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Through the eyes of a child

27 Oct 2006 19:05:00 GMT
Source: Christian Aid - UK
Christian Aid

Website: Website: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/news

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Renowned war artist John Keane is producing a series of paintings focusing on children in conflict.
Christian Aid

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Christian Aid has commissioned renowned war artist John Keane to produce a series of paintings for a new exhibition opening at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in autumn 2007 entitled 'Children in Conflict'.

Through the eyes of the children he met in Angola, southern Africa, his work focuses on post conflict issues faced by millions of young people living in this war torn country.

John Keane was the official British war artist during the Gulf War and has work displayed in numerous public collections including the National Portrait Gallery and the Contemporary Art Society.

He recently spent two weeks in Angola, his first visit to sub Saharan Africa. He visited Christian Aid partners in the capital Luanda and the remote area of Mavinga, 300km from the Zambian border.

He spent time with children who had lost parents during the 40 year civil war which ended in 2002 and watched as children and adults worked together to rebuild their communities.

He also heard how fighting the spread of HIV is the next battle Angola's 15 million inhabitants face.

Almost half of Angola's population is under the age of 15 and life expectancy is 40 years. It has the third highest child mortality rate in the world with more than one in four children dying before their fifth birthday.

A peace deal was signed four years ago but the shattered country will require international assistance for many years to come.

John Keane said: 'As a father of two, the plight of children in Angola invited poignant comparison. I met children who had endured horrific hardships, who had seen their parents murdered in front of them, had spent many years in Zambia as refugees; damaged children who have no choice but to hope the future will be better than their past.

'What I found remarkable was their capacity for forgiveness, their appetite for education, their resilience and the fact they could still raise a smile.'

Christian Aid has supported local organisations in Angola since 1985. It is a priority country for Christian Aid as so much of the country's infrastructure has been destroyed.

The work focuses on ensuring the government deliver on its promises to invest in infrastructure and development, the prevention of the spread of HIV and helping poor communities to improve their standard of living.

Children in Conflict will be displayed in the new £6.7 million extension at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in autumn 2007.

The new contemporary building will house national touring exhibitions and will provide a permanent home to Wolverhampton's prestigious Pop Art collection.

Marguerite Nugent, head of Curatorial Services said: 'We are delighted that John Keane has been chosen for the Angola Commission.

'He has a proven track record as a war artist, dealing with political issues in the Gulf, Mexico, Guatemala, Northern Ireland and this country and I'm sure that the work he produces will make a huge impact on our audiences. It is wonderful to welcome him back to Wolverhampton following his last exhibition here in 1997.'

For further press information, or to arrange an interview with John, contact Karen Hedges on 020 7523 2404 or email khedges@christian-aid.org.

Notes to editors

Previous exhibition by John Keane at Wolverhampton Art Gallery: 1997 - John Keane A Painter in Focus 1997 - John Keane The Body Politic

John Keane was born in Hertfordshire in 1954 and attended Camberwell School of Art. His vivid, shocking, and often blackly comic paintings have focused on many of the most pressing political questions of our age.

He came to national prominence in 1991 when he was appointed as official British war artist during the Gulf War. His work has always been deeply concerned with conflict - military, political and social - in Britain and around the world.

His subjects have ranged from Northern Ireland to Nicaragua, and from the British coal industry to the mass media. His topics are more commonly associated with journalism than fine art.

Yet through his paintings Keane confronts issues and explores their subtleties in a unique and penetrating way.

Christian Aid partners in Angola visited by John Keane :

SOS Habitat - Luanda SOS Habitat, set up in 2003, protects poor people's housing rights in the vastly overcrowded capital Luanda. Now the war is over, thousands of slum homes are under threat as the government and private businesses search for new land on which to build.

SOS Habitat uses legal and media outlets to publicise and challenge unlawful evictions and demolitions, and encourages poor people to use their votes to pressure the government to recognise their housing rights. SOS Habitat is a small secular organisation, made up of 10 local community activists. Christian Aid has been supporting them since 2004.

ACJ - Luanda ACJ is the Association of Christian Youth. They run health, water, sanitation, education and vocational training projects in Luanda. Christian Aid funds ACJ's malaria and HIV awareness work.

ACJ trains school and community volunteers to spread the word amongst their peers, speaking at events and going from house to house.

To reach even more people, ACJ has also teamed up with a local theatre group who perform in schools, churches, market places and even in the street, attracting audiences of up to 1,500.

IECA - Mavinga IECA is the Angolan Congregational Church, Angola's largest Protestant Church. We have supported IECA's development work since 1997. It works with war returnees in Kuando Kubango province, a very isolated area in southern Angola.

The project supports families who have recently returned home, helping them to restart farming, dig wells, learn about health threats including HIV, and learn skills such as literacy, carpentry and bee-keeping.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Last updated:Fri Oct 27 19:07:38 2006