Art & Craft
Axel's art programme is rooted in the visual traditions of Northeast India — Assamese weaving patterns, Satra embroidery, bamboo craft — while building technical skill across every medium from pencil to pottery wheel. Art is a discipline, not a distraction.
Classes I–XII · CBSE Art elective (Class IX–XII) · Annual public exhibition every February
from Class XII, 2026
recognition since 2021
every February
for Classes I–VIII
The art programme
Studio & curriculum
Axel's purpose-built arts studio accommodates up to 30 students for mixed-media sessions. Materials include drawing and painting media, printmaking equipment, a pottery wheel, fabric printing resources and reference materials for Assamese craft traditions. Every student from Class I to Class VIII takes two art periods per week as part of the standard CBSE timetable. From Class IX, art is available as an elective subject leading to the CBSE Board Examination.
Assamese craft traditions
The art curriculum at Axel is consciously rooted in the artistic traditions of Northeast India. Students learn the principles and patterns of Assamese weaving (muga and eri silk motifs), Bihu dance costume design, Satra embroidery from Majuli, bamboo and cane craft traditions from the hills, and the decorative motifs used in traditional Assamese architecture. This is not a detour from the standard curriculum — it enriches it.
Craft, media & disciplines
Drawing & Painting
Pencil, charcoal, ink, watercolour, acrylic and oil pastel across all classes. Students from Class III keep a personal sketchbook that builds across the academic year. Life drawing and observational studies are introduced in Class VI. From Class IX, students pursuing art as a subject develop a full portfolio for CBSE assessment. In March 2025, students participated in a dedicated Outdoor Painting Workshop — taking easels and materials outside the studio to paint from direct observation in the natural environment.
Printmaking
Block printing, linocut and screen printing taught from Class V. Students design prints inspired by Assamese textile patterns and natural motifs from the Gorbhonga forest. The printmaking studio is open during free periods and produces materials for the school's events — posters, certificates and decorative elements for Cultural Night.
Pottery & Sculpture
The studio has a wheel-throwing station and a kiln. Students from Class VI are introduced to hand-building techniques and coil construction. Wheel throwing is available to Class VIII upward. Finished pieces are displayed in the school's corridors and selected work is presented at the annual exhibition. Students have won district-level recognition for pottery in 2023 and 2024.
Textile & Fabric Art
Tie-dye, batik, fabric painting and basic weaving techniques. Students from Class IV learn the fundamentals of Assamese muga and eri silk design patterns. From Class VI, students work on larger collaborative textile projects — the school's main display banners for Annual Convocation are designed and produced by the Fine Arts Club each year.
Digital Design
Introduction to digital illustration and graphic design from Class IX using design software. Students apply these skills to real projects — school publications, event posters, the yearbook layout and the school's social media visuals. Digital art portfolios are acceptable for CBSE Class XII Fine Arts where applicable.
Comic Art & Animation
Introduced as a dedicated workshop strand in 2024–25, comic art and animation covers sequential storytelling, character design, panel composition and basic motion principles. Students learn to develop narrative through image — a skill that bridges fine art, literature and digital media. The March 2025 workshop was open to students across classes and drew some of the highest enrolment of any creative elective that year.
Annual Art Exhibition
Held every February, the Axel Art Exhibition is open to the public and attended by parents, alumni and community members from across Guwahati. Every student from Class III to Class XII has at least one piece displayed. A selection of outstanding works is loaned to the school's permanent display. Guest artists from Assam's artistic community are invited to speak and critique.
Recognition & achievement
Class XII student Rituporna Dey (2026 batch) was awarded the Visharad certificate in Fine Arts by the Prayag Sangit Samiti — the highest pre-degree qualification in classical fine arts available in India. This is the culmination of nine years of art practice at Axel, beginning in Class IV.
Axel has had students place in state-level competitions three times in the last six years. The school's annual exhibition has been covered by local press consecutively since 2019. Several alumni are practising professional artists, designers and architects — all of whom cite their Axel art education as foundational.
Art is taught at Axel as a rigorous discipline — not as a break from learning, but as a mode of it. Students learn to look, to observe, to record and to express. These are skills that serve every profession.
From the studio — 2024–25
A selection of art and craft activities that ran across the academic year.
Outdoor Painting Workshop
In March 2025, students took their materials out of the studio for a structured outdoor painting session — working from direct observation of the campus environment. The exercise sharpened observational skill and introduced students to the tradition of plein air painting. Open to students across year groups.
Comic & Animation Workshop
A dedicated multi-day workshop on comic art and basic animation ran in March 2025. Students learned character design, panel sequencing and how to carry a visual narrative across frames. The workshop reinforced drawing fundamentals through a format that immediately engaged students — storytelling through image.
Cross-Curricular Art — Class 6
An English-integrated activity for Class 6 combined painting with written recipe creation — students illustrated their own French recipe cards, connecting language, visual design and cultural learning in a single session. Cross-curricular art activities like this run throughout the year to reinforce that making and thinking are not separate skills.
Mother's Day Card-Making
Kindergarten students across all classes made hand-crafted cards for their mothers — practising fine motor skills, paper craft techniques and personal expression. Activities like this form part of the Foundational Stage arts curriculum: creative work tied to meaningful occasions in a child's life, not decorative busywork.
Axel's Cultural Symphony
The Fine Arts Club played a central role in Axel's Cultural Symphony in November 2024 — a two-day literary and cultural celebration where student artwork was displayed alongside performances and readings. Works produced through the year in the studio formed part of the visual environment of the event.
Public Speaking & Visual Presentation
As part of the March 2025 interdisciplinary workshop programme, students worked on visual presentation skills alongside public speaking — designing supporting materials, layouts and illustrated slides for their presentations. Art at Axel extends into how students communicate ideas, not only how they render them.
Something worth making.
Every student from Class I to VIII attends art twice a week. From Class IX, it becomes an elective. The annual exhibition is open to the public — come and see what Axel students are making.