De Ware Tijd
Paramaribo - one morning at the Kennedy school and the Mytyl school, two young art teachers stood before a class . With the proceeds from their art exhibition at Gallery Steinhoff, Emily Jong Tjien Fa (9) and Alysha Wazir (11) bought art supplies. They then volunteered to give painting lessons to their handicapped peers.
“We show the children how to draw”. “First we make lines with a black marker“, Alysha instructs. “Then we color in the blank spaces within the lines with chalk. At the Mytilschool they learnt that very well”, said the young artist. “The children colored beautifully”.
Below: Emily (l) shows a pupil from the Mytyl School how to color neatly while Alysha looks on and smiles. Yesterday, the two little teachers gave the students of the Kennedy and Mytyl Schools- which are both institutions for mentally and physically handicapped children- an art lesson.
photo courtesy of De Ware Tijd/Stefano Tull
A teacher at the Kennedy School translated Emily and Alysha’s story via sign language to the students. “I think they are the first Surinamese children who promote themselves as artists and have had their art displayed”, says gallery-curator and artist Sabina Steinhoff-Ensberg, who has taught Emily and Alysha and displayed their art pieces. “The exposition was a success: several of their drawings together raised 500 US, and it was their own idea to donate a half of the money in the form of art supplies”, Ensberg proudly relates.
While the students are usually assigned things to draw, the idea was to promote ‘free expression’, which is something new for them. “We want to show them that things can be done differently too”, says the gallery curator. She hopes that that will mean something to the children. Drawing and coloring is relaxing and inspiring, because it stimulates you to observe your surroundings. The children then think, “I can do that too”.
Translated into English by: Vijoya Taylor
