A Thousand Times Over

Sadako Sasaki had a simple wish — she wanted to live. A victim of the 1945 Hiroshima bombings,Sasaki spent most of her time in a nursing home in Japan,creating origami cranes. With a firm resolve to make a thousand such cranes,thinking that her wish to live would be granted,she went on with her origami project. Decades later,Tara Trust,a Goa-based NGO has taken inspiration from the moving tale to launch “The 1000 Crane Project” in the Capital. An eight-day workshop for under-privileged children,it began on October 12 at Sanskriti Kendra on MG Road and includes origami making,painting,pottery,paper sculpting and music. The workshop will end with an exhibition today,curated by children,with the work of past days on display.

The project has been started to sensitise children on environmental and social concerns through art exchange workshops among kids of different communities. “Underprivileged children need exposure. So we have brought a few children from Goa to the Capital for this project,” says Juhi Pandey,co-ordinator of the Tara Trust. The activities included painting a thousand T-shirts with crane themes apart from a thousand crane-based stories told through music,paintings,theatre etc. All these T-shirts will be sent to Japan for children who were victims of the Fukushima disaster.

The half-day activity of creating a canvas partnered with a professional,older painter,was particularly enjoyed by all the participants.

The exhibition will be held today at the Sankriti Kendra,MG Road. Contact: 9820039110