Events
Have a look at the events that we have been a part of as collaborations with external organizations. This has allowed us to take working with the arts to different spaces and different beneficiary populations!
October-December 2022
Employee Engagement with Northern Trust
Snehadhara Foundation hosted a team from Northern Trust as part of the Creative Connections employee engagement. The team of 20 members participated in community activities on campus- from sorting vegetables to cooking lunch. The group jammed together during a drum circle, and also had a chance to interact with the children from the Arjunabetahalli community in play and music sessions!
World Mental Health Day at Azim Premji University
“On the 10th of October, we truly celebrated World Mental Health Day with so much vigor and enthusiasm. The best part of the session was with minimal words we all were able to communicate and learn about mental health. The magic of nonverbal communication and the aura the music created is something that I will cherish and will always remember to celebrate mental health. Special appreciation to all the facilitators of Snehadhara who kept us hooked to the session and taught the essence of being a community.”
– Jyoti Jangir, Student
“The session was really insightful as we got to learn varied perspectives of mental health and how it is circulated among the community by means of fun activities. The rhythm beats session was an engaging factor to the session! Looking forward to more such sessions 🙂 All the best!”
– Gokul Gokulan, Student
“I thoroughly enjoyed the session taken by Snehadhara. It was very engaging, and filled with various activities that were fun and enjoyable. The emphasis on art based therapy was the highlight for me. Musical instruments such as the Djembe were used to facilitate a drum circle, which allowed everyone in the room to be part of something as a collective. At the end of the session, I felt recharged, and energised to go about the rest of my week!”
– Vikas G, student
“There couldn’t have been a better way to celebrate the world mental health day. The ‘Snehadhara team’ let us experience what it means to have a safe, non-judgemental space to share our feelings. Students of Azim Premji University thoroughly enjoyed various meaningful activities that were a part of this session. The use of musical instruments, Djembe drums connected us with ourselves and with each other. The Snehadhara team has been professional and approachable throughout the process of planning and coordinating this celebration at our university. Thanks, team Snehadhara.”
-Mukta Gundi and Seema Sharma, Assistant Professors- School of Development,
Azim Premji University
Employee Engagement with Tata Consumer Products
July-September 2022
Mandala Programme at One Billion Literates Foundation
One Day One Story with 500 children at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Alwar!
As a part of our work during September every year on the occasion of International Literacy Day along with Pratham Books, the One Day One Story event, with the story ‘Beauty is Missing’ by Priya Kurian, published by Pratham Books and Story Weavers was conducted by our Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Gitanjali Sarangan, as a storytelling session with children from Grades 1-5 at the Kendriya Vidyalaya, Itarana, Alwar.
Change your habits, Change your life with 11th Graders at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Alwar
The session with the 11th graders at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Alwar introduced the group to 9 habits that we should cultivate based on the Thomas C. Corley research on many rich and poor people to find out what habits they share in their pursuit of success or their demise.
Play Session with 200 children of Class 6th-7th at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Alwar!
Our Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Gitanjali Sarangan facilitated a play session with 200 children from 6th and 7th standard at KV, Itarana, Alwar. The group, full of energy and excitement, came together beautifully to play games with claps, drums, and hoops.
The Magical Fish with 500 children at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Alwar
In a first-of-its-kind session with 500 children from Grades 1-5 at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Alwar, Dr. Gitanjali Sarangan, Founder and Executive Director, Snehadhara Foundation, facilitated a storytelling session of the story, Magical Fish by Storyteller Chandrakala Jagat, artist Shakunlata Kushram, and published by Tulika Publishers, through voice and drama.
Traveling with Stories with Grade 2 students at Kendra Vidyalaya, Itarana, Alwar
An interactive session with about 80 Grade 2 children of Kendra Vidyalaya, Itarana, Alwar where together the group brought alive Sringeri Srinivas tale of ‘Too much noise’ by Pratham Books.
'7 Habits of Highly Effective People' with Class 8th-12th at KV, Alwar
The Founder and Executive Director of Snehadhara Foundation, Dr. Gitanjali Sarangan, worked with over 540 children from classes 8th-12th from the Kendriya Vidyalaya, Alwar, speaking about the ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, given by Stephen Covey.
April-June 2022
Arts Practices for Inclusion at Unbottle Emotions Summer Program
Our Executive director, Dr. Gitanjali was invited to speak on “Arts Practices for Inclusion”, at the Summer Program’22 hosted by Unbottle Emotions. The 15-day online learning program was a community-based initiative that aimed to bring forth a multidisciplinary approach to the mental health ecosystem. Dr. Gitanjali concluded the program with her talk on how multi-arts can be used for Inclusion, Education and Diversity.
'Bringing Up' Session for parents at Applied Materials
Our Executive Director, Dr. Gitanjali Sarangan was invited to give an expert session at Applied Materials as a part of the Global Inclusion Summit 2022 today. She conducted the session with a group of parents, titled “Bringing Up”, on discovering the child’s learning potential and creating holistic, inclusive, and joyful learning experiences for them! It focused on what parents need to create such experiences for our children.
Workshop with teachers and students at Beyond8
Our Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Gitanjali Sarangan was invited to Beyond8 for a training for their teachers and students titled ‘First things first: Preparing for the learning journey through the multi-arts’, focussed on exploring the 7 effective habits of effective people!
Drum Circle Facilitation at Brigade Foundation Schools
Snehadhara Foundation completed a drum circle facilitation for 120 teachers from Brigade Foundation Schools across Bangalore on 28th May 2022. to open the new cycle of trainings and goal setting for teachers before the school reopening for their academic year.
Conscious Connections at School of Sciences, NMIMS
A session for the 2nd year students pursuing their Bachelors in Applied Psychology from NMIMS Mumbai was conducted. The session titled ‘Creative Connections’ focused on introducing the group to the role of Arts in learning, therapy, and Inclusion.
Older
Creative Connections with CanBridge Academy, Chennai
An interactive session with 17 members from the CanBridge Academy team of experienced and young professionals and volunteers in the field of special education, arts-based practices, and community development work. The session focussed on the practice of the Arts to make inclusion and self-care a daily practice.
Mirra, Chennai
This interactive session called ‘Atta Galatta’ with 6 young adults and their parents looked at building new relationships of understanding one another, stepping out of our comfort zones and getting the young adult take little steps in being understood by another through their vocabulary of communication.
Light Up (EMF): SEL pe Charcha Summit Panel Discussion
Dr. Gitanjali Sarangan was invited as a panelist at the SEL pe Charcha summit organized by Light Up (EMF) on the topic Equity in Diversity: Dismantling Barriers in Education with SEL and Inclusion. The panel came together to understand how diversity and inclusion and key stops on the road to equity.
Mitra for Life: Parent Forum Meet
Dr. Gitanjali Sarangan gave a talk on ‘The Role and practices of Arts to build Inclusive communities’ at the Parent Forum Meet organized by Mitra for Life, to parents of children and adults with autism, down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities. The session focussed on building a creative vocabulary of the arts, as well as speaking about the importance of self-care in the lives of caregivers.
Timbaktu Collective, Anantpur
A workshop with 30 people of the Swasakthi team of Timbaktu Collective was conducted at their Timbaktu Agroforest Habitat. The Swasakthi team is a group of grassroots level workers in villages, who work with women, ensuring the proper functioning of sanghas. The workshop consisted of engagement with a variety of art forms to build familiarity and cohesion among the team members.
Conscious Connections- Christ University, Bannerghatta Road Campus
Around 350 students belonging from the Media Studies Department of Christ University, Bannerghatta Road Campus, Bangalore exchanged ideas, opinions and sentiments about what is it to be in an inclusive society and how Arts can serve in this inclusion for each and every one of us.
India Inclusion Summit- Art for Inclusion (AFI) in Conversation
We conversed with the winners of Art for Inclusion (AFI 2019) and the Founder of India Inclusion Summit, Mr. Ferose, along with his volunteers, as a part of the AFI In Conversation Series, organized by India Inclusion Summit.
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Prameya- Mile Sur Mera Tumhaara
Impart working with Prameya’s FENS Cancer Support Programme to forge a path to recovery by embodying the Arts with the participants of the Sahai Programme.
Prameya- SAHAI Reboot Your Life
This programme is curated to help cancer survivors get back to ” their normal ” routines. The sessions look at Functional, Emotional, Nutritional and Spiritual approach to wellbeing.
Prav at Christ University, Bannerghatta Campus, Bangalore
The workshop looked at facilitating social inclusion through expressive arts therapies and the benefits of creative therapies in personal and professional circles.
Sahai FENS , an initiative by Prameya Health, Bangalore
The drum circle was facilitated for women who are undergoing treatment for cancer and those who have completed their treatment.
Miri Piri Academy at Vana, Dehradun
The session on drumming titled ‘Exploring the Joy within’ saw the students of Miri Piri Academy come together and drum for the first time.
Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Nepal
The session focused on Counselling through the Arts. The aim was to look at effective, reflective listening and communication beyond speech.
Transcultural Psychosocial Organization, Nepal
This workshop was designed for participants who are undergoing a year-long counselling training on working in conflict areas with children and their families.
Tribhuvan University, Nepal
This workshop was designed for the post graduate students studying Psychology and saw over 30 participants come together to understand Arts Practices for Inclusion.
Brindavan Parent Support Group
The Parent Support Group session at Brindavan Education Society saw energetic participation and much curiosity among the participants about how the arts can be experienced and used to open spaces for dialogue.
International Conference on Multidisciplinary Approaches to Nurturing Children and Youth (ICCY-2019), Bangalore.
The workshop titled ‘Arts Practices for Inclusion’ saw students, therapists, staff from organisations working in social inclusion fields come together to experience the application of arts to create a sense of belonging and inclusion.
Academyati, Doha
In a presentation at Academyati, we shared our Arts Practices for Inclusion model by getting the group to dance and sing together.
Kalasamvaad at the Conferencia International@Lincoln School, Buenos Aires
The workshop titled Kalasamvaad – Creative Dialogues was one of the biggest groups we have worked with. The group of about 100 participants that included educators, professionals,organisational heads,therapists from organisations across Argentina.
Casa Angelman, Tigre, Argentina
Sri Aurobindo School Of Integral Education, Chandigarh 2019
Sri Aurobindo School Of Integral Education, Chandigarh is an English-medium Co-educational school based on the principles of education as enunciated by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The school strives to provide integral and holistic education by incorporating modern tools of teaching with traditional methods of learning. We engaged with the teachers through our program ‘Mandala- Dialogue Circles through the Arts’ with workshops spanning three months.
Azim Premji University, Bangalore, 2019
Azim Premji University was established in Karnataka by the Azim Premji University Act 2010 as a not-for-profit University with a clearly stated social purpose. Our Executive Director, Gitanjali Sarangan was a speaker at the 2nd Round Table ‘Reaching out: Towards a relevant response to Mental Health’, on 5th April 2019 at Bengaluru, Karnataka organized by the Health, Development and Society Initiative, Centre for Counselling Services and Student Support Committee of Azim Premji University.
St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, 2018
St. John’s Medical College is a private religious minority medical college and hospital situated in Bangalore, established with the aim of training healthcare personnel committed to serving the poor in the margins. impART pioneered the first ever session that introduced Arts Based Therapy (ABT) as a Complementary Health Practice with the Unit of Hope and the Department of Humanities in St John’s Medical College Hospital.
Mirra, Chennai, 2018
Having seen what effective inclusion could do to children with needs, the urge to reach out to a larger section of children and schools resulted in Mirra Charitable Trust. We facilitated a session on ‘Mindfulness through the Arts’ with the 4th Batch of Shraddha, a six month certificate course conducted by Mirra, Chennai as 12 participants received their certification.
Small Wonders School, Mohali, 2018
Located in Phase 7 Mohali, Small Wonders Schools is a welcoming, bright space for children from play class to UKG. We launched our impART sessions with Small Wonders School, Mohali through our program titled ‘Creative Interventions in Re-imagining Classrooms through Dialogue Circles’.
Salaam Baalak Trust, Delhi, 2018
Salaam Baalak Trust is an NGO in Delhi that aims to provide a sensitive and caring environment to street & working children and other children on the margins of society. We had the opportunity of taking our program Maitri – Caring for the Caregivers to Aasra Children home of Salaam Baalak at Najafgarh, Delhi.
Sri Aurobindo School Of Integral Education, Chandigarh 2018
Sri Aurobindo School Of Integral Education, Chandigarh is an English-medium Co-educational school in Chandigarh that strives to provide integral and holistic education by incorporating modern tools of teaching with traditional methods of learning. We got an opportunity to introduce our program ‘Mandala- Dialogue Circles through the Arts’ to a lively group of teachers.
Life Foundation-Charar-i-sharief, Kashmir 2018
Life Foundation is a private School in Charar i Sharief, Kashmir. We got the opportunity to address the passing out Tenth Grade Batch. Gitanjali Sarangan got the group to see the power of learning using the Arts with the 10th graders repeating a Tamil song. Our message to the group was to be that warrior who fights with gentleness and fearlessness outside and within. We also got to do a session with the little ones at the school.
Amrit Somani Memorial Centre, Kolkatta, 2018
Amrit Somani Memorial Center (ASMC) is a private, nonprofit intervention center in Kolkata for children with Developmental Delays. At ASMC we applied the principles of the science of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to teach autistic children in the center, home, school and community. What was interesting in this engagement was to see two absolutely different schools of thought coming together with the objective to re-imagine what it means to look at ways of creating empathetic therapeutic spaces for children with ASD. We challenged belief systems, we broke myths, we agreed to disagree and we celebrated differences. There are times in our lives where it is hard to say who is the facilitator and who is the student. One such experience where the right view precedes the method. This session in ASMC was truly in the spirit of inclusion- as we defined it to the gift of presence.