At a time when rural folks are thinking of migrating to the urban areas in the hope for better prospects, here is a person who has different thoughts. N. Sangeeta Rao, art teacher, at Sri Prakash Vidya Niketan has plans to take fine arts to the rural folk.

To start with, he recently held a week-long art exhibition at his native village Malkipuram in East Godavari district. And he says it is a highly satisfactory experience for him.

“People who live in villages are not exposed to fine arts such as painting and sculptures. The painting exhibition was an eye-opener for them and it was an enriching feel for me also,” he says.

‘Very creative’

He further adds, “We should not underestimate the creativity of rural people. The children are not only enthused by the paintings that I have exhibited, but they have also produced a few lovely paintings during a camp that I have conducted as part of the exhibition. They have ideas, and they only need to be guided and channelised.”

Dry pastels

Sangeeta Rao, an accomplished painter himself, has so far organised about 16 solo painting exhibitions. He specialises in dry pastel and charcoal mediums, and takes up thought provoking subjects such as education, degradation of environment, child labour, and contemporary issues as his motif.

‘Imagination is the key’

The painter believes that imagination is the key to produce good works. “Children should be allowed to explore their imaginations. Just give a few tips and leave them to give shape to their thought process,” says Sangeeta Rao.

He has plans to host at least two such art shows in rural areas in a year so that the folks are exposed to the realm of fine arts.