ITALY: Student art focuses on peace
Exhibition of work held in Italy and Turkey
ITALY
(MissionNewswire) Students from the Salesian Evrim School, located in Istanbul, Turkey, took part in the Marco Polo project, which was focused on “Dialogue with the East. Peace and Sustainability.” The art developed by the children for this project was exhibited at Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice, Italy, and at the end of May at the Elgiz Museum in Istanbul.
The Marco Polo project honored the 700th anniversary of the death of the great Venetian explorer and was coordinated by Peace Fish Association’s founder, Nadia De Lazzari. Students from three schools in Istanbul promoted Italian culture.
“Our students explored the theme of the project through art, drawings and stories written about the life of Marco Polo, ambassador of peace and a great traveler,” explained Father Doyen, who has been at the Salesian Evrim School for 15 years. “Students used imagination and creativity and were able to express their understanding and their vision of a more just, more peaceful and open world to dialogue.”
During the first stage of the exhibition, held at the great San Teodoro School in Venice, two professors and historians, Pieralvise Zorzi, from Venice, and İlber Ortaylı, from Istanbul, tried to interpret the artistic works produced by the students, contributing their point of view to highlight the importance of dialogue for peace and sustainability.
In the second stage, held at Palazzo Mocenigo, several local civil and religious authorities honored the exhibition with their message about the importance of education for dialogue, which begins at school with the acceptance of cultural, social and religious differences with respect for others.
Fr. Doyen concluded, “This was an opportunity for our city to discover the contribution of young Salesian students and their education for dialogue and peace.”
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Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
Salesian Missions – Italy
World Bank – Italy
