I found this instillation at an art museum in Colombo—several hundred drawings by young Sri Lankans from around the country, depicting (I think, from what one guy there told me) what they hoped the island nation would look like for the new year.
Almost all of them featured some combination of trees and rivers and people holding hands under the sun—cute and uninteresting.
But... there were also just a dozen or so that provided glimpses of life in war, and these I loved. You read a lot about hospitals and rehab centers using art therapy as ways to reach kids, and find out what they're truly experiencing. And in the middle of a war-fueled propaganda battle, these little bits of truth are gold.
A bunch showed life in UN tents—the hope for 2009 is a tent for every refugee?
Some depicted actual fighting—stuff they'd seen? Or just 10 year old boys making similar drawings to ones I did in third grade?the tamil tigers are an attacking chicken?
A bunch showed life with an enemy:
A Tamil Tiger about to pounce? Maybe.. but that deer looks evil.
And some, I thought, were just intense and beautiful:
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6 comments:
very cool. i iike the last two and the one with the tigers attacking the house/chicken house best. must have been a very cool exhibit.
Phil. I'm trying to leave a comment to see if this works. You haven't blogged in like 2 weeks.
I second that last comment and was wondering in particular if you had any thoughts on yesterday's speech by Obama in Cairo. Discuss.
This is your best post yet... as an artist and a teacher of elementary art for kids obveously i am drawn to it. (no pun intended) It's interesting to see the way life is depicted there in times of war... its not that different than things my kids draw here in the states.
thanks keri. yeah.. i was curious what was telling about war, and what was just kids being kids.
kelly-i miss you.
trey- yeah.. you know. there's a ton to analyze about it. but.. just like his race speech and his torture speech and his abortion speech the other day, he speaks about reality as if we could handle it like adults.
people complaining about the trip as an "apology tour" seem to me part of the problem.
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