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Jad Salman - the only artist in the atelier
The only artist when the children came into Picasso's atelier was Jad Salman.
He did finally collaborate with Boris in the project but only much later. For one, Jad had to attend to his studies at the University of Saint Denis, and then Boris called him to come to the atelier only much later, that is well after the action with the children had already started.
Jad Salman and Boris Tissot Paris 2009
During the few days at the atelier Jad Salman attempted to support the children in what they were asked to do. At the same time, he saw and made his own thoughts about what was really happening.
Subversive art - the hostile and the friendly ghosts
Details of bad and friendly ghost
During the action, Jad had only limited possibilities to give to the children the freedom they wanted and needed in order to express themselves. For instance, the entire left side of the official mural was designed to represent only the negative. It was supposed to be the 'bad field', thus loaded with negative imagines like a mine field. That was best depicted according to the adults by horrible images. Yet Jad encouraged the children to break free of this scheme.
There can be seen in the upper left corner of the mural a horrible monster, but it is one being eaten up from below by a ghost of love (as indicated by the many hearts). Jad had encouraged the children when they wanted to counter the negative to go ahead and paint into the mural that friendly ghost.
Call it instigation, call it encouragement to counter the negative before it is too late by not letting it get out of hand, a negative 'infinity'. This tendency to let things become 'endlessly' is a bad habit of adults both in their negative judgments about political state of affairs, but also for the sake of making the world just appear completely black or bleaque as if this the point to drive home.
An important lesson can be drawn out of this resistance of the children against the scheme the adults wanted to impose upon. The resistance is entailed in this ghost of love.
Human beings should respond before it is too late and something goes really bad in an irreversible way. That is the case when insults lead to conflicts to war without remorse how many are then killed. War is stopped when soldiers no longer obey orders to shoot the other as if an enemy! This became the topic of the Gezoncourt mural which followed the one done in Picasso's atelier.
To Kids' Guernica, it is of utmost importance to break out from 'enemy pictures' as exemplified already by the Kabul, Afghanistan mural which shows a plane dropping bombs, but which has not insignia on it to allow identification if an American or Russian plane.
The moral scheme Boris Tissot had tried to impose by painting in no uncertain ways an enemy picture of 'those Germans' who were after all responsible for the bombardment of Guernica. As Brendan Kennelly said the most difficult part is how to 'unlearn learned hatred'. It is done generally in education by projecting all hatred against Judas, the figur of betrayal. Brendan Kennelly goes on to say in the introduction to his epic poem about 'Judas' that this is done to make children forget while learning to hate to forget their own dreams of humanity.
German French relationships are at times tense but since the European Union has been formed, these two countries have gone a long way to foster friendship. Many efforts have been undertaken not to retain an imagine of the other as being a mere enemy. Thus to attempt to evoke such an one sided enemy picture by nearly forcing children to go in that direction, that was especially sad to see happening of all places in Picasso's atelier.
When thinking about the German-French relationship during German occupation of Paris and France a clear turning point in man's history was the letter A. Camus wrote to his German friends prior to him going into Resistance. He took up arms out of a moral reason but while doing so he did not forget in reality they were his friends. That differs him from Jean Paul Sartre who saw violence as the result of an abstract system which requires parties and armies to counter it and thus it left the moral responsibility of the individual out on a limb despite of his Existentialist philosophical bent.
Stories about Palestine
A lot more can be said but to return to Jad Salman his credo is to find as an artist a human response to violence. This lesson he learned while still in Palestine and what it means to live under Israeli occupation as the controlling power.
It was beautiful to observe how the children responded to him when he told them stories as what he experienced during the Second Intifada. His stories were as important to them as was the account by Manual Gonzales. Through him they began to see creating space for their expression meant dipping at the same time in a much more subtle interplay between forces of violence and what it means to seek to that a humane response. That is a vital lesson for anyone who wishes to retain in his or her own link to humanity best done by not reacting or becoming inhumane like those who do the attacking.
Children and their love of use of colours
As the only artist Jad knew how to mix colours. He did so together with the children.
Jad Salman with some children
The colours were used for only purpose: the rain bow
The rain bow
The rainbow in the official 'mural' – the final touch
Almost as if a concession to all the criticism and wish of the children to use colour, there was added in the last minute that rainbow. Before they could paint it, the children who were allowed to paint, they had to practice the swing of the paint brush without colour before allowed to do so. It had to be perfect, this swing, and not be extended.
The second mural - a gift for Jad by the children
By taking things into their own hands, the children showed in the best possible tradition that art can be subversive (Carol Becker). Feeling the pressure from Boris and his collaborator, they decided to paint in secret a second mural. It shows what a difference it makes when they are free to make use of colour and more importantly, they had no fear to make mistakes.
What mistakes?
When they had finish this small mural, they gave it as a gift to Jad. It was done out of recognition what he had done for them while in the atelier. They saw as only children can see the artist in him and thus they could test themselves if they too would like to become like him. That comparison is called a part of growing up by finding a role for oneself in a society full of many uncertainties but not when it comes to use of colours.
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