The Kitchen, 2017
The Kitchen, 2017
We are all a piece of the bigger picture, 2021
Public mural
Paralimni Central Square, Ammochostos, Cyprus
Markers on clear acrylic plastic, acrylic paint
200 x 480 cm
This project is part of Heliopolis Youth Culture, a programme launched by the non-profit organisation Didaskalia Alexandrias, founded by Mr. Ashraf Shenouda.
https://www.didaskalex.org/art/
Project Curation | Despina Petridou
Workshops facilitation | Despina Petridou,
Evanthia Aresti
ABOUT
This art project titled “We are all a piece of the bigger picture” will bring together participants aged fourteen to nineteen, to create a collaborative public artwork showcasing the youth’s personal and emotive understanding of global issues that manifest throughout the world today.
MISSION
This project aims to offer a neutral ground for participants to explore their relationship with the arts, escaping their often-stressful routine, and reconnect with their emotive side of interpretation and expression. The mission of the project is to foster a collaborative approach, emphasising the sense of community, both for the participants and the wider audience of the artwork, as a way towards achievement.
CONCEPT
This puzzle-structured mural brings together all the pieces that are eventually joined to form a bigger picture, embodying the notion that we are all part of the problem but we can all become part of the solution too. Bringing forward discussions and debates around global issues through a creative and artistic frame, this mural will provide an opportunity for teenagers to transfer their own selves within the root of the problem, and collaboratively propose solutions or general thoughts, expressing their personal interpretations and understanding of the most important issues that the whole world is facing today. The idea of the puzzle is also a way to express visually the importance of collaboration as an effective way of building up towards a certain goal or mission, allowing each person to bring in a piece of their own self to the project. The notion of the Helios (Sun) acts as the foundation of the whole programme as a symbol of hope, enlightenment and positivity for the future, and therefore will manifest within the mural, imitating the effect of penetrating sun rays. Some philosophical underpinnings also entail from this notion, considering the role of the Sun in earthly, spiritual and mythological theories, providing food for thought for the activities of the programme that will follow.