Zabbar / Malta 2014

Gertrude Spiteri connected the first action of Kids' Guernica - Guernica Youth in Malta with the Zabbar Local Council.

Gertrude Spiteri

Introduction:

on the official website of Zabbar Local Community

The Kids Guernica International Children’s Peace Mural Project was initiated by ART Japan Network in 1995 on the 50^th anniversary of World War II. The project is inspired by the famous Spanish artist Pablo Picasso who painted ‘Guernica’ out of protest against the brutal bombing of the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

The main purpose of the Kids Guernica - Guernica Youth Project is to promote peace consciousness among people in the World through paintings realised on a huge canvas of the same size as Picasso’s Guernica (3.5m x 7.5m). These paintings are created by children and Youths in different places around the world. Through these paintings children and youths convey powerful messages of peace with their creativity and imagination.

The main objective of the project is to develop a culture of dialogue and mediation, the absence of which lead to war and conflict. By taking part in a Kids Guernica –Guernica Youth mural painting activity participants enter into a collaborative learning experience. They learn to work together in an informal environment. They also learn to use the same territory (canvas) in a peaceful way. Although the content of the mural sends a powerful message, the process of participation itself provides an invaluable learning experience to its participants.

During the month of September and October 2014, youths and children from Malta, mainly from the town of Zabbar took part in this worldwide movement in favour of promoting a culture of peace.

This initiative was supported by the Local Council of Zabbar. The Project Leader of Kids Guernica- Guernica Youth, Dr Hatto Fischer who was in Malta as a guest speaker for the V18 conference, facilitated the activity. Dr Fischer has been initiating such initiatives in various countries and more information may be obtained from the website of his organisation www.poieinkaiprattein.org.

Gertrude Spiteri

A first meeting with a group of children and youth was arranged for Tuesday late afternoon on 2.September 2014.

First meeting

Dawn Spiteri

There was a brief introduction into Kids' Guernica - Guernica Youth by Hatto Fischer. Then followed a decision between children, youth, parents and mayor where the action could take place.

Mark, Mayor of Zabbar

After that the group decided upon a basic concept for the mural. Aside from a symbol linked to Malta, both beauty and destruction should be shown while keeping in mind what Daniel Spiteri defined as the meaning of peace, namely happiness.

The NGO for Life Long Learning, headed by Paul Dalli, is giving the organisational support.

Paul Dalli

Paul Dalli donated the canvas and the paints to make this action come true. Already one year ago both he and Gertrude Spiteri contacted Hatto Fischer on behalf of the David Review Project in search of other projects which contribute towards children and youth learning to cope with and to fend of "invisible violence" by gaining in social literarcy.

Sunday, 7.9.2014

Unrolling of the canvas and initial sketches

The size of the canvas always amazes. It leaves everyone wondering how they will ever fill that space.

Daniel Spiteri about to test the size of the canvas

The start: a dream of being en route in a VW bus with the road ahead winding itself through Malta's history

The first take by a TV camera man of Karsten Xuereb's four year old daughter

Huddling together, first sketches as ideas emerge

Gaby and Daniel

Black feet and Paul cautioning about the next step

The dictator (Mussolini) and the people saying "si, si, si"

Following the idea of the mural "The War is over", they adopted a similar idea of creating angels.

Dawn making with the help of little Serena another angel

How amazing the trust of a child and willingness to explore something new.

Looking up to see what is happening may be more than just curiosity.

While Serena continues at another location to draw, Karsten Xuereb, her father is about to go into action himself after being motivated to this by Gertrude, and in seeing his four year old daughter being so absorbed by what she is doing on the big canvas.

Karsten Xuereb, Project Manager of V18

The observers

Dawn's final touch

The little one left in peace

Some observations

The reluctance of the youth to join a group when composed as well of smaller children. This non integrative aspect seems to dominate almost everywhere. Once children become adolescents, they wish to distinguish themselves from the smaller ones as if reliability upon parents marks too much dependency. They need to get rid of that but likewise they become hesistant in their feelings especially when they feel a risk of exposure. Thus the step into a public space which the huge canvas is in reality shall if taken at all only reluctantly at first. The positive intervention can be when saying shyness would not allow them to make the experience of painting together with the others. Many times this notion of 'togetherness' has been tested in other actions such as when taking the canvas from Chios to Izmir, or when students at Saint Denis University in Paris discovered painting together is as difficult as living together. Yet this shyness has also to do with the presence of parents, adults, who will judge them immediately and step in and even interfer if they make a mistake. That is why it is so important that V18 departs from the notion of freedom, insofar as the youth of today wishes to be free to make mistakes in order to learn. That ability to enter a field in which mistakes can be made since easily corrected by painting over whatever has been created as first spontaneous gesture may be the value of the Guernica space offered ever since Picasso used such a huge canvas to paint Guernica as peace mural.

Hatto Fischer

Zabbar, Malta 8.9.2014

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Zabbar / Malta 2014