Rashad Salim’s entertaining “Headgear” Project in Lang-don School addressed common stereotypes about the Middle East by an imaginative exploration of different forms of headdress, for example by encouraging students to create their own “buqchés” (bundles worn on the head filled with personal objects of value). With the help of Addela Khan, Langdon’s Head of Art, Rashad Salim gave the students the opportunity to experiment with photography, and with more unfamiliar media like animation. British-Iraqi architect and calligrapher Taha Al-Hiti worked with 20 AS-level students at St Angela’s Ursuline School as part of their examined coursework, and explored with them the theme of “Habitation” in the Arab and Islamic worlds. Al-Hiti was determined to get across to his students ideas about Islam that were “the exact opposite of Islamic terrorism”. Students experimented with calligraphy and produced a range of imaginative sketches, paintings and structures. Taha Al-Hiti believes that London’s diverse environment makes it an ideal place for road-testing this initiative.

A particularly interesting project occurred during Phase Two where photojournalist Saeed Taji Farouky worked with GCSE students at Forest Gate Community School, and which coincided with the now notorious incident in the borough where a police raid on the home of an Asian family had led to the wrongful arrest of brothers Abul Koyair and Mohammed Abdul Kahar, with the latter being shot during the course of the raid. Saeed Taji Farouky’s project explored the themes of identity and refugees, asking the students to draw inspiration from Media imagery and the local environment, along with a museum visit to the ‘Word Into Art’ Exhibition so that the students could engage with the work of contemporary artists from the Middle East and how they had dealt with similar themes.

Farouky notes that the climate surrounding the project produced some interesting reactions from his students: “I didn’t present the work from a political perspective, but many of the kids instinctively addressed politics in their work—the Iraq War, for example – and many of the kids were also instinctively very pessimistic about the real motives behind Britain going to war in Iraq, which surprised me … I could tell they were really eager to ask, for example, why was Islam being misused and misrepresented? Why did they feel victimized by their own government for being Asian or Muslim? And in a way, I think they were excited that they could use their photography to ask those questions.”

Art teachers Stephen Gillatt and Gordon MacGregor noted that one of the outcomes of Farouky’s project at Forest Gate was that new skills had been introduced into the department, including digital photography and photomontage. One of Saeed’s students commented that, “Working with Saeed I have learnt that art is not just about creating a pretty little picture with lots of detail and colour. I have learnt that the way you see a picture may be different from someone else.”

Similar outcomes and comments can be found in relation to the other projects. One of the students from Plashet School, who had worked with Iranian artist Khosrow Hassanzadeh and Jordanian printmaker Rima Farah—whose project explored the theme of family backgrounds – observed: “I have realized that the Islamic World is not just about fighting and war, but Islam is about peace and identity”. Another noted that, “All you see is negative news on TV about terrorists and wars. So it’s nice to see another part to everything.” Andrew Mutter, the borough Arts Adviser for Newham said he felt that the project had made the department go beyond its usual limits, thereby enriching the students’ curricula experience and developing new skills.

Satta Hashem’s work with South Cam-den Community School produced what Nicholas Badcott perhaps saw as an unexpected outcome of the project, which was to change the ways that students view museums in general and to encourage schools to use the British Museum in different ways. Various students from the school said that their visit to the British Museum and the Word Into Art Exhibition had been their favourite part of the project, and that they felt privileged to have been given a special tour of the exhibition by its curator, Venetia Porter, and by the artists themselves. Students developed their ideas from the exhibition, as well as from the Museum’s Mesopotamian collection, to experiment with symbols and Arabic calligraphy, producing four large murals.

However, Stephen Stapleton suggests that Artists-in-Schools has been a positive learning process not just for the students, but that the teachers and artists themselves have gained a great deal from the experience, as have the Project organisers. Saeed Taji Farouky also observed, “I would definitely say none of the kids in the class I taught would fit into the stereotype I was expecting before I got there … it’s very humbling, very humbling, for someone who thinks they might be a good artist, or a successful photojournalist, to present your work to young students and realise just how little you know about people’s ways of seeing”.

THE NEXT PHASE

Artists-in-Schools has been received with enthusiasm all-round. For Stephen Stapleton, who believes that students learn better when they are enjoying themselves, the Project can be summarized in one word: “fun”. Julian Gore-Booth— Director of the Project’s sponsor, the Karim Rida Said— announced at the July celebration of the Project that he was “fizzy” and “bubbling over with excitement”. The Foundation, he noted, aims to break down stereotypes about the Arab World and works to promote the great wealth of culture that comes from the region. “Working with young people and bringing young people closer to the culture of the Arab World is exactly what the Karim Rida Said Foundation wants to do”. For Nicholas Badcott, one of the many highlights had been the opportunity to work with one of the British Museum’s local schools—South Camden Community School—a mixed comprehensive school based in an economically deprived area, saying that it was important to have worked with students who would not normally have had opportunities like this one. He also noted that the overall response from the local borough Arts Advisers and the various Art teachers had been “warm and overwhelming”.