Dharavi art room: a safe space for healing by art

Himanshu started this initiative with the vision of an inclusive society where art is used as a medium to instill confidence in children as they learn to create, share, express, explore and take initiative in enlightening their own lives and bring about a social change. The children and women of marginalized communities only require some kind of exposure and encouragement for their personal growth. Art room gives them that push in the right direction they require to excel in life. “The absence of positive educational and extracurricular activities for children in marginalized communities leads to lack of safe spaces and resources with which to explore personal and neighbourhood issues through artistic mediums. Art room promotes a unique and fun community participatory approach which enables the community to take control over their lives.” 

Himanshu had always been inclined towards spreading since he was a college student. Along with few friends he volunteered at a school and introduced the love if art to kids. He found immense joy and satisfaction in drawing, painting, photography, music and other such creative activities with the kids and wanted to go on as an art teacher. Initially he worked with other NGO’s and communities and later launched his own in Dharavi. He was familiar with the area and its residents owing to his visits to his friend there. He thought it was unfair that Dharavi was only portrayed in films and art by external people, living outside the slum. He wanted the children of the locality to express the world they live in their own perspective, through their art and creativity. Hence, Dharavi art room was born.

“I come from a single parent background and my family faced financial difficulties when I was growing up. Creating things, drawing, colouring – I remember how these activities made me happy. Art helped me share something with others, make friends, and communicate,” says 35-year-old founder of Dharavi Art Room, operating in one of the largest slums in Asia. “Art became the easiest medium for him to connect with children. It was the one thing that helped him heal and feel good about the world. And he thought that since kids in this neighbourhood live under so much stress as well, art can heal them too,” says 27-year-old Aqui Thami, who started working at Dharavi art toom full-time in 2012.

The kids at Dharavi Art Room have a ball with Himanshu at the drawing, painting, music and photography sessions conducted by him. They welcome youth upto age 22 and women of all age groups. They start off with letting the kids draw their heart out, as they paint their fantasies. As they make advances, they are taught to emote stories through their drawings. After that they begin to interpret their own existence in Dharavi, a window to their lives. Eventually, the children choose a particular art form of their interest and pursue it further. The masterpieces produced by the Art room is exhibited at various places periodically. Occasionally, they step outside the walls of their art room and go for picnics or take a trip to the mall or visit a museum.

Along with the art room, the duo has taken up interesting projects. The ‘Breathing art’ is an initiative wherein they create self-sustained community centres in neighbourhoods struggling to achieve the basic necessities of life, to explore storytelling through art. Another initiative by them, ‘Ladieswallah’ works in the field of women empowerment and female liberation. They bring out their creativity through photography workshops and paper craft. These women make various interesting things like jewellery, bags, baskets and much more. ‘Schoolwallahs’, is a play based education approach where they redefine the conventional concept of what teaching is. The ‘chota library’ is a neighbourhood reading room that is a space meant to attract people out from their homes and indulge with their neighbours in a way that supports and builds community. Through the ‘photowallahs’ initiative, they share a glimpse of the world as seen by a child. Their aim is to create a document of life in a given neighborhood at a given time. They exhibit at street sides and open up a portal for exchange of ideas and thoughts. The ‘Muralwallahs’, is a project for children to decorate the walls of with their art and adorn the neighbourhood with minor repair works. The ‘Musicwallahs,’ is simply an attempt to connect the souls of the children with the divinity of music.

The journey Himanshu has made so far wasn’t an easy one. The parents at Dharavi weren’t so open to the idea of embracing art. Communal disharmony is just one of the many problems prevalent in Dharavi. The idea of children from different communities coming together under a single roof wasn’t easily accepted by the parents. But as they see the difference in the confidence of the kids and their personality development, they have become more welcoming of the idea. “We look at art as a way for these children to understand their own lives and those of their neighbours and cope with the problems they face. We want them to find solutions themselves,” says Aqui. Now parents have also reported that children are more enthused to go to school.

As far as funds are concerned, they had issues in the beginning. As a result, the workshops were a little irregular but over the past three to four years, they have become regular and plan to expand them. Their current plan of action is to get in touch with as many schools as they can cover. Aqui does confess that though the work is satisfying, raising funds has always been difficult. “Both of us are always asking for money,” she jokes.