Art Workshops in Iraq

Art workshops Northern Iraq


Hi there. I’m Shane Sutton, an Irish artist, and I want to travel to a camp for displaced persons and run critical art workshops as part of the                  psychological therapy for the children and young teenagers living there.

In November 2018 I travelled with the Irish charity SCOOP and their Syrias Vibes campaign to develop Art Workshops for the children living in the Bajed Kandala camp at the Iraqi Turkish border, home to over 11,000 displaced Yazidi Kurds.The workshops have been used as a way for the children and teenagers to express themselves, after what they have experienced in the last few years (losing their home, loved ones or in most cases both) and some have lived in the camp for 5 years and never held a pencil or paint brush their short lives. Now I want to go back in April to keep the workshops going and also to work with a small group to develop some paintings thay I can bring home with the aim of them being available for the SCOOP Art Auction at the end of April. ( here is a link to previous art auction)




This is moving on from other Psychological therapies Syrias Vibes have started at the camp:

In early 2018, they began a Psychology Programme that worked with those suffering from PTSD, especially them women and children. What we    learnt was most of the young children wouldn't speak about their experiences, or would speak at all, so in November I traveled with Calvin James - the Syrias Vibes founder - and together we created the Arts Programme and subsequent workshops.
The results were astonishing, with each child expressing themselves and some showed real talent. I would really love to get back and keep working with the people I met.

I plan to run a more art workshops, bring more materials and canvasses etc and generally get more children and young people involved. The aim of this trip is to work with a selected group of artists that will create new work that will be shown alongside the Irish Artists at the Syrias Vibes Art Exhibition at the end of April.
Funds raised for this project will go towards flights travel and food costs for the duration of the ten-day trip. I just need to get back over to keep the workshops going!






Funds raised for this project will go towards flights travel, and food costs for the duration of the ten day trip.

300  Art Materials (paint, pads, Brushes, markers)
50% of  travel costs (Flights € 600 – € 800 Euro)
Travel € 100
Food € 100


DONATE AND WIN !!!

For Donations over 20 Euro you will be automatily put into a draw. Here you can win a large Limited  Print.

The print : Spacelace limited print on photo rag 308 paper. Large print @ 800X650cm

A little bit About Syrias Vibes

Syrias Vibes was created after SCOOP co-founder Calvin James volunteered there for 6 months in 2016 as a medic / ambulance driver.
Initially the campaign focused around supporting ambulances, doctors, clinics & medicines, the campaign is now involved with Joint Help for Kurdistan (JHK) who work largely in the Bajed Kandala Camp for displaced persons on the Iraqi border with Syria, home to 11,000 Yazidis who's city (Sinjar) was destroyed 5 years ago.

Any monies made over the 1000euro will go to the SCOOP Foundation for other artworkshop projects. 

Thanks for your support.

Best wishes.

Shane.

More about the Scoop Foundation

https://scoopfoundation.org/


Artist information:

Shane is an artist from Dublin who works with a variety of different media including oil painting and street art and film making where he has also won a number of national and international awards for directing and editing.

Shane is also the recent winner of the Graffiti Without Gravity Street Art competition in Holland with the European Space Agency and will be the first Street artist to sign prints in Weightlessness on March 1st 2019.

When not focusing on his art he has also run a number of art workshops in and around Dublin working with various children's groups including groups where young people might be considered Disadvantaged. He has worked with The Ombudsman for Children's Office and St Pats School in Mountjoy Prison and community groups such as Y.A.P (young peoples advocate program) and The Base in Ballyfermot.


Shane is currently living and working in Dublin. For more information and samples of work check out www.shanesutton.com