UN children's painting exhibition to start in Malta

Malta is to host children's paintings from 191 United Nations member states in an exhibition called 191 Children's Views Of The World, which is touring member states starting from Malta next month.

The drawings, including one by 13-year-old Chardian Camilleri of Fgura, express a yearning for peace, security and acceptance.

The Maltese entry depicts a boy holding the world "as a sign of caring", the St Aloysius student said, expressing his "happiness, excitement and pride" at being an ambassador for his homeland.

An initiative of the cultural and philanthropic GenevaWorld Association, the exhibition is being organised by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts in collaboration with the Tourism and Culture Ministry, the Education, Youth and Employment Ministry and the Foundation for Educational Services, among others.

It was an opportunity to see how children in other countries, aged between six and 16, perceived the world through the universal language of drawings, council executive director Paul Mifsud said.

As part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the UN last year, GenevaWorld, a non-profit-making association whose main objective is to weave ties between different cultures, organised an exhibition of paintings by children. Its aim was to give them an opportunity to express their joy, hopes and concerns regarding the world.

GenevaWorld wanted to collect at least 10 drawings from each country, and within eight months, it received 3,200.

One drawing from each country was selected by a jury.

Malta's participation was made possible through an initial contact by Scottish artist Marilyn Hodgson, who is coordinating the Malta event.

"We never imagined how rich this project would be in terms of inspiring human contacts. In fact, we were overwhelmed by the interest people everywhere showed," founder and chief executive of GenevaWorld Association Jean Cordey has been quoted as saying.

Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech spoke about the regeneration of Cottonera, the venue for the event, which would not be complete without cultural and artistic activities.

The exhibition is scheduled to tour every UN country and is heading for Italy after Malta, ending up at the UN building in New York.

In Malta, it is being held at Caraffa Stores at the Vittoriosa Waterfront from November 2 until December 17.

For the duration of the exhibition, art and writing workshops are being offered to schools on weekdays, while primary and secondary schools are invited to visit the exhibition any day of the week.

Bookings for the art workshops (held on Mondays and Thursdays) are to be made through education officer Sina Farrugia Micallef on tel. 2558 7101 or e-mail sina.farrugia-micallef@gov.mt, while bookings for the writing workshops (on Fridays) can be made with Rachel Schembri on tel. 2145 5600, or 2145 5607 ext 119, or e-mail rachel.schembri@gov.mt

Entrance to the exhibition, which is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week, and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, is free.

www.maltaculture.com