With less than a week left for APOGEE 2024, Akshaya Venugopal, the coordinator of the Creative Activities Club (CrAC) spared a few minutes to have a chat with the APOGEE English Press on the club’s activities leading up to the fest.
Akshaya said that this APOGEE, the club has two major events — ‘Galleria’ and ‘Splash’. She explained that Galleria is an art exhibition, where the artworks of members of the club are displayed. She mentioned that this time, CrAC will also be accepting external entries, so that people can submit their artwork, which can be of any form and moral, but the club plans to maintain a majority of art pertaining to the theme of “A Celestial Epiphany’ and added that the gallery will be open for the whole duration of the fest in FD-2, room number 2203.
She mentioned that the other event is ‘Splash’, which is a face-painting event where the club will be giving out paint, brushes and a cup of water where the idea is that one can paint their friend’s faces, or get their faces painted by their friends, or paint their own face, or get it painted by a member of CrAC. She said that though originally an Oasis event, CoStA requested it to be conducted in APOGEE as well.
Akshaya added that this year, the club is working on some unique elements compared to those in the previous fest. She exclaimed that, for starters, APOGEE has six letters for them to bring to life as compared to the five in Oasis. Additionally, she said that CrAC will also be painting the walls during APOGEE this semester, including the wall in front of Looters and All Night Canteen.
Akshaya professed that when she joined the club, she wasn’t much of an artist, but had a keen interest in drawing and painting. She mentioned that the pandemic nourished her interests, and she learned many new techniques. She added that initially able in pencil sketches and working with flat paint, CrAC moulded her talents towards perfection and helped her expand her skillset to artistry-like gradients. She also said that working on the SAC wall last year truly helped her develop confidence in her skills as an artist.
Akshaya asserted that being the coordinator of CrAC has been incredibly rewarding and unique. She explained that most coordinators assign work to members and play an essential role in management, whereas CrAC requires her to be completely hands-on for the post. She further exposits that she needs to help and teach club members to develop their artistic skills and ensure she is giving them enough room to explore with their intuition and creativity.
She said that CrAC typically has two-hour sessions almost every day from around two weeks into the semester, which goes on until two weeks before major examinations, at which time the club takes some time off. She also mentioned that a few weeks before fests, this increases to three-hour sessions, which might raise to four-hour sessions or even all-nighters. Akshaya finally summed it up by describing the cohesiveness among members and encouraging everyone to participate in the aforementioned events.