Kidding around with nature

A two-day children's storytelling fest promises interactive sessions, workshops and trails centred around environment and water conservation

Kidding around with nature

Last week 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg turned down an environmental prize by the Nordic Council by saying, "The climate movement does not need any more prizes." What she proposed instead was for rulers and politicians to pay attention to the research. So, if the world needs any evidence to start listening to children instead of deflecting the climate change crisis that is right in front of their eyes, it might as well take Thunberg's prize.

"We're only talking of the crisis in broad terms — that something is going to happen in the next 50 or 100 years. But it is very important for children to think about what's going to come in the next 10 years," says Bilwa Kulkarni, education officer at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS). And it is with this idea that the city museum is organising a storytelling festival for kids this weekend called Evergreen Tales — the theme being Environment and Water Conservation.

Guide
Bilwa Kulkarni

The two-day event will take place at the Children's Museum split across three venues: under the Baobab tree, the amphitheatre and the Glasshouse. The first comprises events made for kids aged above four, and the latter two are for those between five and 13 respectively featuring storytellers like Katie Bagli. Usha Venkatraman, Sejal Mehta and Neeraj Vagholikar. So, kids get to hear about a banyan tree saving a family from rodents, what happens when the kachrawala doesn't show up and the stories raindrops can tell (there's a trip to the CSMVS' rainwater harvesting pit, too) with workshops on upcycling and theatre.

Guide

The planning for the festival began in around March this year and it has been curated by Lubaina Bandukwala, the festival director of Peek A Book Festival of Children's Literature. "The Children's Museum space lends itself naturally to the topic with its natural surroundings, the glasshouse and the fact that it was constructed without harming trees — we literally have one popping through the building. And CSMVS has a commitment to green energy with one part of the building running on solar energy,"
Kulkarni informs.

While at CSMVS
Check out some eye-catching art installations by artist and architect Nuru Karim at an exhibition titled The Athymic Nude Mouse, which explores cross-disciplinary cultures.

ON Today, 5.30 pm (preview); to November 12, 10.15 am to 6 pm
AT Coomaraswamy Hall.

ON November 9 and 10, 11 am onwards
AT CSMVS, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Fort.
EMAIL education@csmvs.in (to register; Museum ticket applicable)
FREE

The Guide picks
No words for this: Be part of a wordless musical experience by director Dhanendra Kawade that revolves around the connection of humans with water.

ON November 10, 4.15 pm to 5.30 pm
AT Auditorium.

Worth your Monet: Watch a garden pond being created by art educator Purnima Sampat, inspired by the French artist.
ON November 9, 3.30 pm to 5 pm
AT Under the Baobab.

Global reach: Attend a special storytelling showcase by tellers from Jamaica, Hawaii, Singapore, US, India, Italy and Australia.
ON November 9, 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm
AT The Amphitheatre.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates