"Little Suns united" - a painting project with children
The vision
In the Little Suns workshops, we celebrate the sun as our source of life with children - because without light there is no life. The painting process activates the inner light of joy and offers an opportunity to celebrate the little suns of their hearts and the great sun of our original star in colour and shape.
Little Suns is intended to remind us that we all live under the same sun, all have the same origin and all share the same heart. We are all little beings under the sun. Those who feel this humility will recognise the beauty in everything and be rewarded with infinitely amplified creative power. We are all "children of the sun".
When the Little Suns paintings from the various workshops are combined to form a large sun, Little Suns united, a sun-like field of light is created that has an impact beyond its place of origin.
The realization
During summer of 2023, Lascaux Colours & Restauro invited children to participate in the Little Suns project and paint their very own inspirations of the sun. In the Little Suns workshop, children of all ages were invited to look at the sun, take it into their hearts and let it guide and warm them.
The workshops took place in five Europe locations (Berne, Amsterdam, Darmstadt, Appiano, and at Lascaux in Brüttisellen) - more than five hundred paintings were created by the groups of children. The inspiring works were then combined and presented as Little Suns united on 2nd September at Lascaux’s 60thanniversary celebration. Little Suns united was exhibited from October 25 – 27 during the international convention «CREATE THE MAGIC! For a better tomorrow» at the Zentrum Paul Klee, in Bern.
Under the direction of Machteld Aardse, who is experienced in inspiring children with enthusiasm and joy, we will be making many more Little Suns shine - because colours and the creative process are key to a future in harmony with creation.
Machteld Aardse: “In the Little Suns workshops we let children paint their sun. Their sun can be from their memory or their imagination and explores the meaning it holds for them; how it looks and feels to them. It’s not primarily about the painted result – it’s about meeting the sun through the process of painting it. The experience of painting this little sun – which is uniquely theirs – forms a lifetime memory. It is an enormously touching experience to facilitate these workshops in which the children are all together, opening their eyes, their hearts and their bodies to participate in painting their sun.”
“It is also interesting to see that although we all share the sun, we each see it from a different point of view – a different moment, a different mood, a different milieu. All this multiplicity, the children take within themselves, yet when we ask them to ‘please paint your sun’ they all know what to do – this is such a power.”
“The sun can be a glowing ball within a dark universe between sparkling stars – but it can also be a green shape in the clouds with a snail on top of it. No parent can invent this, it is not conditioned, and that is where the force lies. We all must learn to give much more space to children and to listen to what they see and how they see it. By letting them talk and share their vision, our perspective on the world can be opened.”
If you would like to participate in/or host a Little Suns Workshop please contact us: infoOxInwV8szdYXtm4fondation-lascaux.com
Applications will be accepted until 30.04.2024.