The Anne Frank Exhibition at The School KFI (Chennai) began its journey when two teachers from the School – Ms. G. Devika and Ms. Akhila Seshadri – attended the Teaching History workshop held by PeaceWorks, an initiative of The Seagull Foundation for the Arts in Kolkata in July-August, 2015. A casual conversation between Ms. Devika and Ms. Megha Malhotra of PeaceWorks at the workshop materialized into a full-fledged exhibition at The School, KFI for the benefit of the students and teachers of several schools in Chennai city.

A group of three teachers met a few times and planned the details of the exhibition. The plan was elaborate and detailed since it was an ambitious undertaking and an event of a kind that was being held for the first time at the school. The group decided to involve students of class/grade XI actively in managing the exhibition. The exhibition was originally planned for five days.

Due to requests from schools that had heard about it through their friends it was extended for one more day. The exhibition was on from the 27th of October to the 2nd of November 2015 (excluding on Sunday, the 1st of November). It was open between 9.30 a. m. and 2.30 p. m. for students from other schools. Separate slots were allotted for the students of the host school before and after the exhibition was open to others. Parents of the host school had been informed of the exhibition to encourage them to view it. Altogether 21 schools (including the host school) viewed the exhibition. Around 1000 persons (students, teachers, and parents and friends of the host school) visited the exhibition over the six days. Twenty two (22) class/grade XI students of The School KFI who had had a session with Ms. Malhotra on the 26th of October 2015 for guidance on helping visitors view the exhibition in a meaningful manner assisted the viewers in making sense of the story of Anne Frank, the holocaust and the Second World War as represented by the exhibition.

– G. Devika

The School KFI Chennai