Our museum recently hosted an event with South Asian community partners. Music, dance, storytelling, calligraphy and rangoli (a form of folk art).
Rangoli are decorative designs made on living room and courtyard floors during Hindu festivals typically consisting of bright colors. They are meant to be sacred welcoming areas for the Hindu deities. The ancient symbols have been passed down through the ages, from each generation to the next, keeping both the art form and the tradition alive. The patterns are typically created with materials including colored rice, dry flour, (colored) sand or even flower petals. source : wikipedia.com
design #2
Children used crayon, coloured pencils, markers or paint to colour the designs. Then added glitter and glitter glue. Not my favourite materials to work with in a space immediately adjacent to galleries but the glittery results were spectacular.
Also, since paint and glue take a long time to dry, there needed to be a space to store the artwork so the families could come back for it. It was necessary to search for an extra table and plastic coverings to accommodate the fifty 8 x 10 inch masterpieces left for hours to dry. Each child added his/her name so the owner could find it later.
If you use this idea in programming, I would recommend the addition of information about rangoli art and the materials commonly used in creating these amazing floor designs.
