After two weeks of ‘sharpening’ the consciousness of the Malawian children, United States of America (U.S.)-born artist Rob Sussman got, out of every individual child, what he wanted: a brain that sparkles with creative flavour, though handicapped in the sense that it [the brain] is not armed with hands to draw its own impressions on a piece of paper or cloth.
Sussman observed that, although the greatest source of inspiration for an artist is poured, to some degree, in everyday experiences as well as the artist’s fears and hopes, it requires the patience and focus of a real artist to throw the brain into the right gear that enables it to highlight only those impressions that give life to a work of art.
That is what he did within the two weeks he spent at Jacaranda School for Orphans in Newlands, Chigumula, Blantyre where he conducted workshops with primary school learners and secondary school students.
‘From the Heart’ exhibition was, therefore, the outpouring of creative energy from the hand-less brains of the children.
“It was the first time for the children to do figurative work but [within two weeks] they have managed to come up with wonderful and great work. What I did was to help them express their inner thoughts and I am impressed, though not stunned, that they are able to express themselves through art,” said Sussman.
Figurative work, said Sussman, has enabled the children to link events to cause— of course, artistically— in a way that enables art admirers to link the work of art to their own experiences in life.
He said this is possible in life because some events are so common in life that their causes are often similar. He said, for example, that, although an individual may fall into the pit of sadness for different reasons, sadness [the feeling] is one.
“So, basing on the basics of figurative work, the children are able to artistically link one thing to another— artistically or logically. For example, they are now able to say ‘I am sad because I am hungry’. ‘I am happy because I am dancing’. I am full [in the stomach] because I have eaten’. I am alive because I am breathing’. It is a great feeling that the children are able to do that now,” said Sussman.
No wonder, then, that some of the children have started dreaming of worlds beyond this one; life beyond now. And they dream of those worlds and lives in a positive sense.
Suleman Bartsony, 15, was one of the children whose life-size drawings betrayed their age.
Bartsony, who this year sat for Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education in Blantyre, had two works of art, namely, a portrait of an African elephant and zebra.
“In a world where chances of securing employment are getting low, it will be easy for me to venture into, say, painting, drawing, illustrations. With my skills, I can do many things to sustain myself. After I am through with my studies, that is. So, I am assured that I have a skill to fall back on, should the need arise,” said Bartsony.
Coincidentally, while the children have for the first time found the means to turn life-experiences conjured by their hand-less brains into money, this, too, was the first time Jacaranda Cultural Centre and Maison de la France were hosting such an event.
Unlike Jacaranda School for Orphans, which is located some 10 kilometres away from Blantyre Central Business District (CBD), Jacaranda Cultural Centre is located at Top Mandala in Blantyre CBD.
Jacaranda School for Orphans-cum-Jacaranda Cultural Centre executive director, Luc Deschamps, said the idea to bring Sussman to Malawi was shaped by the realisation that platforms for sharpening artistic skills are limited in the country.
“Art is very important but many schools do not offer lessons in art. Those that offer face the challenge of lack of teachers or materials. Apart from Chancellor College [a constituent college of the University of Malawi], there are no prominent art schools yet it is very important to develop the arts. This is in sharp contrast to France, where people earn money and awards through art,” said Deschamps.
Deschamps, who is also the French Honorary Consul to Malawi, said this background spurred Jacaranda Cultural Centre into action, observing that children equipped with art skills gain life-long capital that spills into economic self-reliance.
“This is why we decided to conduct several workshops with the children. Out of these workshops was born the exhibition ‘From the Heart’. The children of Jacaranda had the chance to draw freely and express themselves through art and writing. ‘From the Heart’ exhibition gave us the chance to enter the children’s dreams and share their hopes, their thoughts and their sense of humour,” said Deschamps.
There were, as it were, two sides of ‘From the Heart’ exhibition: the technical side of the heart and the personal side of the heart.
“The technical side [of the heart] involved the application of universally applicable rules governing, say, the classics while the personal side simply meant the children had to draw as their heart dictated. Under the personal side of the heart, whatever they wanted [to draw] went,” said Deschamps.
Need we say that Bartsony falls on the technical side of the heart? He does
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