Carl Jung once pointed out, “The creative mind plays with the object it loves.” This certainly applies to Bengaluru-based curator, artist, and teacher Amrita Tiwary. She is also the founder of Kreative Minds––a platform that encourages the study and pursuit of arts among children and teenagers.
After a childhood spent in Jamshedpur, Tiwary followed the traditional path charted out for her by pursuing a degree in Business Administration in Kolkata. However, dissatisfied with this line of education, she pivoted to learning the arts, eventually earning a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in the field from Chandigarh’s Pracheen Kala Kendra.
“I followed my passion, and I wanted to provide others with the same opportunity. So, I launched Kreative Minds in 2016 with the intention to promote art,” she explains. As a platform, Kreative Minds has much to offer its patrons. One can sign up for multiple courses ranging from fine arts to classical music, DIY crafts to playing various instruments. They even provide tuition for school students pursuing fine arts as a board subject. Affiliated to Pracheen Kala Kendra, Kreative Minds follows the Kendra’s pre-designed courses and often takes inspiration from other international art and design courses. Those who are wary of long-term commitments can participate in shorter workshops in the spheres of art, craft and music, which are organised frequently.
“We invite experts from respective fields to conduct these workshops for our students as well as external audiences. Our event, ‘Surchitranam’, is celebrated every year and gives our students the opportunity to showcase their talent to the world. We also organise talent competitions and invite global participation in them. These are based on specific themes and all art forms, including drawing, painting, music, dance and others, are included,” shares Tiwary.
This series called the International Online Talent Competition (IOTC) is held every quarter and witnesses enthusiastic participation. Its first iteration this year was in the month of January and was based on the theme of Republic Day. The next one was held in April and followed the theme ‘Western and Modern Art’.
Children aged 6-18 years can send in their drawings and paintings, as well as video clips of their instrumental performances on guitars, keyboards, violins and drums; and clips of dance performances to western, Bollywood, hip hop and fusion music.
Apart from this, the team also organises ‘Esthetique’ –– a quarterly exhibition dedicated to showcasing fine arts, and performances by dancers and musicians. Having started post-pandemic, this show takes place online and is streamed live on the YouTube channel of Kreative Minds.
Its first edition on the theme ‘My Art My Style’, concluded in February this year. Twenty artists from around the world showcased over 80 artworks in unique styles. Its next edition is due to take place in the month of May, for which Tiwary is keen to invite dancers from different genres.
Keeping the bells of creativity tolling, the team at Kreative Minds recently branched out to include website design and maintenance services as part of its repertoire. Staying true to its motto of ‘Learn. Inspire. Kreate.’, this platform is visibly growing from strength to creative strength.