In Thailand, most of the silent workforce is comprised of Burmese migrants. These low paid workers typically live in work camps that are overcrowded and dirty, often with scarce access to much food or quality drinkable water. Due to the long and turbulent history between Thai and Burmese people, the children of these working migrants are left out of the Thai school system. Because they are unable to speak Thai fluently, they are forced to fend for themselves all day long in the work camps while their parents work for about 300 bhat or $10 US.
While in Thailand, I came across the good shepherd foundations website. After a bit of searching, I became aware of all the good that they do within this community and others. St. Euphrasia’s BanYa Literacy Center is only one of many different sectors of public works that the good Shepard foundation is a part of. Typically, I don’t like to support religious run charities because I have felt that they only help with the guise of conversion, but this literacy center is run very differently. With every religion represented in the school, this program teaches 250 Burmese children that would be uneducated otherwise. It provides them with clean water and 2 meals weekly. They do not teach religion, but they do teach these children the Burmese curriculum, the Thai language, and English. These skills are so incredibly valuable because they begin to set the children up for a future that is brighter than the reality that they currently live.
These children quickly blew me away by their sheer eagerness to learn, some getting up at 5 in the morning to be one of the first of six trips the centers bus/van makes daily. These children don’t have to attend this school, but they show extreme dedication and joy in learning… even if it’s in an open air school with no air conditioning. The school takes interns from around the world in order to help teach and put the children’s English to practice.
Before starting the mural, a walk through of the school really gave me a feel for the conditions that these children live and learn in. Making the dire need for relocation to a larger facility apparent, so the decision was made to create the mural on panels that would be movable in the event of relocation. I wanted to create something that way joyful, playful, but meaningful in its symbols and composition. I knew that I wanted to have some children help me with a portion of the mural as well. With five student volunteers, they helped me paint the background… allowing their creative juices to flow and create on the large 10 x 10 foot canvas. After their contribution, I began sketching.
Lotus flowers are symbols of rebirth, beauty, and growing through hard times or muddy water. These are important symbols through the whole of Asia as well Hinduism and Buddhism. The elephant is also important in these religions as well as Thailand specifically. You often see elephants roaming the streets. Yellow was chosen for the lotuses, as it is the present royal color of the king. These lotuses frame the elephant acting as a crown and collar, regal signs of adornment. The blue color of the elephant represents the monarchy of Thailand. The butterflies act as omens of good luck. But the specific butterfly that is shown was the first thing I saw in my room while arriving to Phuket. This butterfly laid their motionless, and thinking it was dead, I did nothing. Two days later, I see the same butterfly moving its wings. After letting it outside, I realized that rather than just a dead butterfly, this was a symbol of the good things to come and resurrection of life. This is a common theme in Christianity, so it was fitting to include this omen within the work. The composition is symmetrical and central, mirroring that of the common design of Christian and catholic altarpieces. I then included Islamic tile patterning within the detail work of the piece. These symbols and considerations make an effort to represent every major religion of the world, becoming a universal sign of positivity and leaving each and every child a possible connection to the work.
My goal was to help beautify the space within the school to show these children that people do care enough to beautify their space, as studies show that the spaces that we work and learn in directly affect our ability to do so. Working within the school allowed me to see the curiosity and hope that art can bring to people across all language and cultural barriers. On the verge of tears multiple times, this mural allowed me to see the impact that art can have within an entirely new capacity; more meaningful than the spaces within museum walls and the farthest away you can get from the upper echelons of society. It created new goals for me, making a new effort to continue creating within these kinds of spaces or possibly working to volunteer in one of these kinds of centers to involve the kids more in the creative process.
10’ x 10’
Regal blossom
mural at the St. Euphrasia BanYa Literacy Centre in Phuket Thailand
June 2019