'You attack a child, you attack the future': Art exhibition gives a voice to children of war
Every exhibit is a haunting display of global violence and its impact on the youngest victims, ITV News Correspondent Emma Murphy reports
On the wall is Winnie the Poo wallpaper, in the corner are a couple of teddies, suspended from the ceiling is a globe of the world with the tiny shoes hanging from it.
But the wallpaper is charred, the teddies are missing their heads and the globe is shattered.
The shoes are of children whose fate is unknown. The installation is called “Remnants” and is created from what was retrieved after an attack on a Ukrainian school.
It is the centre piece of the Child Of War exhibition, at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London. Every exhibit is a haunting display of global violence and its impact on the youngest victims.
“Children today are on the frontline of war more than they ever have been,' says artist Arabella Dorman
The exhibition is the culmination of 10 years of work by artist Arabella Dorman, bringing together her own artistry from Ukraine, Syria and Iraq, along with that of the children who live and die in war.
“This exhibition is the result of a decade of desire to show what war looks like from the perspective of a child,” Dorman told me.
“My journey began in Syria when I saw schools, hospitals and civilian areas targeted and the pure hell of that for children. Then in Ukraine I saw and heard the impact on children and determined to give them voice.”
The Child Of War exhibition, in collaboration with the charity Beyond Conflict, includes a video of drawings by children from around the world with their own words about the impact of war on their lives
500 million children live in war zones, that’s one in six of all the children in the world. Children who live in a chaos and fear that denies their parents the ability to protect.
Such conflict also denies many the chance to grow old and many more the chance to enjoy childhood and adulthood without the mental torment of their experiences.
“Children today are on the front line more than ever, we see in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza they are the ones who are traumatised, injured, wounded, used as human shields, raped and deported yet they go unheard,” says Dorman.
"They go voiceless. This is about giving those children a voice. Representing them through their artwork and exploring war through their perspective."
“This exhibition is the result of a decade of desire to show what war looks like from the perspective of a child,” artist Arabella Dorman tells ITV News
To achieve that, on a screen beside her own work from Ukraine and Syria, are images drawn by children from around the world, run along with their own words about the impact of conflict on their lives.
The exhibition is in collaboration with the charity Beyond Conflict - which provides mental health support for those growing up in war.
Edna Fernandes, who founded the charity after seeing the impact of so-called Islamic State on children in Iraq, is clear in where help is needed.
“When you attack a child you are attacking the future of the country and you are attacking the future of the world,” she says.
“Unless you address the emotional fallout of conflict it means there can be no enduring peace.
Edna Fernandes founded the charity Beyond Conflict, which provides mental health support for those growing up in war
"This is why it’s so important to address the trauma of children caught in war,” she adds.
War seen through the eyes of children is no less awful than war seen through adult eyes, but this exhibition gives voice to those whose words are so often lost in the dreadful racket of battle.
Arabella Dorman’s Child of War exhibition in co-ordination with Beyond Conflict and War Through Children’s Eyes runs until June 6 at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, London.
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