Creativity a way for young to express themselves<\/p>\n
Christina Schott, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Two mountains, a river running down to a valley, some rice
\nfields and houses in the foreground; above all, the sun.<\/p>\n
Risky, eleven years old, paints with great enthusiasm what she
\nwishes to see in her surroundings. Of about 80 children living in
\nKelurahan Paseban, about two-thirds had almost the same idea as
\nRisky, when they painted at the Gambar Anak (children's drawing)
\nfestival at the Kelurahan Paseban subdistrict office on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The reality is somewhat different: Risky and her friends live
\nin Paseban in the center of Jakarta, where the streets are small
\nand the houses closely packed together, leaving little open
\nspace. The railway is directly behind the SMA school building,
\nwhere the festival took place, and the garbage disposal site is
\ndirectly in front of the railway.<\/p>\n
A kampong like Paseban does not offer much space for children
\n-- playgrounds are hard to find.<\/p>\n
Children need the opportunity to express themselves. Their
\nworld revolves around playing -- and if there is not enough space
\nto play, they should at least have the chance to express their
\nfantasies through their own creativity\", says Sanggar Paseban's
\nIrawati, who initiated the drawing festival, together with her
\nhusband, Gallis Agus Sunardi.<\/p>\n
The house and studio of the two artists became a kind of
\nplayground for the children from the neighborhood, since they
\nhave one of the few gardens in the area. Some of the children
\nshow a genuine interest in the visual arts. \"I think this program
\nis a good way of helping them realize their own skills,\" says
\nIrawati. \"We all want to support the children's creativity,\"
\nagrees subdistrict head Suaeb Abdul Gani, who has supported the
\nprogram generously.<\/p>\n
\"I am very happy that the idea for this event came from people
\nliving inside the kampong. They understand best about the needs
\nof the children, given their surroundings.\"<\/p>\n
But to develop creativity needs time, as the experience during
\nthe workshops on Sunday showed. The style of the mountain
\nlandscape that most of the children drew looked uncannily similar
\nto the illustrations in Indonesian elementary school books.<\/p>\n
The few children brave enough to start drawing without a ruler
\nor stencil were often interrupted by their parents. \"Dear
\nparents, please allow your children to paint freely without
\ninterrupting them,\" was consequently one of the most repeated
\nannouncements by the organizers on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, there were some amazing results, the most
\nremarkable, perhaps, by five-year-old Dafi. As one of the
\nyoungest participants he created a most expressive painting,
\nentering the list of 12 best pictures, chosen later by friends of
\nSanggar Paseban.<\/p>\n
But this was only the first exercise. The second followed
\nafter the lunch break, when the children were asked to paint in
\nteams of four on new plastic dustbins.<\/p>\n
\"The idea is to built up awareness about the environment,\"
\nexplains Abdul Gani. \"If we later on put these colorful dustbins
\nall over Paseban, maybe more people will remember where they
\nshould put their waste when they see the paintings of their own
\nchildren on the bins.\"<\/p>\n
The children obviously enjoyed the colorful and exciting
\nfestival, which was well organized. With large markers they
\nexplored the form of the garbage bins without any hesitation.
\nThey forgot about rulers and stencils and finally let their
\ncreativity freely express itself. The results are soon to be seen
\nall over Paseban.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/creativity-a-way-for-young-to-express-themselves-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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