Dozens of children were shown how to make stencilled pictures of flowers, plants and animals using coffee beans during the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival(SCRF).

 

Each child was given a coloured piece of card, which had pre-stencilled pictures as part of  a workshop that mixed food with art. Tutors then showed the children how to carefully follow the outlines of the drawings with glue before sticking coffee beans to make the picture.

 

“Our idea is that we get children thinking more creatively about art and what makes art,” said Gaurav Chopra, events manager for Sharjah-based Creative Hub, which is running the workshops. “We’ve had a great response from children and families so far.”

 

The workshop is being held during the 10th edition of the festival, which runs until April 28 at Expo Centre Sharjah and is themed ‘Your Future… Just a Book Away’. The timings of the workshop will vary.

 

The festival’s events span several programmes, under the main themes of Kids Activities, Cultural Programmes, Cultural Café, Kids’ Creative Café, Social Media Café and Cookery Corner. SCRF 2018 also features a series of international theatrical performances like ‘Tuta and Monkey Cheetah’, and the ‘Island of Kids’ Area’ that combine education, fun and entertainment to highlight the values of honesty to young visitors.

 

A prime highlight of the festival this year is its first ever 3D Book Exhibition, featuring 250 pop-up books from the 3D Book Centre in Forli, Italy. The books have been handpicked by the exhibition curators to represent eight different periods of time. One of SCRF’s mainstays, the Sharjah Exhibition for Children’s Books Illustrations, is featuring 355 artworks by 104 illustrators from 32 countries this year.