JP\/17\/CHILD<\/p>\n
The sky is not always blue in children's eyes<\/p>\n
The exploration of new themes and experimentation with colors,
\nwhich characterized the recent children's paintings exhibition
\nheld here from Nov. 9 to 16, provides proof, if any is needed,
\nthat children are not only creative but also acutely perceptive
\nof any alterations that affect their surroundings.<\/p>\n
\"In our time, the rice fields were always green, the sky was
\nalways blue and there were always two mountains. These kids are
\nobviously much bolder and spontaneous than us in mixing and
\napplying colors, choosing compositions and presenting themes,\"
\nproud father Agung Alit said.<\/p>\n
Although most of the themes were upbeat in the emotional sense
\n-- there were no paintings that explore the hardships and
\ntragedies of life -- they were nevertheless no longer confined to
\nthe rice fields-farmers-cows and sea-fishermen-ships that their
\nparents and parents' teachers were once so mesmerized by.<\/p>\n
The paintings showed how these children, mostly from
\nkindergarten and first grade, tackled the things and phenomena
\nthat they encountered in their daily lives, such as bustling
\nmalls and popular Western or Japanese cartoon characters.<\/p>\n
And how boldly they tackled these themes. In one painting, for
\ninstance, the image of a swimming pool occupied almost the whole
\narea. The pool was painted deep blue, the tiles in pink and the
\nrest of the area in striking yellow.<\/p>\n
Three persons, dressed in yellow, purple and red shirts
\nrespectively, were swimming in the pool. And that was it. There
\nwas no dog, no tree, not even a house.<\/p>\n
\"Their paintings show that these kids already have the ability
\nto convey their visual messages in a pointed, focused manner.
\nThey identified what they wanted to paint, focused on it and
\ndiscarded other unnecessary elements from their canvas. Thus,
\nimage-wise they are making very solid presentations,\" art
\nobserver Popo Danes said.<\/p>\n
In another painting, the image of the girl was impressively
\nsimple and childlike, as were the five flowers the girl held in
\nher extended left hand.<\/p>\n
However, the ways in which the colors -- mostly dark blue,
\ndark green and black -- were manipulated and applied were
\nhauntingly beautiful and reminded one of the great Russian-Jewish
\npainter Marc Chagall.<\/p>\n
\"It's a magnificent painting. It's no wonder that it has been
\nselected as the best painting in this exhibition,\" poet Tan Lioe
\nIe said.<\/p>\n
Organized by the country's only children's tabloid, Lintang,
\nthe Rare Angon children's foundation and the Galang Kangin
\nartists community, this first-of-its kind exhibition showcased
\nmore than 1,000 paintings.<\/p>\n
This impressive number of paintings was assembled through
\nLintang's weekly \"Painting Together\" children's events, which
\nhave been held since 2000 in Denpasar's main public area, Puputan
\nBadung square.<\/p>\n
The events drew a die-hard following of hundreds of children,
\nwho managed to persuade their parents to take them to the square
\nevery Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The team of judges comprised such personages as noted Balinese
\nmodern painters Erawan and Budiana, who laboriously shifted
\nthrough all the submitted paintings to select those worthy of
\nbeing exhibited.<\/p>\n
\"From the very beginning we stressed the importance of
\nspontaneity, of the children being given the artistic freedom to
\ndraw whatever they wanted to, and to use any colors that took
\ntheir fancy, as opposed to making them subject to their parents'
\nwishes or teachers' instructions,\" said Lintang's editor-in-
\nchief, Mas Ruscitadewi.<\/p>\n
She believes that freedom is essential for the nurturing of
\nchildren's aesthetic skills and creativity. Judging from the
\nworks displayed in the exhibition, she's probably dead right. --
\nI Wayan Juniartha<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp17child-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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