AREFS taide ja kulttuuri ry
AREFS art and culture association



  • Savon Radan ryhmä organizes activities along the historical Savo line






THIS IS MY BACKYARD - 2013-2014 - INDEX

2013 - graphite pencil - the road from home to school - Joonas - 5th class - Haukivuori - age 10

After funding by Etelä-Savon Kulttuurirahasto AREFS has started the first art workshops in the schools in Rämälä, Hiirola and Haukivuori. The program will take place during the school year 2013-2014 .

The children explore visually their route from school to home vv and the environment around their house. In various art workshops children express the meaning of their environment and the way how they are connected to it.

The rural environment is important  for all. It is more than only a place to stay during free time and holidays. The countryside is the area where e.g. the food is produced, the heating and timber wood grows and the ecological footprint is reduced. Living in the countryside is excepting long distances to shopping malls, health care and the administrative bodies.
It is amazing to notice that fabulous rich and prosperous countries are not interested in the development of their countryside. On paper it seems wonderful, but in practice there is no politic party that really takes responsibility for a livable countryside. It is an easy way for authorities to favor urban areas at the expense of rural areas.  Result of this policy is a poor level of public services in the countryside.
Schools are closed, health centers are not longer available, low frequency public traffic, or even not any, no post offices and of course no bank and no shops. Only the fire departments are left, but, even they are important, they do not make the difference in a healthy society.
This all based on the politic slogan: "people in the countryside have to do it themselves".

On different pages the process of the art classes will be published. The final results are intended to be published in the book TÄMÄ ON MINUN TAKAPIHANI - THIS IS MY BACKYARD. The book is planned to be printed in spring 2015.
 

project funding 2013-2014:

 

 

 

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