Art and Community Identity
By Angie Andreas Vientiane International School
ACT: A Community Tapestry At Vientiane International School (VIS), we gather together before the students arrive each year so we can reconnect with our mission and with each other. During our first session, our new Head of School, Elsa Donohue, asked us to stand and follow a few straight-forward directions; close your eyes, turn around three times, and then point North. Simple enough. It is easy to visualize what we saw next. There before us were fingers pointing every which way but down! It was clear we needed a compass to find our way. Interestingly enough, the word ‘compass’ actually translates to ‘together way’ in Latin. This simple tool unites us so we, as a global community, can share a dialogue about where we are and where we are going. Experiences like these can inspire exciting artistic inquiries into how we show who we are, where we are, and where we want to go. From a Visual Arts perspective, I felt consumed by the idea of a compass as a tool to unite people. As the days passed, I had conversations with students, teachers, parents, and anyone who would listen about a shared belief in a concept, about how when we agree on a direction, we can move forward to a new place, together. It was at this time that I asked the students across the grade levels to create an image that represented who we are as a school community, where we are in the world, and what we hope for our students to gain from being at our school. With these three goals in mind, the unimagined came to life. 22 EARCOS Triannual Journal
Who are we as a community? How can we represent ourselves through the elements of art? How can shape, color, or space define us? We are The VIS Dragons! Many students used this image to illustrate our community. Others thought that our Houses of Gibbons, Geckos, Catfish, and Nagas described us best, while still others felt that the image of a world was symbolic of our international school.
directions while visually representing who we are, where we are, and our mission proved to do just that: Challenge, Inspire, and Empower!
Where are we in the world? Lao PDR is our home and host country. Students generated images of dok champa (the national flower), That Luang (the national temple), and the Lao flag to locate us in the world. Even more students felt that we should use the outline of the country to communicate to our audience. What do we hope for our students to gain from being at VIS? Attributes like principled, knowledgeable, and caring came into focus, as did images of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Our mission statement came through in the end. Challenge, Inspire, and Empower! It is hard to imagine better goals for children. The best metaphor came through in crafting the artwork itself with nearly 400 participants from over 40 different countries. Primary, Secondary, parents, and staff all came together to create a vision. A Community Tapestry: ACT! The act of envisioning, collaborating, and creating this over 16 square meter wall hanging with warp and weft symbolizing the cardinal
Close-up of the image of Lao PDR representing a symbolic flag with the national flower at the center.
