Comic
Con’s Creative Highlight of the Evening
The
3rd Edition of Middle East Film and Comic Con 2015 (MEFCC), the largest pop
culture festival took place from April 9th to April 11th at the World Trade
Centre Exhibition Halls on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. It is a platform that
brings together artists, celebrities, music artists and exclusive exhibitors
from all over the globe.
JesikaMenon, Founder and Managing Director of the Gaia Centre was one of the
exhibitors during the on-going event. She was with her colleague Shahara
at their eye-capturing stall, filled with all sorts of artworks, creative
writing posters, painted cushions, hand-crafted dream catchers, hand-crafted
works and paintings done by their very own students.
Jesika
is a drama, speech and communication skills trainer, qualified from the Trinity
College of London. She has been training candidates from the age of 4 to 84 in
various forms of verbal communication including Drama, Speech, Voice &
Accent training to Communication Skills and Language.
The Gaia Centre offers
International Exams & Certification from Trinity Guildhall London. It also
trains children in Art - encouraging creative expression among learners through
its four centers across Dubai & Sharjah.
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Shahara(left); Jesika(Right) |
The
artwork displayed on the stall titled, “The Gaia Centre” at the Comic Con were
all created by her students ranging from 8 to 16 year old who had been assigned
to prepare their skilled artworks for the comic convention.
“We have students
from all over UAE who illustrate cartoon-like figures and animations on posters
and cushions. These artworks are then passed on to another category of our
students who creatively make up their own imaginary stories,” says Jesika
proudly.
“Kids
are like sponges who absorb and grasp things quickly. We can easily tap any
creative information into their heads. They have a lot of talent which needs to
be put out to encourage them,” she says.
![]() |
Photo via 'The Gaia Center facebook page |
Jesika’s
inspiration has been her husband who is an extremely talented artist. His very
own artworks were also displayed in the stall. She says “We realized that
corporate life just doesn’t work for us and therefore, we aimed to pursue
something that we love to do, making life all colorful and bright. This is our
thing! We had to build up courage to pursue our dream and now we have our own
institute and training center, our own drama and art studio.”
Jesika,
her husband and partner Shahara have been working with children in the UAE
since 2006 encouraging them to participate and evolve in several artistic
fields and activities. They do not only encourage theatrical performances and
poetry events, but are also musicians, DJ performers and electronic music
artists.
They
have a branch in Dubai, on Shaikh Zayed road, where recently they have opened
new workshops for adults on Saturdays teaching them how to be fresh and
enthusiastic in life.
They
also have a branch in Mumbai, Vashi where every year children join them in
their various activities. “The best way of starving off creative
ossification is to keep doing different things. The kids at Gaia Centre also
believe the same,” says Jesika firmly.
Jesika
is all pumped up for the next upcoming event which is going to be held near
Lamcy Plaza this Friday the 17th of April starting from 11:30
am. It is an open platform to all visitors to come watch children from all over
UAE, participate and perform in creative events.
For more info on The Gaia Center check out their website: http://www.thegaiacentre.com/
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