Deaf Children To Showcase Art Skills At Exhibition

Primary section students with their drawings

The School for the Deaf, Ratmalana has organised an art exhibition titled ‘Nihanda Sithuwam’ (‘Silent Creations’) which will be held on December 12 and 13 at JDA Perera Gallery, Colombo 07.
 According to a press release issued by the organizers the exhibition will commence at 3 pm on December 12.  The creations of art which are to be showcased at the exhibition are drawn by the children of this institute. 

Anita Weerasena, the Principal has served  the school for 36 years. Speaking with the writer Weerasena said that art is a special subject through which these children can express how they feel about the things around them. She has decided to organize this art exhibition to portray the special talents of the children at this school. The principal wants to build up self-confidence in the children at her school by arranging these kinds of exhibitions.Further she said that these children will get the opportunity to receive complements from members of the audience. One of the key intentions of the staff is to organize this exhibition and encourage children to produce more art creations in the future. She believes that before achieving anything else she wants to prioritise the mental wellbeing of these children. She underscored the fact that she focuses on creating a balanced learning environment for the children.

Primary section art teacher 
D.S. Lakmini De Silva

She recalled some of her experiences at the school at which she has served over three decades. Weerasena highlighted a few incidents where some children got neglected by members of their families because of their disabilities. Weerasena doesn’t want the children to feel empty and she wants to create for these children an environment filled with love and care. She underscored that sometimes a teacher at this school plays both the roles of parent and teacher. Weerasena was confident to say that these children show a huge interest in art as a subject. She is more focused on sharpening the skills of the children at this school. She shared with this writer that there is a sewing course conducted for these students and upon completion they would receive a certificate. She further said that there is a separate vocational training programme for art. This training was started recently with five children based on the performances. 

R.D. Saman Kumari is the art teacher for children who are in grades between 6 to11. Kumari has been teaching these children for the past eight years. She was happy to say that whenever the children get free time they run to the art room and engage in drawing. She made a request from the people who visit the exhibition to appreciate the work done by the children. She believes that appreciations will motivate them to do more of what they love. Kumari said that unfortunately most of the people in the society don’t know that these children are really talented and creative. Kumari said that in order to give these arts a value, people who wish to buy them can place their orders on December 12 so that they can take their purchased paintings with them on the final day of the exhibition. 
The Vice Principal of the Deaf School Buddika Gunathilake is happy to organize this exhibition because he too wants to encourage the children. He said that based on the performances in future these children can continue this as a profession. He said that they could take to drawing cartoons as their professions in the future. 

Art teacher R.D. Saman Kumari

“I am glad to say that our school has produced artists like Rohan Widanapathirana and there are a quite a few more who continue art as a profession,” added Gunathilake. He didn’t forget to speak about the opportunities such as those available in the designing sector, in the apparel industries and even working as graphic and cake designers. He was confident in telling that even these children can perform to their best in such industries with the skills they possess. Gunathilake believes that this art exhibition would provide a strong foundation to the future of these children. “As an initiative to create the space in the industry we organised this exhibition. Most often our children do not get much exposure to such industries. We believe that this exhibition would help them to sharpen their skills and that they might get recognition from this exhibition,” explained Gunathilake. 

A student focuses on his paintings at the art room

Lakmini De Silva is a teacher at the Deaf School and is in charge of the art section of the primary school. She said that these days the children of the primary section are actively engaged in drawing art. “Some students showed their feelings and emotions through their drawings and paintings,” added De Silva. She said that these children like to draw by looking at another drawing. At the same time she said that there are some students who draw what they really feel and some incorporate their drawings with the nature too. De Silva didn’t forget to share her experiences she had with these children. She said that there were some students who drew from the things that they have experienced. “I can remember one of my students once included a box in his family picture. He drew himself and his mother but he didn’t draw his father. He replaced his father with the box in his drawing. Later on I realised that he didn’t include his father to his drawing because he has never seen his father,” she said adding that this child didn’t even want to draw his father at least by looking at the others drawing their fathers. 

Pencil drawing of a student from grade 11

Shivantha Vivekanandan, the President of the Deaf School Past Pupil’s Association Ratmalana shared some thoughts with this writer. He is currently working as a designer architect and is an artist who has won many accolades and awards. Deaf school Ratmalana was his first school. Later he joined another school where he was the only deaf pupil at that institute. He was very much interested in arts and later joined Amarasekara School of Art. This was at the age of eleven. He said that his paintings have been exhibited at the Royal Drawings Academy in London annually. 

Creation of a student who has created an indoor garden
Pix by Kithsiri de Mel