24 May 2006
A group of primary school students who have painted a giant anti-war mural will unveil their artwork at Monash University's Peninsula campus on Monday 29 May.
The colourful display was created by grade five and six students from St Joseph's Primary School, Chelsea.
They were prompted by Pablo Picasso's famous mural, 'Guernica', which he created in 1937 to protest against the brutality of bombing in the town of the same name during the Spanish Civil War.
The mural became an international symbol for peace that spawned the Kid's Guernica International Peace Project in which children around the world create murals promoting harmony.
The Chelsea students planned and produced the four metre by eight metre mural as part of the project. They are the first students in Victoria, and only the second group in Australia, to take part.
Ms Eloise Cole, a tutor in the university's Faculty of Education who also taught the St Joseph 's students, said Monash educators felt it was important to encourage school children to make a direct contribution to social change through involvement in their local community. She was introduced to the Kid's Guernica Project by Monash University 's Coordinator of Graduate Diploma of Education, Mr David Zyngier.
Information about the Kid's Guernica International Peace Project can be found at the Kids Guernica website.
What: Guernica peace mural unveiling
When: 9.30am Monday 29 May 2006
Where: Level 3, Building A, Monash University, Peninsula campus
For more information contact Ms Robyn Anns, Media Communications, Monash University, on +61 3 9905 9317 or 0417 568 781; or Mr David Zyngier, Faculty of Education, Monash University, on +61 3 9904 4230.
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