Below the watch tower (Gent)

First mural by 6 to 12 year olds Ghent, Belgium June 2010

The mural was done at the Center of Youth Arts (the CJK, Centrum voor Jonge Kunsten). The artists were a small group of elementary school children aged 6 to 12. The Police of Ghent sponsored it by providing the huge canvas and the necessary materials. The local artist Marianne Stevens coordinated the action and Bruno Steyaerts gave additional support.

The mural has some really amazing images with cats on the left startled because the policeman is pointing a gun at them. To the far right God is also amazed.

Manuel Gonzales describes these children as all having a diverse background. Among them is a story about amost amazing boy. He came all alone from Sierra Leona where a civil war raged. He was joined only much later by his mother. It took her about two years before she too could leave.

There is an entire story behind the two watch towers he painted. When Marianne Stevens working with the children asked him if he wanted to add anything else, the boy declined. He wanted nothing in the vicinity of those two towers. It is possible to interpret that in many ways, but surely it reflects this sensation as to what prison camps imply: watch towers. That image can convey the deep wounds many people carry inside of themselves. How he managed to escape the civil war all by themselves is not known. But perhaps it too can explain why the boy appears outwardly to be extremely shy, indeed silent.

Coordination of the action:

Bruno Steyaerts and Marianne Stevens

Marianne Stevens: Master in fine Arts, teacher at the Academy for Fine Arts of Gent, currently working in painting and video (www.mariannestevens.be).

Bruno Steyaert: married to Marianne, former policeman in Gent, retired due to an accident at work, now CEO of the Centre for Young Art.

The mural was done at the 'kasteel atelier' where Marianne Stevens teaches art to children of various age groups.

Documentation

See pictures on http://kidsguernica.web2b.be/#home

http://www.kasteelatelier.be/ (Flemish language)

An item has been put on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jk-8SMNNuE

The atelier itself has a website www.kasteelatelier.be and the centre is on www.cjk.be .

Hereby also a link to an article in the press of yesterday: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=6E2RTIOH&postcode=9000

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Below the watch tower (Gent)