Comics help draw children to art exhibit

Children are being invited to attend a series of workshops where they can create a comic strip explaining the background to some of the most important artworks of today.

Children take part in a comic drawing workshop at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi. The workshop's aim was to discover the links that exist between the art in Birth of a Museum and comic strips. ChrisShow more

ABU DHABI // Children are being invited to showcase their art skills to help celebrate the forthcoming Louvre Abu Dhabi.

As part of the Birth of a Museum exhibition – which showcases 130 pieces from the forthcoming permanent collection - youngsters are being invited to workshops and create a comic strip explaining the history of the art world's treasures.

"The workshop is about getting children to think about the story behind the piece of art," said Fatima Ghazal, the Louvre Abu Dhabi's educational outreach officer, who led the first workshop yesterday.

"It is about getting children to create different scenes and narratives based on what they see."

Ms Ghazal took dozens of children on a tour around Manarat Al Saadiyat and explained the pieces such as the Bactrian Princess, a Cypriot statue that is more than 5,000 years old; Rene Magritte's The Subjugated Reader and a sculpture of the Hindu god Shiva.

The children were then asked to create a three-panel comic strip depicting the creation of the works.

"We are creating artwork based on paintings and sculptures we see here in the exhibition," Ms Ghazal told her young audience.

"You will use your own minds to create your own artwork with a start, middle and an end."

Sara Al Kobaisi, 9, sketched a colourful comic depicting the inspiration behind the The Subjugated Reader, which shows a woman holding a book with a look of alarm on her face.

"The woman started reading a scary book then she turned the page and read a scary bit. Then she got shocked and screamed," Sara said, as she showed off her comic.

Sisters Ana-Lucia Gomas, 6, and Ana-Cecilia Gomas, 9, both took part in the workshop.

Ana-Cecilia found it to be very informative. "My favourite part was the tour of the museum and the drawing bit," she said.

Opened by Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, National Security Adviser and Vice Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, Birth of a Museum runs until July 20.

For information about Drawing Comics and other workshops, visit www.saadiyatculturaldistrict.ae.