Read Children's Comments about the Festival
The mural painting was a fun experienced especially working with those young talented artist. Although we do not speak the same language, we all shared the same interest and we all have it by heart. Everybody was happy to finish the painting. There was no big role or small role. It made us all happy and real proud to be a part of a beautiful art work. I participated in doing the murals for the CEO of LEGO last June 24, 2007 and for the CEO of Google last June 25, 2007. The whole World Child Festival experince was amazing. The workshop really opened my eyes that there is nothing impossible in art - like you can create something beautiful out of a tissue paper; recycle your buttons into artwork; learned different culture through art craft; and the most important thing is touching someone else’s life through art. - Jerrika Shi (age 10, Philippines)
I had never created murals together with children before; so at first, I was nervous. However, when I started sketching, I began to enjoy this activity very much. I found it not too easy and not too difficult working with them. Since I have been studying in Vancouver, I know how to speak English fluently and luckily most of the kids whom I was working with, could at least understand a little bit of English. Even though I was their 'leader', I did not want to take over the whole mural and asked them to paint it according to my style. I told them that they could explore and do what they want according to what they feel like to do. By telling them that, I could feel that they suddenly expressed themselves more. I like our mural that we did for David Beckham and I believe that the kids were enjoying it too. We were 'crazy' playing with paints and it was a great fun activity for us. - Sisylia Candra (age 17, Indonesia)
The 2007 World Children's Festival was beautiful and interesting. - Karina Kharaneka, artist at the Belarussian Academy of Arts and teacher of Katia Lazar, Arts Olympiad finalist from Belarus
Words cannot express our gratitude to you! You made it possible to bring together the most gifted child artists in the world to meet each other, share experiences and develop their creative talents. The entire event exceeded our dreams! My brother still sings the opening song by Bambi Mohammed called Expressions! We are very grateful that you provided us with American Host Families! Without the possibility of living with a host family we would have not been able to come to the U.S. Our experience in the overall World Children’s Festival was outstanding and unforgettable! It was a pleasure for us to experience meeting over 100 different people from many cultures and countries! We loved exchanging gifts, sharing ideas with the ultimate goal of creating peace in the world. - Eszter Kovacs, sister of Attila Kovas, Arts Olympiad finalist from Hungary
I would like to thank you for your warm welcome and would like to express my gratefulness for your invitation and also would like to mention that everything was organized on highest level. I am sure that our cooperation in future will continue and together we can organize some event. The World Leaders Mural Project at the World Children’s Festival was truly inspirational. In a short time of only about two and a half hours five thoughtful murals were created for influential people around the world. The murals which reflected themes such as peace and multiculturalism had a sense of freshness and creativity that only child created art can possess. It was a pleasure to help lead my team of young people from Latvia and The United Arab Emirates through the process. Although we did not speak the same language, we were able to communicate through the international language of art. In the mural entitled “Bridging Cultures” which was later presented to President Bush, each child traced their own hands holding the world. They also sketched individual objects in the negative space behind the earth that were symbolic of their home country (including plants and animals). As a professional muralist myself, this experience was one never to be forgotten. It illustrated the beauty and unity that can be created through the creation of art in our very diverse world. - Augustina Droze, muralist, Chicago
We had a great time! It was wonderful to be part of the festival and finally meet all of you! Again, thank you for everything you organized, and you can count on us to be a reliable partner in the near future! Stan Kuiperi, The Aruba Arts Foundation
During the festival I worked with a lot of kids. I think art has got only one language, as in music. Notes in music, colors in art. Hence it wasn't difficult to understand each other. I get positive energy from them. Narmina Veliyeva (age 18, Azerbaijan)
It was a great experience for me to be like a teacher for the children. They didn't speak English, just Russian. It was a little bit hard at the beginning, but I started to paint and show them what to do. I understood that the art is an universal language. We don't have to be the same nationality, or to talk the same language so we will understand each other. Claudia Ligia Suteu (age 17, Romania)
Nina is so proud showing her friends and family the photos of the ICAF festival...she had a great time. The murals were definitely a highlight for us … she loved being able to be part of the projects with the older artists whom she really admired and was inspired by. She helped with the works for Bill Gates and the head of Disney. Bill Gates is talked of often in our house as her brothers are great admirers and she thinks he is cool! Disney of course is loved by all kids. She says she learned new techniques from the ICAF board members which she will show her teacher when we're back in Brunei. Wendy Mcilroy, mother of the Arts Olympiad finalist from Brunei
Sora really enjoyed the festival. She got a chance to meet new friends around the world. She enjoyed the workshops to help other kids. Also the mural making was an opportunity for her to try using pastels for the first time. The award ceremony night was also amazing, we sat at the same table with kids from Turkey. Even though they couldn't speak English very well, but they all enjoyed the moment. That night Sora's art teacher mentioned to me that it was her honor to be in the event with such diversity from people around the world. In her own, she felt like she was in an UN event, which was unbelievable to her. Again, thank you so much for the efforts that were put in to organize such a big event for the kids around the world. I am pretty sure that those kids especially from aboard would have the most memorable moment in their lives. Surasit Nithikasem, father of Arts Olympiad co-finalist from New Jersey |
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for inviting us over to Washington, U.S.A. I had wonderful experiences and memories brought home with me. I met fellow young artist like me and I hope we stay in touch for a long time.