Friday 3rd December ‘04 saw the launch of an extremely unique exhibition
in Limegrove School by pupils in the Year 11 class, L1. The exhibition
was titled “WASTED” which was the main
project of the young participants as part of the Verbal Arts Centre’s ‘BUZZ’ Programme.
Cynthia Browne, The Verbal Arts Centre’s Creative Arts Co-ordinator
in Drugs Education, explained the ‘unusual’ exhibition; “The
young people wanted to depict how drugs can destroy lives and, in order to
capture their varying talents, they decided to use photographic images which
all represent a particular line of a poem that they wrote collectively – no-one
ever said art was uncomplicated! Most of us can find the concept of
obscure abstract thought difficult to comprehend at times but, as the project
progressed, the young participants found their creative ideas flowing naturally,
and increasingly unprompted, with some resulting surprising and almost disturbing
images. The photographs and their accompanying poetry lines portray
a variety of negative emotions—they are not designed to be pretty pictures
that make you smile! The feelings they conjure up in the viewer’s
mind are not pleasant and this is where their power lies as a deterrent to
other young people from a life involving drugs. They provoke negative
thought.
Exhibition Venues
It is for this reason that this exhibition will travel around Limavady,
Derry and further beyond in the following year or two to venues frequented
by young people such as Books Upstairs (on Limavady’s
Market Street), The
Verbal Arts Centre (on Derry’s/Londonderry’s
Bishop Street), the Technology Education Centre in Omagh, Limavady Library
and Limavady Council as well as an array of Leisure Centres, Libraries and
Youth Centres—arrangements are still being made and there are no limits
as any suitable venue is welcome to avail of the exhibition. What these
young people have created is a first in Northern Ireland and will have a
valuable legacy for a long time to come.”
If anyone is interested in hosting the exhibition for a period of time,
please call Cynthia on 02871 266946 for details.
