An African Safari

ChildArt, April-June, 2004 by Kate Swiencki

Let's visit two museums in Africa!

We'll start in Egypt, the country where the Nile River flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

In Heliopolis, a city near Cairo, there is a garden that grows trees, flowers and artists! This is the garden of the Suzanne Mubarak Children's Museum, where a special arts and activities program takes place.

Children spend time painting with oil and watercolor and drawing with charcoal. They also learn how to draw on papyrus, just like Egyptian artists did in the time when the pyramids were built.

You might expect that a museum in a garden would offer a course on plants, and you're right!

Children learn to recognize different plant species, and how to plant a flower in pot.

How many times have you been told to eat your vegetables? If you visited the garden museum, you would be encouraged to grow your vegetables--in a special greenhouse. At the end of the program, children display the plants they have grown and the art they've created in a big exhibition!

Now let's go all the way to the other tip of Africa, to South Africa.

We'll have a look at a museum exhibit created by children.

Many children in the world experience prejudice, just as this child from South Africa:

"My skin is a very light colour, but I am coloured person, people call me whitey. My friend Megan is also a coloured person, but her skin is very dark, the other children call her darky--none of us like to be called names, it is not nice."--Nazely Vincent

Nazely and 39 other 6th and 7th graders from South Africa got the chance to tell their stories about prejudice and discrimination by participating in a year-long program of discussions and workshops on the topic. Their stories were recorded and used to create a museum exhibit called "Face to Face," which is part of the Iziko Stories project from the South African Museum.

As Kyle, one of the children participating in the project, explained, "Culture is the way someone grew up and where they come from." What better way to learn about the culture of South Africa than to hear a story from a child who is growing up there?