these timeless poets by learning and singing their compositions, unlocking the voice through breathwork, and reflecting on the spiritual and emotional depth of the lyrics.
Workshop Overview
Day 1- we begin with an introduction circle, setting the tone for a shared journey into Sufi poetry. Participants will engage in breathwork and vocal activation exercises to open their voices before diving into the life and poetry of Amir Khusro. We will discuss the selected song, exploring its meaning and significance, before learning to sing it together, breaking it down line by line. The session will culminate in a full group rendition, followed by a reflection and sharing circle to internalize the experience.
Day 2- we deepen our practice with a quick check-in and an extended voice-opening session to further develop vocal confidence. The focus shifts to Jalaluddin Rumi, whose poetry speaks of love, longing, and the search for the divine. We will discuss the chosen song, understanding its lyrical nuances before learning to sing it together. The session will end with a group performance of the song, followed by a final reflection, journaling, and sharing circle, allowing participants to absorb and articulate their experience.
Audience Takeaways
- A deeper connection to Sufi poetry and its themes of love, longing, and divine union
- Enhanced vocal confidence through breathwork and singing exercises
- A newfound appreciation for Amir Khusro & Rumi’s poetic and musical traditions
- A memorable group singing experience in a warm and welcoming space
- A personal reflection journal with translations and insights from both songs
No prior singing experience is required—just an open heart and a willingness to immerse yourself in poetry, music, and soulful expression.
Artist Bio
Anahita is a singer of mystic poetry. Singing sufi and nirgun songs is her way of expressing her deepest self, and a constant reminder to be aware and compassionate in her own journey. She sings works of poets including Amir Khusro, Kabir, Bulleh Shah, Meerabai, Rumi, Sultan Bahu, and others, woven in different styles of music and loves to share them with people who are keen to receive from the heart.
