Art as therapy for Fukushima children

SINGAPORE — Keppel Centre for Art Education at National Gallery Singapore played host to 20 children from Fukushima, Japan today. These children, who had experienced the trauma of 2011’s nuclear disaster, are here as part of a two-week art retreat programme called Miracle Kutchie Experience 2, organised by LASALLE College of the Arts and non-profit organisation Today Is The Day.

This is the third year the art retreat programme has been organised in Singapore, with the financial support of Red Cross Singapore.

Besides visiting National Gallery Singapore, the children who arrived in Singapore on Saturday night had attended a ceramic workshop at Goodman Arts Centre yesterday as part of the retreat. Other programmes lined-up for the next 12 days include a print-making session and tour at Singapore Tyler Print Institute, a painting workshop with artist Sun Yu Li and a dance workshop with T.H.E Dance Company.

The two-week retreat will culminate in an exhibition of the children’s works and farewell party held at *Scape on Aug 7 from 1.30pm to 4pm.

“This is a pilot programme that I hope can be expanded to other countries and used by other organisations, said Noritoshi Hirakawa, contemporary artist and founder of Today Is The Day. “Art therapy is one of the ways we can tap on to help children cope — art is a powerful tool to solve internal and mental issues after experiencing such traumatic events.”