Art project Rinaldo Klas and Leonnie van Eert with children with disabilities in French Guiana

On Thursday April 5^th 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 24^th until March 4^th. 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 5^th 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 5^th in Readytex Art Gallery!