M A S K (Mobile Art School in Kenya)

   Unleashing creativity and innovation in young people for

   personal and socio-economic development

    UK registered charity No: 1128734  

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EXHIBITIONS   16-18 October 2012 at UNESCO IIEP Policy Forum.   MASK has participated in the UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) Policy Forum "Engaging youth in planning education for social transformation" on 16-18 October 2012 at UNESCO's HQ in Paris.  The Forum  was opened by Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and attended by 200 participants from around the world. www.planwithyouth.com MASK was invited to present its practice.   "Dear Alla, we deeply thank you for putting the effort to showcase the MASK paintings at the Forum.You and Joel put an important issue on the agenda in terms of the importance of creativity and art in education.  It was also great to see how Joel interacted with policymakers and academics to get his point heard."  Policy Forum Organizing Committee,IIEP-UNESCO   MASK exhibited its young people's artwork in the conference hall where the Forum took place.  The artwork was produced with the help of the Forum's funding.           Joel Gatua, the beneficiary of the MASK's programme, told the Forum how the programme helped him with his employment, leadership and entrepreneurial skills.         More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/iiep-unesco/8097448308/in/set-72157631786474249   At the Forum, MASK met and discussed a possible collaboration with the H.E. Mr Ababu Namwamba, Kenyan Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport, H.E. Prof Patrick Olweny, Kenya Vice Minister of Education, and Dr Mary Khimulu, Kenya Ambassador to UNESCO, as well as representatives of UNICEF, the Open Society Foundations and other organisations.           In the pictures above: Alla Tkachuk, Dr Lyndsay Bird (MASK's Trustee), Joel Gatua, H.E. Mr Ababu Namwamba, and H.E. James Waweru, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs at the Forum.   __________________________________________________________________________________________   29 November - 3 December 2011 at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington DC.   MASK is showing at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington DC. The Private View was opened byNairimas Ole-Sein, the Kenyan Embassy, Steve MacDonald, the Director of the African Programme at the WWC, and Alla Tkachuk, Director of MASK.               __________________________________________________________________________________________     2 February 2011- 3 March 2011. MASK's exhibition at Saatchi Gallery   http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/schools/education_room.php               _________________________________________________________________________________________     August 2010 On 25 August MASK held its first major exhibition at Rahimtulla Museum of Modern Art in Nairobi, Kenya. The exhibition is open untill 28 September 2010. The vernisage - see the pictures below - was well attended by the general public, and opened by the RAMOMA’s founder, Mary Collis (Read her introduction speech). A groupof 15 children from our schools in Laikipia and Naivasha came to the opening and performed for the guests. All of our seven Kenyan volunteers have also attended.       Alla Tkachuk speaks at the opening          Our artists     Mary Collis delivering her wonderful speech paintigns of sounds   __________________________________________________________________________________________   March 2010.Exhibition on the walls of the local hotel Olivia,Sipili                                       __________________________________________________________________________________________   5 March 2010   Exhibition of all MASK's schools in West Laikipia at Sipili Zone Prize Giving Day, attended by teachers of all local schools and local dignitaries, such as Chiefs, District Education Officers, and this year even by the Permanent Secretary of the Kenyan Foreign Office, Mr Mwangi. MASK's Director, Alla Tkachuk, also gave a speech to the teachers on the Day.         19 January - 18 February 2010   On the 19th of January a private view of the exhibition of MASK's children's artworks on a subject of Hope was hosted at The Kenyan Embassy in Paris. The exhibition was sponsored by the Kenyan Embassy and organised in collaboration with The International Institute for Educational Planning of UNESCO, read UNESCO page about MASK.  The HE Ambassador E. Odembo opened the exhibition, and the director of THE IIEP, Mark Bray, MASK's trustee, Dr Lyndsay Bird, and MASK's director, Alla Tkachuk, spoke about MASK and about planning of education in conflict and post-conflict zones. The exhibition was very well attended. We are very grateful to the Embassy, the IIEP, and of course to out great kids! See their works on our gallery.           __________________________________________________________________________________________   25 March 2009. MASK's 'Walking' exhibition! Children of Githirwa Secondary School holding their paintings high above their heads walked into Kongoni village and, accompanied by a crowd of small kids, marched along its main 'street'! As this was pre-Easter time, our children painted paintings about Easter and decorated bare walls of the village's church with them after this exhibition.   ________________________________________________________________________________________