ENGAGE : International Forum on the Arts for Children & Young People.
5th - 7th November 2020.
At ThinkArts, we believe that all children must have access to positive and high quality cultural experiences. Since our inception, we have championed the role of arts in the emotional and cognitive development of children & young people, and advocated for high-quality arts engagements and programming specifically created for young audiences.
Despite ample evidence of the positive impact of arts experiences in the lives of young people, there is a gap in both programming and reach. At the ThinkArts International Festival in 2019, we held a Roundtable which brought together various stakeholders, and discussed the ways in which this gap could be addressed. Engage was another step in this direction.
Engage: International Forum on the Arts for Children and Young People, presented by ThinkArts, in association with Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata, saw a gathering of parents, artists, cultural institutions, educators, museum professionals, venue directors, and arts funding bodies under one platform to together deliberate on different aspects on arts and education, young people in cultural spaces, accessibility, digital arts engagements and advocacy.
We hope the Forum has begun several conversations and enabled participants to kick-start implementation in their own contexts and capacities.
The forum also included workshops to help parents and teachers cover the whys and hows of engaging children with the arts. Plus there was a day-long curated programme of enriching and high quality performances for children (and their grown-ups).
Engage was also supported by the Australian Consulate General, Kolkata, and the Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, and was selected as one of ASEF culture 360's 2020 Media Partnerships
Despite ample evidence of the positive impact of arts experiences in the lives of young people, there is a gap in both programming and reach. At the ThinkArts International Festival in 2019, we held a Roundtable which brought together various stakeholders, and discussed the ways in which this gap could be addressed. Engage was another step in this direction.
Engage: International Forum on the Arts for Children and Young People, presented by ThinkArts, in association with Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata, saw a gathering of parents, artists, cultural institutions, educators, museum professionals, venue directors, and arts funding bodies under one platform to together deliberate on different aspects on arts and education, young people in cultural spaces, accessibility, digital arts engagements and advocacy.
We hope the Forum has begun several conversations and enabled participants to kick-start implementation in their own contexts and capacities.
The forum also included workshops to help parents and teachers cover the whys and hows of engaging children with the arts. Plus there was a day-long curated programme of enriching and high quality performances for children (and their grown-ups).
Engage was also supported by the Australian Consulate General, Kolkata, and the Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, and was selected as one of ASEF culture 360's 2020 Media Partnerships
We were also delighted to share a Symposium on arts for children and young people organised by our friends in Germany.

FRATZ Symposium
Race – Class – Gender
Intersectional Perspectives in Dance and Theater for the Youngest
October 23rd to 25th, 2020 and November 6th to 8th, 2020 – in Berlin and on the internet.
More information: www.fratz-festival.de
Accreditation and Registration for online events via email at [email protected]
Race – Class – Gender
Intersectional Perspectives in Dance and Theater for the Youngest
October 23rd to 25th, 2020 and November 6th to 8th, 2020 – in Berlin and on the internet.
More information: www.fratz-festival.de
Accreditation and Registration for online events via email at [email protected]
Team ENGAGE
Project Management: Abheri Dutta
Support & Outreach: Analina Sanyal
PR & Communication: Isha Daga
Documentation & Reportage: Parvathi Ramanathan
Technical Operations & Advice: Dana Roy
Administration: Sharmistha Sarker
Graphic Design: Sharanya Chattopadhyay
Accounts and Support: Bipasa Das
Social Media: Ananya Sarkar
Concept & Advice: Ruchira Das
Project Management: Abheri Dutta
Support & Outreach: Analina Sanyal
PR & Communication: Isha Daga
Documentation & Reportage: Parvathi Ramanathan
Technical Operations & Advice: Dana Roy
Administration: Sharmistha Sarker
Graphic Design: Sharanya Chattopadhyay
Accounts and Support: Bipasa Das
Social Media: Ananya Sarkar
Concept & Advice: Ruchira Das
Articles about Engage!
Our media partner for the forum, ASEF Culture 360, published our conversation on Engage, the international forum of the arts for children and young people and created a video on the highlights of the forum held in November 2020.
Read the full interview here !
Watch the highlights video here !
Read the full interview here !
Watch the highlights video here !
"At the recently held Engage: International Forum on the Arts for Children and Young People webinar by Think Arts many art educators from around the world came together to discuss the status of arts education. Speakers emphasised that arts education can create opportunities for children to frame their learnings, hopes, and aspirations in constructive ways, helping them imagine and realise their futures."
Rereeti Foundation's informative article on art education for the youth, inclusion of arts in STEM learning and the informal education space, features Engage and the conversation it sparked through the forum! Read the full article here! |
One of the attendees of Engage, Sayantan Mukhopadhyay, wrote a wonderful detailed article on the forum in "Shikhoner Jadukathi", an e-magazine by Bichitra Pathshala.
(Page 14, Shikhoner Jadukathi, Year 1, Issue 2) Read the full article here: shikhoner_jadukathi_january_2021.pdf |