September 22, 2016

Young artists collaborate on project promoting peace

Early Start Discovery Space joins forces with children's museums around the world

A team of young artists have captured the meaning of world peace in an international art collaboration spanning five countries.

To coincide with International Day of Peace, children from the University of Wollongong’s Early Start Discovery Space joined forces with children from four other museums around the world to create an artwork that highlights the importance of peace and unity.

The idea was born when ImagineU Interactive Children’s Museum, based in California, reached out to children’s museums worldwide: Tin Marin, in El Salvador; Explorado, in Germany; Mindscapes Children’s Museum, in Nigeria, and Early Start Discovery Space about collaborating on an art project, created by their young visitors. Each museum would contribute a panel to be displayed next to each other to showcase the theme of world peace.

Martha Johnson, Manager of Experiences and Visitors at Early Start Discovery Space, led the aspiring artists aged between five and 12 from concept to completion and noticed that common themes emerged in the group.

“Over three weeks, the children came up with a concept of what peace means to them. We then collaborated and combined all the ideas of each child and translated this into a large artwork, piecing together all of the elements,” Ms Johnson said.

“While the common themes of a globe and a dove were evident, I was surprised to hear the unique ideas of some of the children, such as the opportunity to receive an education, to enjoy nature, and to have all the food they need.”

The artwork was unveiled yesterday (Wednesday 21 September) on International Day of Peace, an initiative of the United Nations.

Ms Johnson said Early Start Discovery Space was honoured to be involved in the unique project, the first of its kind among children’s museums worldwide.

“It is such an exciting and worthwhile project. The children are able to create something unique, learn about teamwork across borders, and we have a piece of history that can be hung in Early Start Discovery Space.

“World peace is such an important topic in today’s society and it is great to encourage children to think about what peace means to them at such a young age.”

Early Start Discovery Space also ran peace-inspired story time and arts and craft in celebration of International Day of Peace.