International Peace Tiles Project Marks World AIDS Day with Murals Created by Children in Africa, Asia and U.S.

Montpelier, Vermont — On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2005, the visual voice of thousands of children and young people worldwide who are concerned with, affected by, or at risk of HIV/AIDS will be exhibited in communities around the world and at three international mural locations.

Sponsored by Development and Art through the Institute for Social Ecology, the International Peace Tiles Project seeks to raise awareness about the vulnerability of children and youth to HIV/AIDS, and to provide them with a dynamic means for self-advocacy and self-expression. More than 500,000 children under the age of 15 worldwide have died of AIDS and more than 2 million children under the age of 15 are living with HIV/AIDS, according to recent figures from UNICEF.

Already more than 1,000 children worldwide have created Peace Tiles during workshops on AIDS awareness. Peace Tiles workshops have been held for children in communities across the globe, in countries including Bangladesh, Cameroon, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and the United States. Each of the three international murals are composed of individual wood panels (called “tiles”) produced by children in the countries participating in the project. The tiles were sent to the Peace Tiles project in Vermont where they were arranged into murals and shipped to their host countries.

Each tile is an intimate, personal work of reflection and expression. The painted surfaces of each tile are covered with a myriad of images and objects from the children’s lives. On one tile from Thailand, an HIV-positive AIDS orphan placed a currency note left to him by his parents, expressing his hope that other children with HIV/AIDS would have what they need to survive. Children in Senegal, West Africa, used bright beads to decorate the surface of many of their tiles. Other children used seeds, string, sand, magazine clippings, stamps and many other materials and artifacts to create their compositions.

The resulting murals are vibrant, inspired, and dynamic works that bring together these “visual voices” of children affected by HIV/AIDS around the world.

The three international murals will be displayed on World AIDS Day in the following locations:

• Zasekhaya Market at the Newtown Bus Factory, an artists cooperative studio, exhibition and community space in the Newtown district of Johannesburg. The exhibition is being coordinated by Artist Proof Studio, Visual Arts and Crafts Academy (VACA), and the Zasekhaya Market and will be part of a day of celebration that includes music and theater. South Africa was selected as a mural location because it is home to the highest levels of HIV infection, and the first place on earth where AIDS mortality rates have surpassed infection rates.

• Soochana Kendra, Jaipur’s famous “information center,” will house the second international exhibition and celebration organized by Gram Bharati Samiti, an association of rural women and youth. The exhibition will be accompanied by speeches of state and national figure and an opportunity for them to respond to the works on display. GBS organized more than six workshops across Rajasthan, a state in north India through which more than 600 children were engaged in HIV/AIDS awareness-raising activities. India was selected as a site for the international mural project because it is the place on earth where AIDS expert expect the AIDS epidemic to next explode.

• The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (www.theglobalfund.org) in Geneva, Switzerland was chosen as the third site for an international mural because of the Global Funds leading role in the global campaign to make AIDS history. The Global Fund provides more than 25% of AIDS funding globally, supporting country-driven programs in education, prevention, treatment and care.

“The Peace Tiles project empowers young people through art to share their experiences with HIV/AIDS in an effort to increase local and global awareness about this disease,” said Lars Hasselblad Torres, the founder of Peace Tiles and Development Art. “Each of the international murals represents the individual stories of kids from all parts of the world dealing with HIV/AIDS in their families and communities.”

To create the Peace Tiles children cover wood “tiles“ with paint and photos, letters, scraps of cloth and other artifacts from their lives that speak to their personal experience with HIV/AIDS or their knowledge of the pandemic. In addition to self-organizing workshops in most countries, three artists traveled on behalf of the Peace Tiles project to support workshops in India and Thailand.

“In my experience,” said Polish-born artist Kasia Ozga, who traveled to India for the program, “the Peace Tiles project brings together diverse constituent groups and international audiences to raise awareness and empower communities through creative action. The project has enabled me to work with local grassroots organizations and provide educational and creative development opportunities to students who would otherwise not be able to access such activities.”

The International World AIDS Day Peace Tiles project is a product of a global collaboration of organizations and networks spanning the globe. The World AIDS Day effort was sponsored by Development and Art (www.devarts.org) and supported by ActAlive (www.actalive.org), Art4Development Network (www.art4development.net), NextAid (www.nextaid.org), Visual Voices (www.visualvoices.org) and the Omidyar Network (www.omidyar.net)

Lars is a researcher, writer, and web developer for the US-based not-for-profit, AmericaSpeaks, which seeks to engage citizen voices in governance. The very first Peace Tiles workshop was held with AmericaSpeaks staff and associates.

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CONTACT: For General Enquiries:
Frank Walter, 202-299-0300, fwalter@impalacom.com
Lars Hasselblad Torres, 802-229-0992 lars@tagstudio.net

For Site Specific Details:
Bhawani Shanker Kusum (GBS), 91-141-2530268 gbsbsk@sancharnet.in
Beatrice Bernescut, The Global Fund, 41 22 791 1911, info@theglobalfund.org
Kate Chisholm, Visual Arts and Crafts Academy, 083 277 1290 katherinec1@telkomsa.net