Bhumilucis – “Land of Light”
A collaborative work by Aurodeva Guerci
with Nicole Alexander & the children of Auroville
Bhumilucis is a collective work that premiered at Centre d’Art in Auroville on Friday, January 17th. We contacted Nicole and Aurodeva to find out more about the project.
We received answers to some of our questions from Nicole Alexander, which we are happy to share below.
Due to technical difficulties, Aurodeva’s interview wil be posted in the next few days.
We first heard about Bhumilucis from our dear AVI USA board member, Jack Alexander. Jack often talks about Nicole and her art with admiration. 10 days ago, Jack sent us an urgent message – looks at this! This is incredible.. you need to get in touch with Nicole!
A few days later, emails were sent and we have Nicole’s story about Bhumilucis, her work with Aurodeva and her work in Auroville.
Hi Nicole, so happy to connect with you. We have heard so much about Bhumilucis, but until yesterday it was hard for those of us who are not in Auroville to get a sense of what it is. Can you tell us more?
Bhumilucis, or “Land of Light”, is a collaborative art project created and curated by Aurodeva Guerci. He originally presented this project proposal to various schools in Auroville as a workshop “to bring together the youth and schools of Auroville that would honor them, their land, their roots and their spirit. The project will materialize as a series of participatory art pieces, using Auroville’s red earth and dried flora as the main source of medium. ”
I was immediately drawn to the whole idea and concept of the project. It embodied the work we try to make with the students. I felt like it was going to be fun and interesting for them and me as a teacher. We agreed to work together to bring this project to life in our Arts and Crafts classroom at Transition School. We organized for each class that was selected to take walks in the surrounding forest, where they collected and foraged for dried natural materials, such as seeds, sticks, leaves and small pebbles. Then the classes where divided into four smaller groups to work on 90 cm x 90 cm wood panels that fit together to form a large circular piece. The students then organized their ideas and collaborated to make the patterns and designs you see now in the work they did.
What inspired this particular project? Is it aiming to show an insight, expression of the children’s spirits?
For me, as an art teacher, I found this project and its overall concept very inspiring. I really loved the idea of helping the children to create something from Auroville’s earth. It was a true nod to life in AV and it encompassed so many beautiful aspects of nature and its inhabitants.
I also saw a way for the students to learn from another artist, a person who has grown up in Auroville and viewed their world and childhood in a similar way to them. Auroville has a magic to it when you are a child growing up here, and this project was a way to capture some of that magic. It was also something new and fresh, something we hadn’t done before. I really saw the students work together and lean on each other’s strengths and differences when creating such a large work of art. I saw a joy and happiness in all of our students through this experience. I also found the exhibition to be a beautiful way to end this project. It gave the children a space to share their art with friends and family, and it gave the students a sense of pride and joy in what they created.
Which children participated – how did you select the kids? Did you yourself participate and how?
This project was done with children from Transition, Deepanam and Kindergarten. As the art teacher at Transition School, I selected three of my older grade classes to participate in this project. The project was mainly student led with some guidance from myself, our class teachers and Aurodeva. We held a space for the children to look at their work objectively and be completely free with their creativity.
During the unfolding of the project did surprising, unexpected and creative things happen that took things in a completely different direction?
During this project, the students really blossomed! There was a joy in what they were making.
Is there anything about the kids’ response to the project that was, again unexpected, or not as planned?
No, not really. The children adapted very well to this project. Some stepped forward more in leadership roles, while others were happy to sit and glue and organize material. I did find it interesting that not all of them enjoyed making the “mud paint”. For some, the feeling of “getting dirty” was a little uncomfortable, but overall, they all shone and made beautiful works of art.
Final outcome – was this set or was it a freely created work where the final results depended on the participants? What was your reaction to the final work?
The original concept for this project was to keep the art work in a circular pattern or shape and that the outer edge would be paint made from red earth, which the students made themselves. We provided the students with four panels per class. This allowed for the work to be made in small sections and then assembled to create one large work of art. The rest of the project and process was up to the children. We talked often about cohesiveness, patterns and layout. At the beginning of each class, we would put together the four panels and allow the children to brainstorm and view their progress, encouraging and helping them develop their ideas and patterns. We had a good balance between each group, and we helped them with the final touches to fill in spaces and create cohesive pieces.
About Nicole Alexander
We also wanted to know more about Nicole and her history. Nicole is an artist and illustrator originally from California. Below is a snapshot of Nicole’s background. We are grateful for her beautiful account of the project and hope to feature her work soon!
Hi Nicole, would you briefly tell us about your work with children, your art and your life and connection to Auroville?
I am originally from California, USA. I have a background in art, primarily mixed medium and illustrations. I moved to Auroville permanently in 2011. I have always wanted to work with children in some way or another involving art, but my path was never clear until I moved to Auroville. When I came in 2008, I started volunteering in a village outreach program, working with children to do simple drawing and painting classes, and then started volunteering at the Pyramids and Udavi School in Auroville in early 2011. Eventually, I was invited to teach Arts and Crafts in Transition School. I have been teaching there for nearly 11 years. I love my position in Transition School as an art teacher, because I get to do what I love every day and the children are such a joy. I also find myself very lucky because I teach first to eighth grade, so I get to be with the same group of students over the course of 8 years. You really get to know them and who they are as individual beings, and you watch them grow and mature and move onto accomplishing beautiful things with their lives. There is more to Art than just learning to draw or paint. There is a process of getting to know yourself and your likes and dislikes, and the students have a space to explore and learn from different forms of Art.