Whilst passing though the Royal Festival Hall one afternoon a colourful display caught my eye. As I came closer I realised it was lots of 'shoebox rooms', created by young children, which made up one big house.
I thought they were awesome with the bright colours and the detail and effort some of them put into it. I have always thought that children's drawings and artwork are really intriguing. Interested to find out more, I read the blurb which definitely wasn't what I was expecting..
This project was run by Kid's Company as part of the Imagine Children's Festival. This organisation, as the blurb says, uses art as a tool to help children find their voice. In this 'Shoe Box Living' project, they found that 1 in 6 children recreated households that raised serious concerns, some including violence, abuse or deprivation. These children may not have found a way to express the challenging circumstances they are in except through art. Although this wasn't as sweet and charming as I initially expected I think it's great that people like Kid's Company have taken the initiative to use art as a way to help children.
I also loved the publicity for the festival. The programme had beautiful illustrations in bright colours but it wasn't the typical, cheesy children's design you sometimes see around. The genius behind this was the illustrator Spencer Wilson. After looking at his website I realised I had seen some of his work around before.
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