Workshops across India, through Adivasi Arts Trust
I enjoy working coordinating workshops and inspiring younger people to engage with indigenous art, culture and knowledge using digital media, animation and film.
I have organised workshops that covered areas such as concept development, narrative skills, pre-production, documentary and experimental film, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. These include sessions at regional universities in North East India, as well as at design schools. Notable institutions where I have conducted workshops are: National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad (2008, 2012, and 2016), Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata (2020), and Unitedworld Institute of Design, in Gujarat (2021).
Below is a portfolio of selected student projects.
Animatic (filmed storyboard), made during the Animation Workshop at Kamhua Noknu Government Middle School from 20 Nov - 8 December 2021. It is in Wancho, with English subtitles.
Animation that was done during the 10 days workshop at the National Museum in New Delhi from 22 May to 2 June 2019. The workshop was called "Animating the Tribal World of Verrier Elwin'
A short film made by Post Graduate students of Animation Film Design at NID from the Experimental Animation Workshop in 2016. The medium is sand and the story is based on the origin myth of the Kom tribe of Manipur.
The animatic for the Gond story "Manjoor Jhali". This work was done by Post Graduate animation students at the National Institute of Design and three Pardhan Gond artists
A short documentary made by Post Graduate animation students at the National Institute of Design in Ahmadabad.
A test sequence (made by Rahul Laishram) of the peacock doing the Karma Dance from the Gond animation film, "Manjoor Jhali".
The animatic for the short film "Abotani". It was the output of a workshop in Itanagar in 2013.
The first part of the making of the "Abotani" animated film for the "Tales of the Tribes series". Filmed during a workshop held in 2013, with Rajiv Gandhi University in Arunachal Pradesh.
The animatic (filmed storyboard) for the animation film, "Nye Mayel Kyong". It was created by participants of the Animation Workshop in Sikkim, in 2010
A promo for the film "Nye Mayel Kyong" made during the 20 day animation workshop with Sikkimese thangka painters on a Lepcha folklore.
An animation test sequence by Manchai Pansa in Kamhua Noknu village, Longding District
Highlights from the talk by Prof Xavier Mao, (Department of Philosophy, North Eastern Hill University), at the Wancho Animation Workshop on 23 March 2021.
A session on stop motion animaition in Khoirentak village in Manipur. Sephin Alexander came to Manipur for a 3 week Animation Workshop in Imphal at the Manipur Film Development Corporation.
The output of a workshop on Experimental Animation at Unitedworld Institute of Design in Gujarat. It is adapted from "The Heart of the Hunter" by Laurens van der Post. Unfortunately UID was not able to purchase the licenced version of Dragonframe, thus the watermark.
A short film made by the Wancho participants of the Wancho Animation Workshop at North-Eastern Hill University, (Shillong, Meghalaya) from 16-30 March 2021.
Selected Workshops in Animation and Film
2008: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, (New Delhi)
Animation Workshop for Tribal Artists
I coordinated a 3 week workshop that brought students of Animation Film Design from National Institute of Design together with tribal and folk artists to co-create media outputs. The teams completed the pre-production of three short films. The resources were not available to complete the production.
2008: National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad, Gujarat),
Experimental Animation Workshop
I coordinated a three week workshop for Post Graduate students of Animation Film Design. The students completed the pre-production for a short film, creating a script, storyboard, animatic, soundtrack and test animated sequences using sand as the material to animate with.
The short film “Srujan” (Creation) was completed a year later by the students.
2010: Nyamgyal Institute of Tibetology, (Gangtok, Sikkim)
Animation Workshop in Sikkim
I coordinated a three week workshop for the “Tales of the Tribes” project. The workshop was sponsored by Commonwealth Foundation. Students and young Thangka artists carried out the pre-production for a short film for the “Tales of the Tribes” collection of films.
2012: National Institute of Design, ,
Gond Animation Workshop
I coordinated a three week workshop that invited a group of Pardhan Gond artists from Madhya Pradesh to work with Post Graduate students of Animation Film Design. The output was the preproduction and artwork for a Gond folktale in animated form, and an exhibition of Gond Art curated by the workshop team at the National Institute of Design.
2012: Manipur Film Development Cooporation, (Imphal, Manipur)
Manipur Animation Workshop
I coordinated a three week workshop for the “Tales of the Tribes” project. Students developed a short film selecting a story, writing a script, storyboard, audio recordings, an animatic and test animation sequences. The film “Tapta” was completed in 2015 by students and it is included in the “Tales of the Tribes” collection. The workshop was documented and this material is included in “The Journey of the Tales of the Tribes”.
2013: Rajiv Gandhi University, (Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh).
Animation Workshop in Arunachal Pradesh
I coordinated a three week workshop for the “Tales of the Tribes” project. The workshop Undergraduate students to develop a short animated film through the stage of pre-production. The students selected a story, wrote a script, storyboard, audio recordings and test animated sequences.
2016: National Institute of Design, (Ahmedabad, Gujarat)
Experimental Animation
I coordinated a 2 week long animation workshop for Post graduate students of Animation Film Design. The students carried out research, selected a story, wrote a film script, created a storyboard, recorded audio and experimented with test animation sequences. The short film “Khurpui” was completed later by the students.
2016: Centurion University, (Bhubaneshwar, Odisha).
Animation Workshop
I coordinated a 2 week animation workshop for students to develop a presenter character for the “Tales of the Tribes” series of animated films. Students carried out research, wrote a script, storyboard, character designs and test animated sequences. The character animation was later completed by a student and it is included in the “Tales of the Tribes” series which has adapted Verrier Elwin to present the collection of short films.
2019: National Museum (New Delhi)
Animating the Tribal World of Verrier Elwin
I coordinated a 10 day animation workshop for students based on the North East Gallery collection at the museum. Students carried out research, created a script, made masks and animated using the techniques of stop-motion, pixilation and cut-out.
2019: University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), (Dehradun, India)
Narrative Skills for Animation
I coordinated a 3 week animation workshop for undergraduate students of Film completed the pre-production phase of an animated film. Students selected a folktale from Odisha, carried out research, wrote a script, storyboard and did artwork. The film was not completed, but the students gained the experience of adapting a narrative from text to film design.
2020: Government Middle School, Kamhua Noknu, Arunachal Pradesh
Animation Workshop in Kamhua Noknu
I coordinated an animation workshop from 20 Nov - 8 December 2020, for the “Stories of our Ancestors” project. The output was an animatic (a filmed storyboard), which some clips of animation timed to a scratch sound track. It is in Wancho, with English subtitles.
2021: North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya
Wancho Animation Workshop
I coordinated a two week animation workshop at Department of Anthropology for the “Stories of our Ancestors” project from 16-30 March 2021. Students, young media professionals and university faculty developed a short film for the “Stories of our Ancestors” project. The project was subsequently mismanaged by the University. An output of the project was the documentary film, The Wancho Animation Workshop and the Story of the Gourd.
https://youtu.be/IuXpH7nyG6s
A short film made by the Wancho participants of the Wancho Animation Workshop.
Jumping into Bag
A test animation using the technique of pixillation made by Wancho students in the Wancho Animation Workshop.
2021: Unitedworld Institute of Design, (Gandhinagar, Gujarat)
Experimental Animation Workshop
I coordinated a two week animation workshop for undergraduate students. Students carried out the processes of animation pre-production and production. The rough cut of the short film, The Story of Mantis was the output, along with an exhibition at the Institute.
2021: North East Society for Agroecology Support, (Shillong)
Workshop on Documentary film: Researching and Documenting the Indigenous Knowledge of the Khasi traditions of Meghalaya
I coordinated a one week workshop for student members of NESFAS to learn about documenting indigenous knowledge about food and specifically pollinators. They carried out research and practical work, filming and interviewing. The duration of the workshop did not accommodate editing the footage.
2024: We are the Geyam Family
This is a short film that was filmed by two local students who were research assistants for the Endangered Wooden Architecture Project by Adivasi Arts Trust. It is a story of family life and the gender roles in the village.
