Small colored pieces of tiles, mirrors and ceramics are being meticulously fitted together, and until they begin to gain shape and meaning, they require patience and discipline to become the perfect composition. In this way, hearts, flowers and birds appear.
The mosaic, an ancient artistic technique, is an important tool utilized in art-education, for while it gathers, restores, and orders the pieces and colors, it re-signifies emotions and affections.
“At some point in life we all suffer some kind of fragmentation, so the mosaic technique invites us to give a new meaning to these fragments by joining pieces of different shapes, different colors, and this will bond, forming other aspects in us as well”, explains the humanitarian server of the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Missions (FIHM) and sister of the Grace Mercy Order, Sister Rosa, who in mosaic workshops, in a playful, artistic and fun way, engaged teenagers and young people from the Casa da Criança Santa Isabel, in Luanda, Angola.
Sister Rosa reports that other aspects that are worked on with the technique are persistence, self-confidence and the ability to overcome. “It is very good to identify that adolescents and young people have overcome the insecurity and fear that sometimes holds us back, but as a group, working on inclusion, we are capable, for together we are stronger”.
Luíza Angélica, age 13, happily tells how she reacted when she saw the final result of the work: “When I saw the mosaic, it came to my mind: did I do this? Could it be? Yes, I did it well and I enjoyed doing my best”.
Respect for different perspectives
During the development of the activity, the participants were able to see different perspectives and sensations regarding the art they were collectively developing. They learned to express and accept different ideas, without conflict, in a harmonious way.
Letícia Rafaela, age 16, describes her experience: “At first I wanted to give up, but then I reflected and saw that it was better to continue, because it was helping me a lot to share with my brothers here (at the Casa da Criança Santa Isabel) to know how to understand others, the difficulties that they had, and mainly, to value the idea of the other. I shared my ideas with them, and they shared their ideas with me, without anyone being disrespectful; we didn’t compete; it was very good”.
Symbols of love and peace
Two mosaic workshops were held, one in July and another in November. In each of them a different theme was chosen. Sister Rosa explains that in the July workshop the heart was chosen as a gesture of love and gratitude to the African continent, its beauty and its colors. In November, they created a white dove, representing the universal symbol of peace. “We worked on the concepts of love and peace with the adolescents and young people. How to cultivate peace, avoid fights and conflicts. And so, in the place where the mosaic with the white dove was placed, we created a space of peace”, says the humanitarian server.
Through art education, using the mosaic technique, perception, imagination and observation can be developed. Thoughts, feelings, and emotions can be organized. Good habits are created, teaching mutual respect, love, peace, collaboration, solidarity and fraternity.
