Mural a division-wide effort

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This article was published 16/12/2014 (4161 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In September, Winnipeg School Division (WSD) students collaborated on a human rights-themed art project to coincide with the opening of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Now, that product of partnership is on display at CMHR.

The Everybody has the Right mosaic mural features 168 8×10-inch canvas tiles created by 168 students from all 77 schools in the division, with each individual tile representing its artist’s interpretation of human rights. Artists of all ages are represented in the piece, be they elementary students from Robert H. Smith or high school students from Elmwood High.

Everybody has the Right was unveiled on the main floor of CMHR on Wed., Dec. 10 in celebration of International Human Rights Day.

“Yesterday I was with a crew of students from Daniel Mac and we put it all together and saw it for the first time,” said Joe Halas, WSD art education consultant and organizer of the mural project.

“It’s wonderful. It’s amazing. After we finished yesterday, the kids and their teacher and I took a quick tour (of the museum) and when we came back down there was already a crowd standing in front of the mural checking it out. It’s a very high-profile spot.”

Halas, who initiated the mosaic mural project, said he got the idea from working with Winnipeg artist Jackie Traverse.

The mural’s tiles, created at Luxton School from Sept. 15 to 19, were numbered, with each tile containing a few lines that, when assembled, create an image of hands reaching up into space. Students were given free rein to paint whatever they wished between the lines.

The mural will also soon be viewable digitally, with recorded statements from each artist linked to the individual tile they created. WSD plans to have the digital version of the mural available at www.winnipegsd.ca by Dec. 19.

In the meantime, the mural will reside at CMHR for the next month.

“We are pleased to display this incredible artwork created by so many students working together,” said Gail Stephens, CMHR interim president and CEO, in a press release.

“This museum is first and foremost a place of education, and art is a powerful way to relay messages that can education and inspire us all about human rights.”

Anabelle Salonga, a Grade 12 at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute, was at CMHR for the unveiling of Everybody has the Right. She said her own tile was inspired by a particular human rights story she learned as a young student.

“It was the story of Iqbal, a Pakistani boy who became an advocate for children’s rights,” Salonga said. “He was a child labourer and how the story went is, one day he was commissioned to make this beautiful rug for a foreign diplomat. After he completed the rug, he ripped it right in half in front of his master. That act of resistance has stayed with me all these years.”

Salonga said it’s important that students learn about human rights.

“It’s important that we pass this on to other generations and that these messages are never lost,” Salonga said. “Even in the States, a leader in human rights, there are still problems with police brutality and racism. It’s important we don’t forget these messages so these things stop happening.”