The real mural by the little giants

The real mural by the little giants Picasso's atelier 2009

What amazing tone of colours! The children had been suppressed when it came to use of colours, for Boris Tissot confined everything to black and white. He even admitted that although the children wanted to paint, they were held back but did well in accepting this limitation. He writes when staging the painting, rather than use the brush, discussions about the different sketches meant to create a composition out of selected images. Thus "the children forced themselves to delay the moment when they would pick up the brush. Much was learned, too. So the eagerness to paint yielded to the long process of achieving a consensus among the kids." (Source: Boris Tissot, Final Report)

While for Boris Tissot the images within a certain composition counted, the children showed how easily they could when painting together create a composition. The difference is that they discovered very quickly how decisive is to have in a painting a centre of gravity from which the force fields allow the extension of expressions to the periphery.

This centre piece is most amazing. Its coloured side is turned towards from where danger is looming, namely the approaching tanks. While the other half or shade side seems to suggest how war can darken even the happiest moments as expressed by children all holding hands.

Image of a tank beside burning house

Curious is to ask why of all images that of the tanks was reinforced when the children had a chance to express all by themselves? A tank is something children immediately recognize as a threat to whatever moves in the street. They must have seen images of tanks in war movies but also the news from around the world conveys what happens when tanks move in and the people in the streets have only their bare hands and the possibility of picking up stones to be hurled against these armoured vehicles. In Palestine there is a notion that Israeli soldiers have made tanks into their exclusive homes. In June 17, 1953 when workers in East Berlin risked an uprising against the Communist government and the Soviet empire, Russian tanks moved in to squash the revolt. Of interest is how they depicted a tank for it is almost like a large leave from a plant ready to sweep everything aside what dares to stand in the way.

In the mural six tanks are depicted, all moving in the same direction. When looking at them in ratio to the centre piece, then suddenly two other images spring into the eye. Just to the right of the centre piece is a small figur in dark blue and still further off the scissor, this time in colour and looking very much like a lobbster on two legs.

It should be remembered that the children did this mural in secret, in the living room of Picasso's atelier.

Living room in Picasso's atelier

The room is next to the big gallery space and one goes through it to reach another room and finally the bedroom. Picasso's atelier was atop a school on the top floor and had a beautiful view over the rooftops of Paris. Picasso always cherished an open horizon. In this room the children would work on their mural. The moment some adult would come in, they would quickly hide what they were doing. For Boris Tissot and the others their presence was a natural outcome of the kind of division of labour. Many times when some children would help the adults to work on the big canvas, the others were scuttled off to the side rooms to continue doing their sketches.

So something came together in the best form of subversive art. As said, the children gave this mural as a gilft of thanks to Jad Salman. They did so in recognition of what he had done for them.

Hatto Fischer

Athens 24.7.2012

Annex: About the discussion on "children's artworks? or not" - Monique Kissel

To me, the best thing is to compare the two paintings done in Picasso's studio. All is contained in the important formal differences. The one done by children is like a clear source flowing directly from the children's heart, mind and fingers. So simple and significant!

The other has a great level of organisation and composition. It is much, much more elaborated. The process of more and more elaborations is the educational process.

That takes a long time and long training to bring a young child into a man’s world within an extremely elaborated mind.

But the fact is that during this process, often many things become so complicated that the source is lost, forgotten.

Let us remember that to achieve great poetry, art (so did Mister Picasso-"I had to forgot all I learned") mystical experiences and great wisdom is required. All around the world and time men and women had to train and work hard to find and reach again the spring, the origin.

And the great simplicity.

When confronted by that simplicity of childhood in a painting, it is very often the case that adults are disappointed. Even, some develop simmering tenderness or light sensation of selfish superiority.

In a child's design, as in a Chan's master painting, simplicity is full of emptiness.

That emptiness disappoints often. In such a design or a painting in which emptiness is generically speaking emptiness, it indicates as to where all comes from, and to which all will return to - nothing less than life and death and life itself … it is an open process.

If we let children all over the world express themselves, we accept the risk to see in their painting a mirror of our naked heart, but also simple and true emotions: fear, joy, friendship, sadness, love, indeed simple relationships which include fights and making the rounds. Friends are as well: pets, birds, flowers - boys and girls alone, or all together in that one big space now a mural with a strong message.

We do accept the risk to learn from them when we go deep inside ourselves

A child' painting is more a pure expression rather than Art.

That is why it is so important to keep Kids Guernica murals done by children free from interventions by adults basing their actions on own artistic and aesthetic evaluations or judgements.

Paintings by adults and professional is one thing, what path Kids’ Guernica follows has still another purpose.

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