Art project
Rinaldo Klas and Leonnie van Eert with children with disabilities in French
Guiana
On Thursday
April 5th Readytex Art Gallery will host the fourth
Thursday-Night-Feature (TNF) of this year. This upcoming TNF will highlight a
wonderful project that the artists Rinaldo Klas and Leonnie van Eert were
recently involved with in French Guiana. The project was executed in Cayenne,
and was initiated by EMEGA, an organization in French Guiana that aims to help
children with disabilities integrate in their communities. To achieve this,
EMEGA organizes - among other things - special art related programs for these
children. These are meant to expose the kids to art and culture and thereby
help increase their self-confidence. Artist John Lie A Fo, who lives in French
Guyana, is also involved with the projects of this organization. In a
collaboration between EMEGA and Readytex Art Gallery, and as part of a much
larger project with artists and children, Rinaldo Klas and Leonnie van Eert
were in French Guiana from February 24th until March 4th.
Here they each spent several days working on works of art with small groups of
children with disabilities. The theme was ‘wind’. With the support of teachers
from EMEGA, both artists were able to enjoy and carry out their projects with
the children successfully. Rinaldo was
assigned to a group of 10 children of approximately 14 years old, all with a
slight mental disability. Under his careful guidance the teens jointly created
a large mask that was attached to a tall stick and placed outside in the wind.
After completing the large mask, the youngsters all drew their versions of the
mask on a piece of paper. Leonnie got the
opportunity to work with a group of 9 autistic children in ages ranging from 7
to 12 years old. The children made birds from clay and together they painted a
‘windy sky’ background on canvas. The ceramic birds were ultimately then
attached to the canvas. The children also made birdhouses from plastic bottles
which they painted in bright colors, and which were then hung outside in the
wind. In addition to
EMEGA and her partners in French Guiana, and Readytex Art Gallery in Suriname,
the French Embassy in Paramaribo and artist John Lie A Fo also played important
roles in making the participation of Rinaldo Klas and Leonnie van Eert
possible. At the TNF of
Thursday April 5th the artists will share what they experienced
during this special project in French Guiana, with the public. Several
representatives from EMEGA are also present on this evening and Evelyne Vidil
will give a short presentation about the organization. On this
evening, Readytex Art Gallery is open from 7:00 – 9:00 pm, and the presentation
starts at 7:30 pm. In addition to enjoying the feature presentation on this
evening, guests can enjoy all the other works of art exhibited throughout the
rest of the gallery.
We look forward
to welcoming you on Thursday April 5th in Readytex Art Gallery!
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