Humankind has seen the consequences of war; it has brought nothing but trauma, discomfort and death. And, arts have become one such medium since time immortal to spread the message of peace and show how it can affect human life both immediately and in the long run.
With the theme of peace, a two-day workshop was held at Sirjana College of Fine Arts, Uttar Dhoka, Kathmandu on April 12. The workshop, a part of the global campaign titled Peace Travelling Canvases, basically aimed at fostering peace consciousness among the world’s people through children’s art.
The workshop was conducted jointly by art educationist Takyua Kaneda (Japan), conceptual artist Kuniyoshi Murata (Japan), manga artist Asuka Ishii (Japan), visual artist Savina Tarsitano (Italy), art and media lecturer Nicola Ashmore (the UK) and researcher Carolyn Watt (the UK).
The campaign
The workshops under Peace Travelling Canvases have an objective to spread the message of peace and create a dialogue on the topic around the world. In Kathmandu, along with the workshop, an exhibition titled Conversation was also on display at the college premises.
On the first day of the presentation, all the artists gave their introduction and their mission through their current works. Prof Kaneda shared his journey with Kids’ Guernica since 1995 and how he was impressed with the idea of peace for kids residing in different parts of the world.
In 2018, another art project Guernica Remaking too became a part of the campaign as the two campaigns shared the same values and beliefs.
The basic concept of this project is working with children in different places of the world to create peace paintings on huge canvases, the same size as Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (3.5 m x 7.8m), a painting made to protest the brutality of the bombing of the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
Meanwhile, on the second day of the event in Kathmandu last week, the students of Sirjana College of Fine Arts participated in creating murals on canvas where they collaborated with children and women from Mulabari, Dhading.
Ways to understand art
Moreover, the Peace Travelling Canvases events also became a platform for understanding how to be a professional artist after completing their graduation. Manga artist Ishii says, “I used to dislike comics but in the process of getting a degree, one of my professors told me that there are two types of artists in the world. One is the person who sees art in static things and another who sees art in motion.”
But with the encouragement of teachers and friends, she is now a manga artist whose manga has been released in different languages including French, Spanish and English.
Since 2015, Prof Kaneda and his team have been working together for sustainability through an art project here.
The Peace Travelling Canvases project first came to Nepal in 1996, informs the Sirjana College of Fine Art vice-principal Navindra Rajbhandari, adding, “Their artworks are inspiring and their art projects are impressive as well.” he says interacting with them and being part of the project helps the students learn about the world scenario, and how art could be a medium to heal war wounds and spread the message of peace across the world.
The murals created on the canvas during the workshop will be displayed in Calcutta, India, and then in European countries.
