LAMO, Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation, organises a variety of Art workshop with Tomoya Lhaya, a Japanese visual artist, themed Building Bridges at LAMO Center, below Namgyal Palace, Old Town Leh began on 2nd August at 4pm which lasted till 6:10pm. The first day of workshop was titled Workshop with local artist, mixed media/collage, where about 11 individuals took part: few Students, teachers, interested individuals.

As the theme of the art workshop is Building bridges, Tomoya began the workshop by asking the participants about their understanding of the term Bridge in a optimistic way and later related the positive aspects of ‘bridge’ to one’s life, such as; reconciliation, reuniting, love and peace, sending message, link and life line.

She then introduced different kinds of handmade Japanese papers and imparted her knowledge on how to draw on it with various techniques, such as; making images with water colour applied on a plane glass with a help of a small roller and stencilling on it, painting with brushes, using different kinds of paper on a same base paper which results in unique paintings, drawing with pencils, charcoal and graphite stick etc.

Participants was later encouraged to make their own painting with all the techniques she showed, including an embroidery on paper. All attendee took part in the drawing session and each individual came up with unique piece of art.

Tomoya Lhaya is a Japanese visual artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is an instructor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design and has exhibited extensively around Canada, United States and India.

When asked what the main purpose behind the said workshop and why Ladakh, she said, “I came to Ladakh so many times; in fact this is my 15th times in 9 years. I am doing an independent research on a theme: water, which deals with how people live with ‘water & food’ through rituals and daily chores like fetching water from hand-pumps, rivers, making food and offering it as well. I wanted to express something deeper like the one having spiritual connection or quality in everyday life. In brief it’s about life, death and its cycle. I came to Ladakh many times because I can see the cycle of life and death so clearly at Ladakh. Since Ladakh’s environment is so extreme, one side you see rivers and greenery and other side is totally barren! I wanted to return something to the community because I am an Artist and in Ladakh community, contemporary art is a new subject. I don’t know how people will react to my exhibit but its summary of what I experienced in Ladakh: spiritual bodies, spirits, believes and rituals".
The Art workshop is all about printing methods, mixed media drawing, knitting, embroidery and watercolor painting. Any interested individual can take part in the workshop without age and eligibility bounds.

Schedule of forthcoming workshops with Tomoya:

 

2nd Aug	Workshop with local artist, mixed media/collage	4pm-6pm
3rd Aug	Drop in Knitting and Embroidery Workshop	12-6pm
4th Aug	Workshop with school Children	4pm-6pm
5th Aug	Workshop with school Children	4pm-6pm
8th Aug	OPENING OF EXHIBITION:BUILDING BRIDGES	5pm-8pm
11th Aug	Jampa Lungthok-Wood Block Printing Demo (Oil Based), Tomoya  Lhaya-Watercolor Demo	3pm-6pm
12th Aug	Workshop at Tibetan Children Village, Choglamsar	1pm-4pm