Student art and fashion pointing to environment
02 June 2010
Student art and fashion pointing to environment  |
By Peter Townson
Staff Reporter
A local school has come up with an innovative way of marking World Environment Day next week.
Students from Compass International School have produced a number of artworks and costumes to be presented in an art exhibition and fashion show tomorrow evening.
Art teacher Mhairi McAinsh explained that the exhibition has been themed “One Planet, One Future”, and that students have adopted their own ways of expressing their thoughts about the environment and climate change.
The exhibition at the Grand Hyatt hotel from tomorrow until June 10.
Tomorrow’s event will also feature a fashion show with the hotel’s main staircase serving as a catwalk for young students modelling their creations.
Compass only began offering secondary level classes last year, and all of the 60 or so students from years 7-9 have taken part in the event, whether producing the pieces of art or providing assistance with the organisation and preparation for the fashion show.
McAinsh said that a smaller scale exhibition earlier in the year had proved to be such a success with her students that she decided to expand what was originally an after-school activity into a major school project.
She said that the response from the school and wider community has been amazing.
McAinsh, who is also a jewellery designer who arrived in Doha from her native Scotland last year, said she had been impressed by the reaction of her students’ families who have been providing a steady stream of recycled items to help create the outfits for the fashion show.
Even more impressive has been the response of the students, who have put together a collection of art that expresses a maturity and awareness far beyond their years.
But the most important part of the programme has been the environmental education and awareness it has provided throughout the school.
McAinsh explained that Compass students already had a strong environmental connection, inspired in them by their late head of secondary, Julian Cottenden.
Cottenden, who passed away earlier this year, was a keen environmentalist, and he managed to instil a strong green conscience during his short time in Qatar, explained McAinsh.
From paintings of oryx and other endangered species to pieces that depict the impact of technology on the environment, the students have put together a collection that McAinsh hopes will inspire viewers to think of their relationship with the world around them.
“We hope that visitors to the exhibition will think about their lives and their impact on the environment,” she said, adding that she feels there needs to be more of an emphasis on environmental awareness in our everyday lives.
“This is their future,” she said referring to her students, “if we can do something fun and contemporary to get them to think about it then hopefully that will reach their families and stay with them in years to come.”
McAinsh said that depending on the success of this year’s event, she may explore the possibilities of an even larger scale exhibition next year, expressing her hope that other schools would come to visit the exhibition.
If all students could respond to the call for environmental awareness in as positive a manner as those involved in the “One Planet, One Future” project, then certain challenges may be tackled before that future is damaged beyond repair.
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Link to School web site for Art Exhibition photos
Link to Gulf Times Article
