Children’s Rights Project
The Children’s Rights Project is a multi-organizational collaboration to raise funds and awareness of children’s rights in wartime. The collaborators on the Children’s Rights Project are Teralta Art, NEURO-UNIVERSE, Polish Archive, Small Heart with Art, Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, and Comite Ukraine.
Objective
The research component of the Children’s Rights Project aims to explore the concept of Home through the eyes of children. We believe that through children’s art, we can gain a deeper understanding of the vulnerability of youth, how strong supports can provide a home beyond its physical existence, and what it takes to form a sense of belonging. By giving children a voice, we will establish common ground to demand an effective and humane response.
This project has two parts: Looking Back at Home and Shapes of Home.
Looking Back at Home is an educational project that utilizes historical children's drawings from WWII and contemporary drawings by Ukrainian children. It engages former refugee children and non-war zone children in art-making, encouraging them to create interpretations of these images outside the context of wars. In this educational workshop, we take excerpts from children's drawings created during wars so that the figures do not depict human conflicts. We then have children in the non-war zone complete the drawing using the excerpts as a starting point and apply the context according to their own experiences and imaginations. When complete, the facilitator reveals the original drawings and conducts the discussions about compassion and empathy. Together, we identify the feelings we encounter and discuss how paradoxical it is that a good quality in the heart arises from experiencing negative feelings associated with another person's misfortune. Next, we bring the discussion to their future peers. When encountering someone different from themselves in the future, can they view that person from an empathetic standpoint?
Shapes of Home is an art research project that discusses the topic of home—often the place where a person first starts to make sense of the world. The idea of home can be fundamental for children and those who grow up in a consistent, safe place. However, as children evolve into adulthood, the idea of home can become very complex. Shapes of Home collects different possible shapes of home from people of all different life circumstances, from children to adults and even animals. In this research, we conduct one-on-one sessions in which we discuss the subject’s life and concept of home while engaging them in art-making by sculpting these shapes out of clay. Through these different shapes, we explore the ideology of home in a broader context. This experience can foster connections between people with different life circumstances. This is essential in a human’s life. “Home is a living instrument.”
The project exhibition will explore children’s ideology of home, its general meanings, and how interruptions by crises look from a child’s perspective.
Goals
Teralta Art is conducting this research project to examine the concept of home and the human condition through children’s eyes and give vulnerable populations a voice. San Diego has long been the destination for different waves of refugees; many of whom came here because of war in their own countries. Children are the most affected by the decisions of adults, yet have very little power or opportunity to express their perspectives. We hope to inspire conversations around children’s rights and war, foster empathy within the community, and raise funds to help those affected by war. Through children’s eyes, we reveal the truth of war without political ideas. Through learning about children’s experiences, we can talk about war from the level of basic humanity. Through children’s art, we find the most sincere evidence of a longing for peace. Our art research will explore the similarities and differences of what children think about the concept of home, how it looks and feels when their home is violated, and what it takes to restore and rebuild a home mentally and physically when exile has already happened.
Project Outline
Current timelines related to this project:
11/20/23 - 11/25/23: The concept of the project will be presented to the United Nations during the children’s rights symposium.
02/2023: Teralta Art starts collaboration with the International Rescue Committee and the Women’s Resilience Center to provide Looking Back at Home Workshops.
02/2023: Teralta Art will begin conducting one-on-one Shapes of Home sessions.
08/2023: The results of Looking Back at Home will be shown in HAUTE ÉCOLE DE SANTÉ VAUD, Switzerland.
2024: Teralta Art will curate the results of our art workshops to make animations, videos, and art pieces to show in a fundraising exhibition.
If you are interested in being a part of the Children’s Rights Project, please contact us at team@teralta.art. We have many opportunities for participation and volunteering.