The textile-designing (CCEP) students – Field trip

The textile-designing (CCEP) students of Class 4 went for a field trip to a block-printing unit near Charminar on 12 November 2011 along with their teachers, Mrs. Romana Arastu and Mrs. S. Lata
The children were extremely excited to make it to the block-printing unit on time.  Students brought their snacks and a note pad on which to write interesting notes.
The workshop was a cramped place so students squeezed around one 3 x 15 foot table.  All the students wanted to have the best position so they could see the demonstration without missing any step.
The first demonstration was of screen-printing.  The table was covered with a black sari, firmly pinned on the tabletop. The artisan placed a beautifully designed screen and squeezed the color through by pulling a rubber blade. The first colour was green.  The second colour was gold and the design that appeared got a lot of wows when it was completed.  Children were amazed by the alignment of the designs fitting exactly on top of each other. The artisans have so much experience and even some tricks to make sure the designs are lined up properly.
After screen-printing we went to see the demo of block printing done on a cream silk sari. The blocks are hand carved of teak wood in Kolkata and Rajasthan.  They had an amazing variety of traditional, ethnic, and modern block designs. All the blocks were arranged in order of size, design, and part (e.g. borders, motifs, positive/negative pattern).
They have a special formula for making the dye. The colours are natural but they mix kerosene and natural gum to make the colour fast.  The dyes are put in a flat wooden tray so the colour sticks to the blocks evenly.  When the children made their own printed designs, they saw how much room there was for creativity by mixing and matching various blocks and colours.
In the PYP, true learning takes place when children take action as part of the learning process.
When asked what action they will take to keep this artistic tradition alive, these were some of the children’s written responses:
Prapti 4H: “I will myself become an artist and teach the art to all others around me.”
Preeti 4B: “I would put up a museum.”
Manya 4H: “I would try to use it on T-shirts and frocks, etc.”
Anika 4H:  “I will keep the artistic tradition alive by making posters on block printing and screen printing.”
The children all enjoyed and valued this unique learning experience.