On 15 th November’25, I conducted a day long workshop titled ‘Going back to the drawing board’ at Shared Ecologies, Shyama Foundation. Examining and exploring the drawing board as a tool, an interface, a surface or even a moment of reflection, the workshop was open to art and cultural practitioners, both early career and mid-career.

Often in the course of our making (art& other practices), there are many acts, processes, deliberations and trial and error that shape the so-called final outcome. Mostly we tend to overlook  this liminal space. Many a times such aspects in one’s making is undermined by the pressures of stylization. The day long engagement was intended to relook, rethink & reassess at these in a nuanced manner.

Some of the key aspects that the workshop touched upon

• Mapping personal- political = Inside-Outside = Studio exercises and Exercises outside studio/mapping the city in one’s own practice
• What is the anatomy of a drawing board in the context of your practice? (Specific case study from one’s own making)
• Exercises you do that are not necessarily art/making/work related but they are always around; Acts that centre your thoughts – give it a flow or bring an order or help you edit

Connecting to my own art practice, a few reading, drawing & collage based exercises were done to construct & deconstruct the familiar. The workshop also included a brief presentation of different moments of going to a drawing board of the sorts when I am making/creating.