Book Camp
Date: 5 - 7 June 2025
Time: 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Venue: KCC Amphitheatre
Recommended for: Students in classes V – VII
Fees: INR 1500
KCC in collaboration with Educhange Foundation presents an immersive 3-day workshop designed to introduce children to the magic of storytelling through performance. With a focus on collaborative learning, this workshop blends reading, art, and drama to engage young minds in an immersive exploration of literature.
Led by expert facilitators, participants will collaborate to create a collective ballad, design sets, craft makeshift props, and rehearse their own production before showcasing their work in a performance for their family and friends at the end of the workshop. Join us for an enriching, hands-on experience that brings books to life!
HIGHLIGHTS
- Day 1: The first day begins with warm-up exercises and interactive reading activities that ease participants into a collaborative creative space. Drawing from the materials provided, students co-create an original ballad or narrative text that becomes the foundation for their performance.
- Day 2: The second day focuses on production development, where students explore expression, staging, prop-making, and teamwork to shape their story into a performable piece.
- Day 3: The final day is dedicated to rehearsals and a culminating showcase performance, inviting parents to witness the creative journey. By the end of the workshop, students gain not only an introduction to performance but also strengthened skills in imagination, critical thinking, and collective storytelling.
ABOUT THE FACILITATORS
Ruchira Mukherjee is a Kolkata-based, early-career Project Management professional with a strong focus on social impact research. She is currently associated with Educhange Foundation, where she designs and implements innovative, experiential educational programs that promote social change and community empowerment. Her work emphasizes play-based learning methods, fostering holistic development for children while positively impacting educators and communities.
She holds an M.A. in Sociology from St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Kolkata, and is dedicated to enhancing educational development for children from diverse communities. As an experienced facilitator, Ruchira leads weekly ECA/CCA Book Reading Club activities at DPS Howrah (since 2023) and the Literary Club at The Cambridge School, Kolkata (since 2024). She has conducted storytelling sessions at schools across Kolkata and West Bengal, including The Narayana Schools, Newtown, and Sodepur. Her contributions to education and the arts extend beyond facilitation — she was invited as a judge for the Storytelling Competition at the Annual Inter-School Fest (2024) at Sri Sri Academy, Kolkata, and is an independent theatre practitioner and dramatics coach at The BSS School (since 2024). Ruchira has also performed storytelling and music at Fridays at KCC (May 2024) and AMI Arts Festival (December 2024) at Kolkata Centre for Creativity, furthering her commitment to the power of stories and creative expression.
Nandita Bose Barik is an experienced Bengali folk music presenter, facilitator and field researcher. She started her musical career as a student of Rabindrasangeet and fine-tuned her singing skills under Swastika Mukhopadhyay. She has done her graduation as well as masters in Rabindrasangeet from Rabindra Bhatari University. She started learning Bengali folk songs from Uttam Das. Presently she is being groomed as a folk singer and presenter under the guidance of Purabi Bhattacharya and Dr Jolly Bagchi, two great exponents of this field of Bengali folk music. From Vaoiwa and Chatka of North Bengal and Goalpara to Bhatiyali and Dhamail of Eastern part of India, the folk tunes of soil of these parts find a skilful and passionate expression in her lively presentation.
In between her soulful rendition of the Sahaiya Twatta (theory of simplicity) of Lalon and Kabir also mesmerises the audience. She has presented folk songs in the programme organised for the children of workers of Laccatura Tea Garden, Sylhet, Bangladesh. She regularly facilitates musical interactive sessions organised by Care Unlimited, Kolkata for the senior citizens of Kolkata and programmes organised by Iswar Sankalpa, Kolkata for people marginalised with psycho-social disabilities. She regularly engages herself with the children of marginal community at Kalyan Sangha, Chandra, Bankura through lively interactive sessions of story-telling and musical learning. She regularly undertakes field research to explore the core life of rural Bengal which is narrated through folk creativity, and her endeavour is to transmit this traditional liveliness to a diverse audience – particularly children.
