Issue Nº320 – News in brief

A symposium on expressive arts thereapy took place at the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture and the Sankalpa Art Center on February 19-21. The gathering drew almost 40 art therapists, counselors, psychologists, and teachers from across India and abroad, as well as interested villagers from Kottakarai and Edaiyanchavadi.

Artists Ok and Orly and Mark from the Upcycling Studio exhibited ‘upcycled products’, or products made from waste, at Udavi School. The exhibition showed what can be done with tetrapaks (used in making stools and in building construction), with waste plastics (used in cushions) and discarded audio tape (used for making bags and hats). The exhibition aimed at sensitizing people towards the growing problems of consumption and waste management.

The Bamboo Center organised a three-week intensive hands-on training course for bamboo crafters. Areas of training in this residential programme included jewelry, furniture making and construction.

The ninth Auroville Marathon, held on February 14th, drew over 3,000 participants from across the country. The community opened stalls at the Visitor’s Center for people to interact and know more about life at Auroville.

Auroville’s birthday, on February 28, was celebrated with the traditional dawn bonfire. For the first time in the history of Auroville, the attendance of over 5,000 people exceeded the Amphitheatre’s capacity with many people standing on the rim, listening to Mother’s reading of the Charter of Auroville and its translations in English, Sanskrit and Tamil.