On the 17th of October we held a art exhibition to celebrate the wonderful, hand-made creations, by youth across Ballymun and surrounding areas at our Project Poverty art exhibition.
In preparation for this, we engaged with youth groups and schools from Ballymun and the surrounding areas. They took part in an interactive workshop with us in our GLAS Community Garden. Here we discussed how poverty exists locally and globally and how it affects people in Ireland. We raised awareness about how we can unify our efforts to work together towards a better world through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We focused on the issues of food poverty and explored the challenges which prevent families from accessing healthy and nutritious food. Food poverty is as crippling a form of poverty as a lack of access to education, a home or a job and without access to nutritious food.
The art pieces made from recycled materials were showcased in the Ballymun Civic Centre. Here attendees and participants had the opportunity to chat about the art work and also present why they created the piece of art they did. Participants could also write down the facts about poverty which shocked them most which we also had on display.
Take a look at some of the wonderful examples of art that were at the exhibition.
Bryr created a standout piece showcasing one word; VOICE. The group explained that for them, it is important that we all have a voice, use our voice and raise our voices for vulnerable people and communities living in poverty.
Trinity Comprehensive showcased the challenges families face when they want to have access to nutritious food for the family ; an example of rain-water harvesting which could help families gain access to water or to be more sustainable with water use; a robot to highlight that our bodies need healthy food in order to function properly; a replica of the Ballymun flats nodding to times of past within the community.
Northside Partnership created two beautiful canvas paintings. They showcased examples of food poverty and the impacts this has on our ability to reach our full potential. The project highlighted that a person is considered to be living in extreme poverty if they earn US$1.90 a day and that 736 million people struggle to survive on this amount globally.
A few more picture from the event!
We would like to thank for the following local schools and youth groups for their participation in Project Poverty: Bryr, The Northside Partnership, Killester & Trinity Comprehensive Secondary School – a big thank you and huge well done on your amazing work!
THANK YOU! This workshop and art exhibition would not have been possible without funding from The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection as part of its public awareness funding initiative for the United Nations Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Thank you to Nico Salvino for being our photographer on the day.