Krupa Jhaveri

Krupa Jhaveri
Krupa Jhaveri

Krupa Jhaveri (India)

Krupa Jhaveri is an international art therapist, art director, artist, and founder of Sankalpa: Art Journeys. Based in Auroville in southern India, Sankalpa facilitates original self-expression and art as a bridge between village youth and women and the international community. 

Trained at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Krupa has experience working with children and women with HIV/AIDS, child protection, trauma-informed art therapy, cross-cultural social justice, and community art. She was born in the United States of Indian ethnic origin and specializes in the meditative and therapeutic experience of traditional Indian art forms.

Return to Roots

A tree stump throne sat at one end of the room, completely entwined in branches with pictures of artists at work, which hung from various points. As one’s gaze traveled down the tree’s roots, it began to unfold – that natural organic beauty of the tree degraded down to bits of trash and human objects. 

Return to Roots is a collaborative art project led by art therapist Krupa Jhaveri and involving over 200 students from different departments. Participants were asked to create collages that explore their inner identity and the pieces were hung along the outer walls of the gallery, surrounding the tree in the center of the room.

Exhibition Opening

“This has come at a very good time,” Jhaveri says. “I think everyone needed something to focus on to bring us together just to remember both our roots in nature and in culture.” 

“Being an art student a lot of time I end up making my art by myself but it’s not a community, collaborative thing,” UD graduate art student Stephanie Hamill says. “I think that’s such an important way of looking at art.”

 

​Creating Madala art
​Creating Madala art
​Workshop with students from 'Seeing & Being' class
​Workshop with students from 'Seeing & Being' class
Each semester, the College of Arts & Sciences hosts an International Artist in Residence who brings a unique perspective to the University community and patients at A.I. DuPont Nemours Children's Hospital. "Return to Roots," a collaborative effort by Artist in Residence Krupa Jhaveri and UD undergraduate students, celebrated community, creativity and cross-cultural connection. "Return to Roots" is a UD Global Month event.

YouTube Video: UD Community and International Artist in Residence "Return to Roots": youtube.com/watch?v=wg7hoXYX658