The 30th edition of Apeejay Anand Art Workshop goes international!
The 30th edition of Apeejay Anand Art Workshop goes international!
Children from all over India and neighbouring countries like Nepal and Pakistan, use the paintbrush, as part of the Art workshop to depict how life has changed after the unprecedented and unimaginable pandemic.
Kolkata, February 26, 2022: Apeejay Schools along with Apeejay Anand Children’s Library hosted the 30th edition of the Apeejay Anand Art Workshop at the lawns of the Apeejay House today. The theme this year was “Sakaratmak Parivartan – How has my life changed?”.
The Apeejay Anand Art Workshop touched a historic milestone by going both national and international this year. As part of an international exchange program, the workshop was attended by students from schools in Nepal and Pakistan.
Organised in the precincts and ground of Apeejay House Lawns on Park Street, the workshop is like a festival that commemorates the birthday of late Mr. Anand Paul. This year’s Apeejay Anand Art Workshop is special for the Apeejay family celebrating the 50th birth anniversary of late Mr. Anand Paul, who was known to be full of life and loved children. The family lost him in a tragic accident at the tender age of 17.
Anand Paul was warm, generous, full of life and love. In his short life, he touched many and we are delighted that through the ART WORKSHOPS he continues to touch so many more children. The 21 Apeejay Anand Children’s Libraries across India develop the joy of reading and learning for less fortunate children said a message from Paul family (Priya Paul, Priti Paul, and Karan Paul) to commemorate the occasion.
The workshop saw little hands using a paintbrush to depict how the two-years of COVID pandemic though was full of challenges but has infused positivity in our lives. “The world has seen unprecedented changes in the last 2 years of the pandemic. As we slowly gear up to get back to the new normal, Apeejay School’s first priority is its students,” said Mr. Kiranjit Singh Pannu, Chief Executive Officer, Apeejay Schools.
“We want to make students do away with the fear of the uncertainties that they have encountered in the past years and bring fresh rays of hope and positivity. We want children to enjoy provoking and mindful happiness sessions with peers and educators from across the country making our schools spaces of wellbeing, where children would be nurtured with care, love, and affection so that they settle and get used to this new normal with ease and at their own pace,” Mr. Pannu added.
Over 1000 students aged between nine and twelve joined in both online and offline mode to light-up canvases with their imaginations. Students from various corners of India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Haryana, Madurai, and Hyderabad joined the workshop virtually. Children were provided A4 size papers along with pencils, erasers, and pastels to explore their creativity. Also, unlike previous years, the Apeejay Anand Art Workshop was not just restricted to Apeejay School at Park Street and at the Apeejay House lawn but was also hosted at Apeejay Schools in Salt Lake, Haldia, and Bhubaneswar. Students from various other schools in these regions including DPS Kalinga, Cuttack; The BSS School, Kolkata; Gokhale Memorial School, Kolkata; Sudhir Memorial School, Haldia Govt Sponsored Vivekananda Vidyamandir also joined in.
The lead singer of popular Bengali band Bhoomi, song-writer, and music composer Mr. Surojit Chatterjee graced the occasion to encourage the young minds. And the much loved and cherished Alumni of Apeejay Schools, were guests of honour judging both the online and the offline events.
With the desire to reach out to the lesser privileged, Ms. Priti Paul, Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group and sister of late Mr. Anand Paul conceptualized and initiated the venture of opening the doors of Apeejay Anand Children’s library to the children of the slums in 1992 and in the following year, the Apeejay Anand Art Workshop was launched.
The winners this year were awarded prizes with certificates of Honour. All the other participants were given gift hampers of stationery items.
About Apeejay Schools:
World leaders in providing 21st-century academic and all-round education to the students since 1975, The Apeejay Schools was set up by the Apeejay Surrendra Group- Solid since 1910). The schools are intellectual and creative centres that enable learners to be contributing citizens in the global arena.
Apeejay schools believe in the vision to equip all our children with the invincible mantra of Shakti Drishti and Pragyan, the three powerful virtues of a truly educated individual. Shakti is a Strength that carves the path and promises to carry the young learners to their destination. Drishti is Vision – the capacity to see the visible and the invisible truth and also an ability to imagine the future as you want it to be. Pragyan is Wisdom -that gives a child a self-expansive fulfilment, a deep insight into the truths of the world. The mission of the school is to strive to make our schools vibrant spaces that enable learners to be ready not merely for living but for life.
The schools at present are functional with 4 units :
- The Apeejay School, Park Street Kolkata – CBSE, New Delhi curriculum up to Grade XII Science, commerce, and humanities. It has been in operation since 1975.
- The Apeejay School, Bhubaneswar – CBSE – Senior Secondary Level (Grade XI and XII). It is in
operation since 2017 on 10 acres of prime land at Odisha. - The Apeejay School, Salt Lake – CBSE – New Delhi curriculum up to Grade XII Science, commerce,
and humanities. It is in operation since 1998. - The Apeejay School, Haldia is a proposed CBSE School in operation from 2020 with top quality
infra on 10 acres of land at Haldia.
About Apeejay Anand Children’s Library:
Apeejay Anand Children’s Library, an Education Support Program was incorporated in 1992 in Kolkata in the loving memory of Priti, Priya, and Karan Paul’s brother Anand Paul [1972-1989]. Conceptualized as a visually exciting and happy space that draws children in, Apeejay Anand Children’s Libraries, have over the years, become stimulating learning stations and a safe haven that protects children’s reveries, giving flight to what they had thought were just fanciful daydreams.
The books in the Library are donated by Group’s Bookstore chain, Oxford Bookstores. The joy of reading and literature is open at numerous shelter homes across India. Apeejay Anand Children’s Libraries have opened in NCR at a 24 hours shelter home for Boys, at multiple 24 hours shelter homes for girls run by Salaam Baalak Trust in Kamala Nagar, Gurugram, and Najafgarh, in Kolkata’s Khidirpur Docks in a Shelter Home run by ApneAap, in Chandigarh, at a Shelter Home run by Vatsal Chaya Trust, at Government Girls School, Bawal besides other locations. Apeejay Schools are also home to Apeejay Anand Children’s Libraries and they administer a unique Education Support Program that also helps Apeejay Education Trust, under which Apeejay Schools are run, to identify and sponsor the education of talented children from underprivileged backgrounds.
About Apeejay Surrendra Group:
Established in 1910, Apeejay Surrendra Group employs over 43000 people in rapidly expanding operations in Tea, Hospitality, Shipping, and Real Estate & Retail and has diversified into new business initiatives, Marine Cluster, Logistics & Knowledge Parks. For more information, please visit www.apeejaygroup.com.