Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) is delighted to announce two engaging summer programs running from June 3-14, 2025, designed specifically for children between the ages of 6-14, to explore history, and science through hands-on art experiences. The ninth season of KNMA’s annual summer camp, ‘Craftopia 2025: Travel Through Time’ (June 3-14 at

National Museum New Delhi) takes young participants on a reverse chronological journey through civilizations via craft creation, while the exciting immersive program ‘Enchanted Space’ (June 4-13 at KNMA Saket) combines science, traditional arts, and puppetry in an interactive learning adventure. Both programs offer a series of workshops aimed to make complex historical and scientific concepts accessible through creative expression. 

Craftopia 2025: Travel Through Time, presented in collaboration with the National Museum New Delhi, takes children on an artistic hands-on journey exploring diverse civilizations and bridging the past to the present.

This year’s theme, Travel Through Time, invites young participants on an immersive and interactive exploration of global civilizations, discovering how people across ages lived, played, traded, created, and communicated. Through a thoughtfully curated series of 10 hands-on workshops, children will delve into the artistic traditions and cultural legacies of the past, reimagining ancient murals, decoding forgotten scripts, crafting royal treasures, and more. 

Guided by artists and educators, each session becomes a time-travel adventure, where crafts, stories, and symbols bring history to life through engaging, tactile experiences. From constructing ‘magic boxes’ inspired by ancient trade routes to painting miniatures and shaping clay vessels, every workshop invites young minds to connect with centuries of human creativity. 

The programme blends imagination with education, offering a dynamic space where learning history becomes an act of making, discovering, and storytelling. Participants are also invited to an exclusive walkthrough of the National Museum galleries prior to the workshops, led by KNMA and supported by National Museum.

Enchanted Space is an innovative and interactive experience, brought to life in collaboration with the Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust. This on-site installation invites participants to delve into the often-overlooked world of insects, exploring their lives through a blend of puppetry, storytelling, and immersive art.

Guided by Ms. Busy Bee, participants will walk through a glowing dragonfly labyrinth and uncover secrets hidden in a Cabinet of Curiosities! Each activity combines scientific insights with mythical narratives, offering a unique perspective on the interconnectedness of all living beings. These interactive sessions will not only entertain but also educate, fostering empathy and awareness about the vital roles insects play in our ecosystem. It’s an ideal experience for everyone and anyone intrigued by the wonders of the natural world.

The program also includes a series of Shadow Stories workshop, where participants design insect-inspired shadow puppets, craft original narratives, and bring their stories to life through hands-on performance, and a take-home DIY kit to “Make-Your-Own-Insect”, extending the experience beyond the museum walls.

Enchanted Space merges science, storytelling, and shadow play, offering a richly layered experience that awakens wonder and celebrates the tiny lives that shape our planet.

Both Craftopia 2025 and Enchanted Space reflect KNMA’s core vision of seamlessly integrating art into everyday learning. Emphasizing tactile exploration and creative expression, these programmes provide children with meaningful opportunities to engage with artistic traditions and the wonders of the natural world.

“Craftopia 2025 and Enchanted Space are powerful reflections of KNMA’s commitment to making art an integral part of learning. These initiatives represent our ongoing efforts to push the boundaries of traditional education—using art as a bridge to explore history, science, and culture in ways that resonate with diverse young audiences..” said Apurva Kackar Singh, Director- Institutional Affairs, Outreach and Learning at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.

NOTES TO THE EDITOR 

About KNMA

Established through the initiative of avid art collector Kiran Nadar, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) opened to the public in January 2010 as India’s first private museum dedicated to Modern and contemporary art from the subcontinent. With branches in New Delhi and Noida, KNMA is a non-commercial, not-for-profit institution supported by the Shiv Nadar Foundation. It seeks to foster a dynamic relationship between art and culture through its exhibitions, publications, educational initiatives, and public programs. Committed to institutional collaborations and artist support networks, KNMA actively engages with diverse audiences through its wide-ranging programming. The museum’s ever-expanding collection of over 15,000 artworks from South Asia features some of the most significant modernist and contemporary works. Now broadening its scope to include classical, folk, and tribal art, the collection spans historical trajectories from the 3rd century BCE to 20th-century Indian art, alongside the experimental practices of young contemporaries. In the coming three to four years, KNMA is set to evolve into a landmark cultural destination with a new location, an expansive 100,000-square-meter (over 1 million square feet) architectural marvel, near the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. It will feature multiple exhibition spaces, auditoriums, an archive centre, a library, restaurants, and a members room. Strengthening its role as a cultural epicenter, this expansion will further KNMA’s mission to be a vibrant hub for visual and performing arts, fostering artistic innovation and cultural dialogue.

www.knma.in

About National Museum

National Museum, the prime cultural organization of India, was inaugurated on 15th August 1949 at President House and moved to its permanent location at Janpath on 18th December 1960. National Museum (NM) is a subordinate office under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. NM started with the mission of three C’s i.e. ‘Collection’, ‘Conservation’ and ‘Communication’ through its various programmes. NM dedicatedly works to achieve this goal in close coordination of its ten collection departments, as well as education, exhibition, publication, conservation and other departments. NM has 29 permanent galleries, on three floors, representing the museum’s diverse collection, which represent the rich heritage of India. Time to time the museum collaborates with the cultural organizations of India and outside India to hold national and international exhibitions, workshops and seminars.

Educational programmes are being organized regularly for school students and professionals with close coordination between education and collection departments. Publications and plaster cast of sculptures are being constantly produced and put at the Museum Shop to create cultural awareness among the visitors to the museum. Digital presence of NM is on ‘Google art project’, ‘virtual art galleries’ and through volunteer guides and audio guides our attempt is to enrich the visitor’s experience of the museum.

About Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust

Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust is a registered culture trust that is a professional puppet theatre company that has been creating original productions using puppets, masks and objects and touring to international and Indian performing arts and theatre festivals. Katkatha has also worked with museums to create installations, site specific projects and exhibitions about and using puppets. At the core are sculptors, dancers, designers and puppeteers whose vision is to support a professionally set up and managed space for the promotion, preservation and development of Puppet Theatre. This includes training the next generation of puppeteers and creating a new space to seedbed new puppet groups and companies by holding annual master-classes, mentorship projects, internships and residencies.