 | One of the schools visited by the East Timorese artists was the Wollo... One of the schools visited by the East Timorese artists was the Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts. Students from the school are pictured with International House team leaders, Catherine McNamara and Jess Pratten along with Mong (Simon Kardoso Pereira) and Cesario (Cesar Agusto Soares Lourdes) from the Free Art School in Dili, East Timor. |
Centenarian’s peace dream comes alive in Australia
24 Jul 2008 | Kate McIlwain
United States philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis chose to celebrate her 100th birthday in February 2007 by committing US$1 million for 100 Projects for Peace.
And now the first group ever in Australia to undertake a Davis Project for Peace – students from International House at the University of Wollongong – are putting their $10,000 grant to good use by enlightening the Australian public of the situation in East Timor.
The students have used the grant to bring two East Timorese artists and a collection of art from the Arte Moris School to the Illawarra region from 18-31 July.
One of the student team leaders, Catherine McNamara, said their project entitled, Wollongong Hosts Arte Moris (WHAM), would provide the Timorese artists with the opportunity to become intercultural leaders.
“We believe that promoting the value of East Timorese art will be essential for the East Timorese identity. Something as simple as a peace mural can begin a process of promoting peace on a regional, national and global scale,” according to co-student team leader from UOW’s International House, Owen Everitt.
The other International House team leaders are Kiri Yapp (Australia), Swati Dhamaraj (India), Jess Pratten (Australia), Houcine Chraibi (Morocco) and Amandine Girrad (France).
The two East Timorese students selected for the program are Cesar Agusto Soares Lourdes and Simao Kardoso Pereira from the Arte Moris Free Art School in Dili. They are leading workshops and creating murals to generate greater awareness of East Timorese issues.
The East Timorese students are visiting four Illawarra high schools and lead workshops for high school students who have elected to study art at a higher level. The visitors and students from the high schools are co-operating to produce four artwork panels.
The whole community will have a chance to see their work and talk to the artists on the weekend of Saturday and Sunday July 26/27 with the highlight of the visit – the unveiling of a peace mural as a permanent gift to Wollongong at the Wollongong Youth Centre, Burelli Street, Wollongong. This will be followed by the official opening of the peace mural on Monday 28 July.
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