The Underground Gallery at The Sanctuary for Independent Media featured an exhibition organized by the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange called, “Don’t Forget Us: Iraqi Children 2001 – 2008 (Sanctions, War, Occupation and Exile)” from September 12 through December 14, 2008. wspainting.inline.jpg)
The exhibit is a collection of artwork, created by Iraqi children, especially for this child-to-child art exchange project, and photographs taken in Baghdad and Amman Jordan by ICAE director Claudia Lefko.
Upstairs features a mural painted by Iraqi refugee children in Amman Jordan under the guidance of iraqi artist Thamer Dawood. The 12 x 5 foot work is part of the Iraq Art Mile, a project of The Art Miles Mural Project, an international project that is creating five thousand murals from around the world as part of the Decade for Peace and nonviolence among children in the world. For more information: www.the-art-miles-mural-project.org
The Sanctuary invites visitors to contribute their artistic expressions to a paper mural that will be taken to Amman Jordan as part of this ongoing exchange between the Middle East and the US.
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ICAE encourages and supports drawing, painting and sculpting for the sheer pleasure of it. Beyond that we recognize art as an important language of childhood, one that offers children and youth an opportunity to speak – to each other and to the wider community – and to have their views taken seriously.
ICAE brings art created in our projects to community, national and international forums and events as a way to include the ideas, views, concerns, hopes and dreams of children and youth in the critical discussions and conversations of our day.
The Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange is based in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Visit http://www.iraqichildrensart.org for more information. 