Painting messages into their hearts

A Unicef-led art initiative presents issues plaguing the children of Kannagi Nagar by turning a wall at the J11 police station into a canvas

In April 2020, a Unicef initiative for Kannagi Nagar children sketched messages into their minds. Through comic eBooks, it made clear the facts about Covid-19 and cleared up the myths around it. These children themselves drew the eBooks with non-profit InkLink’s guidance. On World Children’s Day — November 20, 2021 — Unicef and InkLink repeated the process for a different theme. The new initiative painted messages into these children’s hearts with the children themselves participating in the process.

With the compound wall at J11 Kannagi Nagar Police Station being the canvas, these children were milling around it excitedly on the morning of November 20, painting images of positivity. Think rainbows, sunflowers and blue skies. Next to these evolving images were completed images that provided a sharp contrast to the picture. Think swirls of smoke, vacant benches in classrooms and an unhappy domestic scene. The images are a grim reminder of existing realities in Kannagi Nagar. Child marriage, substance abuse and school dropouts.

Though underplayed, the verbal component bullishly decried these realities. They had to stop — and this message was aimed at the parents as well as the children. The parents would also participate in the transformative-art project. More about that later.