by Nila Pershad, iEARN project facilitation officer, Suriname
On 3 April 2005 our school, the Algemene Middelbare School (senior high
school) commemorated its 55th anniversary. Because of this memorable
occasion we decided to incorporate an iEARN project in the festivities
and display the result on the day of the festivities. Art plays a very
important role in our school because we highly value our studentsí
artistic expression. Moreover, the teachers of art are professional
artists who belong to the best painters in Suriname. Finding a
theme was quite easy because we are famous for our diversity of ethnic
groups, culture, religion, flora and fauna. This multicultural
diversity became our focus and the theme became ìUnity in Diversityî.
This project was even more interesting because of its ultimate goal,
namely to reach the Guinness Book of World Records.
I
launched the project before the Easter holidays, in the first week of
March. Students from all grades were given the opportunity to
participate in the preliminaries which entailed handing in a design
within two weeks. The art teachers would eventually make a selection.
However, only 12 students handed in theirs designs and because they
were all very good, the teachers combined all these 12 designs.
The estimated length was 15 meters and this would be the longest work
of art ever made in Suriname. The mural was supposed to be painted in
the last week of the Easter holidays. My next step was getting funds
together to cover all expenses. Since iEARN Suriname does not have any
funds, I appealed to private enterprises for help. Each one of the
companies I applied to in writing offered help either with material or
cash and the project could be kicked off.
The
mural, which is 15 meters long and 1,5 meters wide, has been
painted on canvas with acryl latex. The students have used bright
colors to portray the freshness of our tropical nature. The painting
reflects the cultural diversity of our country, showing not only
harmony between the different races and their religion but also harmony
in nature between the different flora and fauna. The atmosphere is
typically tropical with its clear blue sky. The different ethnic groups
who are descendants of slaves and indentured laborers are all dressed
in their traditional clothes. All these aspects reflect the culture and
nature of Suriname, a country where there are so many differences and
yet there is harmony and peace among the people.
The
art teachers had estimated to paint the mural in one week, but the
students were very excited and highly motivated so that they finished
it in five days. The students did everything; the teachers only gave
some guidelines. Morale was high among the 12 students (3 boys and 9
girls) who varied from grades 10 to 12. Nothing could deter them,
not even heavy rains when they stood up to their ankles in water to
paint the mural. Knowing that this work of art would be displayed and
their contribution to reaching a world record bolstered their ego. The
project was featured in one of our biggest national daily newspapers
ìDe Ware Tijdî, making this art project national news.
Never had I seen such enthusiasm and unity among my students. They had so much fun together
and working closely together, expressing their emotions on canvas, has
created a bond between them. Their enthusiasm shifted to the other
students as well, because they were in awe of the creation of their
fellow students and they supported and encouraged these ëlittleí
artists to outdo themselves. The article in the newspaper made our
school the centre of attention and when the students heard that the
project had broken a Guinness record, they were very proud of
themselves, their school and above all their country.
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