Writing and drawing are both ways of seeing, of paying attention to our inner and outer worlds. Both creative processes, at their best, demand abandon, a willingness to go beyond correct answers, to build on every line that has come before, to create before worrying about an audience. In this workshop, I work together with my pottery teacher and writing student, Elodie Alexandre, to share some of the ways our creative practices can build upon each other. This is a generative workshop, and throughout, we maintain a sense of play, a willingness to experiment, and above all, a complete ban on erasers!
This unique retreat, set in a campsite on a mountain peak in the Himalayas, moves between the practices of writing and drawing, both as tools of self-discovery and self-expression. You need no experience in either practice, only a sense of play and adventure.
There will be two sessions every day, one in the morning, and one around sunset. Some days we will begin with writing, and other days, we will begin with drawing; every day, the morning’s learnings and discoveries will feed into the evening’s session. In between, there will be walks, open time to yourself, a picnic in the forest, traditional Himachali food and music, and stunning night skies.
Our goal is for you to leave the camp with a sense of possibility, having expanded your artistic practices and deepened your sense of self, held and nourished by a safe community of friends and artistic companions.
Camp Nomad, Fagu
is located along the Old Hindustan Tibet Road (NH 22), about an hour’s drive from Shimla. The camp spans 2 acres and is the perfect balance between wilderness and comfort, boasting of both basic and luxury tents, running water, hundreds of wildflowers, stunning night skies, and a 360 degree view from the highest point.
Dates
19 May 2021 - 23 May 2021
Costs
Lazy Luxury Tents, with British Campaign Style furniture, all modern amenities, and attached bathroom, on Twin Sharing Basis: Rs. 28,000
Cosy Camper tents, with comfortable mattresses, solar lighting, and private (but not attached) bathrooms,, on Single Occupancy: Rs. 24,000
This cost excludes:
Travel to Fagu from participants’ respective cities
Additional food, alcohol etc.
Medical expenses beyond first aid, if needed
Insurance
Other Personal Expenses
This cost includes:
7 workshop sessions with two facilitators, spread out over 4 nights, 5 days
Accommodation for 4 nights, 5 days.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 rounds of chai and snacks from 4 PM on Day 1 to 1 PM on Day 5
Field trip with picnic
Optional Guided Mountain Walks each morning
Special local Himachali dinner one night
Live Music and Bonfire on one night
Basic first aid and stationery
About the Facilitators
Aditi Rao is the author of two full length collections of poetry, The Fingers Remember and A Kind of Freedom Song. Her work has been honoured by the Hedgebrook Residency, the Akademi Schloss Solitude Fellowship, the Sangam House Residency, the Srinivas Rayaprol prize, the TFA Creative Writing Award, among others. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and has been teaching writing since 2005.
Élodie Alexandré is a French artist based in Himachal Pradesh. She studied for a BA and an MA in ceramics at Cardiff School of Art and Design, UK. In her work, Élodie investigates the space between 2D and 3D, the process of drawing and making constantly inspiring each other. She enjoys telling stories through drawing, often using this practice to make sense of situations and feelings. She is the co-founder of Atelier Lālmitti, a clay centre in the Valley of Kangra.
Schedule
Day 1
2:00 PM - 4 PM: Arrivals: Amit from Camp Nomad will coordinate with you to in case you need help booking transportation from Shimla or Chandigarh. If you drive from Delhi or take the morning Kalka Shatabdi, you can comfortably make it to Fagu before 4 PM. If you were already in Shimla the previous night, you can head to Fagu after lunch and just use the extra time to settle into camp or go for a walk nearby.
4:00 - 4:30 - Chai and Snacks
4:30 - 5:30: Once everyone has settled in, we gather as a large group to introduce ourselves, walk you through the camp space, and go over the schedule for the upcoming days. We will also generate a list of first agreements — a set of principles that will guide our time together and help create and sustain a space that is simultaneously safe, challenging, and nurturing for everyone.
5:30 - 7:30 We then move into our first writing and drawing exercises together, aimed at setting the tone for our time together and breaking out of creative block (if you believe in such a thing!).
7:30: We end the day with dinner and a bonfire, leaving you to have an early night or to stay up late watching the stars.
Day 2
7:00 - 8:00: Enjoy your morning tea with spectacular valley views— if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, wake up a bit earlier and watch sunrise from the peak. There will also always be optional journaling and drawing prompts, to accompany your morning chai.
8:00 - 9:00: If you’d like to stretch your limbs a little, we can point you to walks through the nearby orchards and villages. The walks will never be particularly strenuous, just opportunities to start your day with fresh air and a little exercise.
9:00-10:30: Return from your walk to a hot breakfast and a little time to catch your breath and prepare for your day.
10:30 - 1:30: The group will gather in the Baithak for our first session, imagining the counters of our lives through a mix of visuals and story. We use this exercise to share our lives more deeply with each other, and also to understand narrative arcs of stories through our own lives.
1:30 - 4:30: Enjoy a leisurely lunch, followed by an open afternoon to write, read, explore the area, or get some rest. There will always be a bowl of writing and drawing prompts for you to use in your off-time if you would like.
4:30 - 5:00: Chai Break
5:00 - 7:30: We meet again after chai to create personal mandalas using and deepening our stories from the morning’s exercise. As we draw, we reflect not only upon the past but also upon our dreams and wishes, the things that heal us, the connections that protect us.
8:00: Enjoy a traditional Himachali meal, cooked by our wonderful guest chefs from the nearby village of Theog.
Day 3
7::00 - 8:00: Enjoy your morning tea with spectacular valley views— if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, wake up a bit earlier and watch sunrise from the peak. There will also always be optional journaling and drawing prompts, to accompany your morning chai.
8:00 - 9:00: If you’d like to stretch your limbs a little, we can point you to walks through the nearby orchards and villages. The walks will never be particularly strenuous, just opportunities to start your day with fresh air and a little exercise.
9:00-10:00: Return from your walk to a hot breakfast and a little time to catch your breath and prepare for your day.
10:00 - 11:00: At 10:00, we leave camp together to drive to pine forests of Cheog, where we will conduct the day’s session.
11:00 - 1:00: Today’s Drawing Session will build upon the beautiful natural surroundings, using our art to be more deeply present and observant on our forest walk.
1:00 - 3:00: Enjoy a picnic lunch under the sun, followed by open time to continue creating, go for a walk, or take a nap in the sun!
3:00 - 5:00: Today’s writing session picks up where the morning session left off, pushing us to now use all of our senses, rather than just sight, to write our own personal forest into being.
5:00 - 7:30: We return to camp and take some time to catch our breaths, get a bit of rest if we need it, and have a cup of tea.
7:30: Enjoy another dinner under the stars, and get some rest after this particularly long day!
Day 4
7::00 - 8:00: Enjoy your morning tea with spectacular valley views— if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, wake up a bit earlier and watch sunrise from the peak. There will also always be optional journaling and drawing prompts, to accompany your morning chai.
8:00 - 9:00: If you’d like to stretch your limbs a little, we can point you to walks through the nearby orchards and villages. The walks will never be particularly strenuous, just opportunities to start your day with fresh air and a little exercise.
9:00-10:30: Return from your walk to a hot breakfast and a little time to catch your breath and prepare for your day.
10:30 - 1:00: On our last full day together, we move away from the narrative and the literal, exploring the worlds of metaphor in our writing this morning.
1:00 - 4:30: Enjoy a leisurely lunch, followed by an open afternoon to write, draw, read, explore the area, or get some rest. There will always be a bowl of writing and drawing prompts for you to use in your off-time if you would like..
4:30 - 5:00: Chai
5:00 - 7:30: We tie together the narratives and metaphors of the last few days with a zine-making session. You will use graphics and text to tell your story a little differently, perhaps discovering new aspects of it in the process.
8:00 PM: For our last dinner together, we enjoy a bonfire with live music, and an optional open mic night. As always, you are free to retire early for the night or stay up late stargazing (did we mention that, on a clear night, you can see the entire Milky Way from the camp?)
Day 5
7:00 - 8:00: Enjoy our last morning together with tea and spectacular valley views— and if you haven’t yet woken up for the sunrise, today would be a good day to do so!
8:00 - 9:00: Go for one more walk through the nearby orchards and villages, taking in the fresh air and friendly people, and saying your “see you later”s to the mountains.
9:00 - 10:30: Come back from your walk to a hot breakfast and time to catch your breath, maybe to pack your things.
10:30 - 12:00: We meet at 10:30 for a closing circle, during which we throw a ball of twine around the room, thank each other, and close our time together with hugs and photographs.
12:00 - 1:00: We share one last cup of tea, hug each other again, and begin our journeys back to Shimla or Kalka in time to catch the Shatabdi, the toy train, or the overnight Volvos. In case you would like to stay another night in Shimla before heading home, do speak to Amit beforehand: he has a bed-and-breakfast on Forest Road and would be happy to host you for another night if you book in advance.
Trip Disclaimer
All participants will be required to have a COVID test in the 72 hours before travel, and we will provide a full refund to anyone who needs to cancel due to a positive test result. We recognise this can be a bit of an inconvenience, but we ask for your understanding as we attempt to keep everybody safe.
We will have a basic first aid kit at camp, as well as a nursing assistant on standby for medical emergencies. However, if you have any known medical conditions or allergies, please carry your medication with you as there are no well-stocked chemists in the immediate vicinity of Camp Nomad. Further, in case any participant requires medical attention beyond what can be provided at Camp, we will help organise transport to the nearest hospital. All extra medical and transportation expenses will be borne by the participant.
In keeping with travelling sustainably, please minimise plastic use and ensure you do not litter in the natural areas.
Please observe all COVID safety protocol and let us know immediately in case you develop flu-like symptoms. .
If for any reason you have to leave the trip early, you will not be entitled to a refund. We will not be liable for any expenses incurred to you as a result. However we will do our best to help make all arrangements for you to return to Shimla or your final destination at the earliest.
If the behaviour of any participant is likely to cause distress or harm to themselves, our staff or other team members, we reserve the right to terminate their trip at any time and they will have to make their own arrangements; we will not be liable for any expenses incurred as a result.
Payment and Cancellation Policy
Please email me, or message me through the Contact Me page, once you are ready to register.
Your seat will only be confirmed once you make the payment in full, via online transfer or by dropping off cash/ a cheque. Because I have to pay various vendors for Camp, I do require the full amount upfront in order to confirm your seat.
In case you need to cancel for some reason after you have paid, the Cancellation policy will be:
More than 4 weeks before Day 1 of Camp: 75% refund
3 - 4 weeks before Day 1 of Camp: 50 % refund
2 - 3 weeks before Day 1 of Camp: 25% refund
Less than 2 weeks before Day 1 of Camp: No refund. The only exception to this rule is cancellations due to a positive COVID result; in this case, please provide us a copy of your test report, and we will make a full refund.
