191 children views of the world

The United Nation's 191 children views of the world in Malta, by MaltaMedia News

The art exhibition entitled: ‘191 children’s views of the world’ will be touring the several United Nations countries, starting with Malta next month. The original drawings by children from 191 member states of the United Nations, including one drawing from Malta, express a strong yearning for peace, security and acceptance. The exhibition will be held at Caraffa Stores, Cottonera Waterfront, Vittoriosa Marina, and runs til Sunday 17th December 2006..

Speaking at the press conference, which was held at Cottonera Waterfront, Dr Paul V Mifsud, Executive Director of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, said: “The Council is embarking on another major project - bringing to Malta a prestigious exhibition of children’s artworks which unites the world. We invite Maltese children and their families to see how children in other countries perceive the world in the universal language of drawings and to participate in this experience through creative activities in a magnificent setting.”

In 2005, as part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, GenevaWorld, a non-profit association whose main objective is to weave ties between the different cultures of the world, organised an exhibition of paintings by children from all UN member states. The aim of GenevaWorld was to give children an opportunity to freely express their joy, their hopes and their concerns regarding the world.

GenevaWorld asked children from the different 191 UN member countries, aged from 6 to 16 years, to express their feelings about the state of our world through their drawing by answering the question “How do you see the World from your point of view?” GenevaWorld aimed to collect at least 10 drawings from each country and within eight months received 3,200 drawings.

A jury selected one drawing from each country, including Malta to be represented in the ‘191 children’s views of the world’. Malta’s participation in this ambitious project was made possible following an initial contact by Scottish artist Marilyn Hodgson, who was instrumental in ensuring the participation of Maltese students. Entrance to the exhibition is free. It will be open daily from 0900CET to 1900CET on weekdays and from 0900CET to 2000CET on Saturdays and Sundays.