For more information, please visit www.peacetiles.net or email lars@tagstudio.net
WORLD AIDS DAY “VISUAL VOICES”
MURAL INITIATIVE
On World AIDS Day 2005, the “visual voice” of
hundreds of children and youth affected by, or
at risk of, HIV/AIDS will be exhibited in
communities around the world. The exhibitions,
the culmination of the first international Peace
Tiles project, will consist of murals composed of
individually produced, intimate collages (“peace
tiles”) that give expression to the memories,
hopes and challenges of children and youth
impacted by HIV and AIDS: messages for each
other and the world.
GOAL
The goal of the World AIDS Day Peace Tiles project is to raise awareness about the vulnerability of
children and youth to HIV/AIDS, and to provide them with a vibrant, dynamic means for self-advocacy
and self-expression. The Peace Tiles project will coordinate the installation of murals in two
international “solidarity sites”: the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and at a
children’s pediatric AIDS center in South Africa. Other murals will be installed at locations identified
by participating communities. The Peace Tiles project will also coordinate the exchange of tiles
between participating communities in an effort to build solidarity and inspire hope among young
people around the world that they are not alone, and that they can be heard.
PROCESS
Peace Tiles are produced in structured 1 or 2-day workshops
designed to engage participants emotionally, intellectually and
creatively in a process of “arts advocacy.” Children are encouraged
to bring artifacts from their lives that speak to a personal experience
with HIV/AIDS or their knowledge of the pandemic. These artifacts
(photos, letters, scraps of cloth, newspaper clippings, etc) are
integrated into their personal collages that may have “scrap book”
qualities, narrative features, and educational value. When put
together, the tiles create moving and uplifting murals that capture
the vibrancy and hope of our children and youth around the world.
PARTNERS
Presently, more than 40 communities around the world have
expressed an interest in sponsoring Peace Tiles workshops between now and October 1, 2005. Many
workshops have been completed or scheduled at locations including India, Amsterdam, Uganda,
Guyana, Senegal, and the United States between now and September 30, 2005. Exhibitions of the
finished murals will open around the world on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2005.
The Peace Tiles Project is being coordinated by artist and educator Lars Hasselblad Torres
(www.devarts.org) in collaboration with ActALIVE (www.actalive.org), Art4Development Network
(www.art4development.net), the International Child Art Foundation (www.icaf.org), and Visual Voices
(www.visualvoices.org).
