Painting a New Future

Creative children from across America and around the world will come together on The National Mall in Washington, DC this September to ‘paint a new future for the world.’

The festival will showcase the important role that children and the arts can play to promote international and cross-cultural understanding and cooperation. This historic event will also lay the foundation for a future world leadership that is both creative and cooperative.

The Rationale

In the year 42 A.D. the well-known Roman philosopher Seneca observed that world peace will be secured on a permanent basis when we start teaching our children to view the whole world as their country saying that: “The whole world is my own native land (Omnis orbs terrarum patria mea est).”

For two thousand years governments have never emphasized this philosophy of peace in any school curriculum.

In the last century, Mahatma Gandhi observed: “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”

Although humankind has avoided worldwide conflict for over fifty years, the 20^th century was the deadliest on record with hundreds of wars between ethnic groups and religions. Moreover, while in 1900 90% of the casualties of war were military personnel, by 2000 90% of casualties were civilians, including children and infants.[1]

The promise of a new millennium appears remote in these early years of the 21^st century. Deadly battles and acts of terror continue to occur on every continent, and with the exponential growth of technology and mass communication, every conflict affects us all.

First Lady Laura Bush has said that: “A lasting victory in the war against terror depends on educating the world's children, because educated children are much more likely to embrace the values that defeat terror.”

ICAF’s Methodology

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, ICAF started developing the Peace Through Art methodology that incorporates the extensive research and learning in the fields of psychology, peace education and the arts.[2] The methodology was successfully applied in ICAF’s Peace Through Art program for Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot youth in July 2002. The same methodology is the basis of the Festival program, which aims to create empathy and understanding among children from different nations, cultures, backgrounds and religions.

Festival Program

Creative young Americans representing each U.S. state and territory, chosen through ICAF’s art competition, will host national child artists from 100 countries at the 2003 Festival in Washington from September 6^th through the 13^th. Their teachers, parents and representatives of ICAF international partners will accompany the children. The Official Delegates will total approximately 1,000. The children will take part in art therapy, to free them up to fully participate and interact in the week-long celebration. Therapy and bonding exercises will be conducted on September 6^th and 7^th. ICAF’s Children’s Creativity Symposium will be held on September 8^th to advance our understanding of creativity and support systems needed to nurture it.

For the next three days, public events free and open to all will take place on The National Mall between 7^th and 12^th Streets. The Official Delegates will meet and interact with thousands of children and families from the Greater Washington Area and visitors from near and far. The program each day will focus on an important universal theme: Mother Earth Day on September 9^th; Children’s Wellness Day on September 10^th; and Children’s Peace Day on September 11^th, when the children will unite to commemorate the past and celebrate the future.

Working with approximately 50 organizations and universities, ICAF will transform The National Mall into a model venue for arts learning and global education. The setup on The Mall will include an international children’s art exhibition on the theme Me in the New Millennium; an arts and crafts studio; a world cultural exposition; an online creativity tech-center; a stage for dazzling performances by children; and a festival school for educational workshops and leadership training conducted by international experts.

The renowned artist and author, Mr. George Rodrigue of Blue Dog fame will direct art creation during parts of the event. He is designing collaborative peace murals which he will join the children in painting on The National Mall.

International dignitaries and first ladies from around the world will honor the child artists at the ICAF Awards Ceremony on September 12^th, which we expect President and/or Mrs. Bush to chair. On September 13^th, the children will depart for their respective homes.

Impact

The festival will be a transformative experience in the lives of the Delegates, particularly the children. As a powerful, language-independent medium, the arts will help lasting bonds between American and non-American children, and among all Delegates. They will stay in contact with each other possibly throughout their lives through emails, letters and perhaps exchange of artworks. Trained as creative leaders of the future, these children may change the world.

The festival will be a turning point in the lives of the participants. They will learn that the arts are an essential element in the nurturing of creativity. They will learn to see the world in a creative new way, to imagine peace so it can happen.

The festival will also have a positive impact on millions of children throughout the world through webcam, television and media coverage. The positive images of diverse children working together and their powerful messages of promise and hope will create a ripple effect that grows exponentially from The National Mall, enlightening communities around the globe.

Ashfaq Ishaq, Ph.D., FRSA

ICAF Executive Director

April 11, 2003