PUPILS are standing up for the rights of refugees via a children’s art exhibition at Shirley Burke Theatre, Parkdale.
The event will be opened by artist and peace activist William Kelly, 7:30pm, Saturday 10 December. Mr Kelly, OAM, is a former dean of the Victorian College of Arts and a guest lecturer at Yale, Oxford and Cambridge universities, as well as other institutions in Europe, South Africa, US, Eastern Europe and Australia.
He is the only visual artist to be given the prestigious Courage of Conscience Award (Boston, US). Other recipients include Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Muhammad Ali and John Lennon.
Pupils Louisa and Elvis, of St Joseph’s Chelsea Primary School, are two of more than 100 children exhibiting works. Louisa said she chose her drawing Mother and Daughter because it shows a mother and daughter in grief over the war in their country.
“You can see in the little girl’s eyes that she is terrified and has no clue about whether or not she will survive this terrible war,” Louisa said.
“The mother is also very scared. That fear is not for her safety, but instead, it’s for her daughter’s safety. There is nowhere for them to go. Wherever they go, the war follows them.”
Elvis called his artwork The Tree of Rights. He said he chose this art style because he saw human rights as a gift or fruit.
“I came up with the idea of drawing a tree and all the human rights were represented as fruits,” he said.
“Then I realised that thousands of people around the world don’t have their basic human rights and are reaching for help. That’s how I thought of the hands reaching out as a sign of hope.”
After the opening, guests will view the movie Mary Meets Mohammad by Tasmanian filmmaker Heather Kirkpatrick.
The free event is hosted by Kingston for Human Rights to celebrate Human Rights Day.
The exhibition will run at the Shirley Burke Gallery, 64 Parkers Rd, Parkdale, until Thursday 22 December.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 7 December 2016