Puzzle Pathway Three Rivers in Three Cities
Puzzle Pathway Three Rivers in Three Cities For three weeks, London’s vibrant south bank is spectacularly transformed with giant works of art created through an ambitious international project linking schools from across the globe. This Thames Festival project, run in collaboration with the British Council, the Department for Education and Skills and funded by HSBC Education, Jack Petchey Foundation and John Lyons Charity, connects young people from London Challenge schools with young people in Kolkata (India) and Chongqing (China). Sixteen of the thirty-two participating schools in London were partnered up either with a school in Kolkata or in Chongqing. The participating thirteen and fourteen year-old pupils studied their river and researched a common theme such as wildlife, trade, development, history and the environment. Their findings provided inspiration for drawings, paintings, photographs and other media. Artist and design facilitators then showed the students how to manipulate their work on computers and encouraged them to create a single and coherent work in the style of a contemporary artist such as Chris Offili, Damien Hirst, Gilbert & George, Banksy and Andy Goldsworthy. Facilitators in Kolkata and Chongqing developed their work using Indian and Chinese techniques and artists as style-guides. In London, the 48 three-metre high artworks will be displayed on 32 pillars along the riverside Queen’s Walkway from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge from Monday 28 August until Sunday 17 September in the run-up to The Mayor’s Thames Festival celebrations taking place over 16 and 17 September. The artworks will also be exhibited on Nanbin-Lu, Chongqing’s newly developed park beside the Yangtze River in Chongqing from 29 September to 15 October 2006 and along the banks of the River Ganges in Millennium Park as part of Kolkata’s Riverfront Festival in December 2006.
Chongqing Schools involved in the Puzzle Pathway Project Baxian Middle School, Fengjie Middle School, Fulin No 5 Middle School, No 37 Middle School, Southwest University Affiliated School, Wanzhou Language School,Yongchaun Middle School,Yunyang Middle School Kolkata Schools involved in the Puzzle Pathway Project Assembly of God Church School, BD Memorial Institute, Birla High School, DPS Megacity School, Future Hope School, MSB School, Pailan World School,Vivekananda Mission School London Challenge Schools involved in the Puzzle Pathway Project Brent Capital City Academy, Preston Manor High School Hackney Hackney Free and Parochial School, Skinners Company’s School for Girls Harrow Bentley Wood High School for Girls, Hatch End High School, Nower Hill High School, St Gregory’s RC Science College Kensington & Chelsea Cardinal Vaughan School, Sion Manning School Lambeth Archbishop Tenison’s CE School, Charles Edward Brooke School, Crofton School, Lilian Baylis Technology School, London Nautical School, Stockwell Park High School Lewisham Addey and Stanhope School, Catford Girls’ School, St Joseph’s Academy, Sydenham School
It is estimated that the Puzzle Pathway will be seen by more than three million people in London, Chongqing and Kolkata.
Merton Raynes Park High School, Ricards Lodge High School
Director of Education and Training Group at the British Council, Professor Mary Stiasny, said: `The British Council is delighted to support this year’s Thames Festival with a pioneering initiative that is truly global in terms of its scope. The resulting artworks on display along the South Bank are simply dazzling. The Puzzle Pathway also lays the foundation for future international collaboration in view of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and London in 2012.’
Southwark St Michael’s RC School, St Thomas the Apostle College, Waverley School
Launched nine years ago with an amazing high-wire walk across the River Thames, the Thames Festival has grown to become the capital’s largest free, open-air arts festival. The celebrations aim to promote London as a world city, to reflect the richness of London’s cultural communities and to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the River Thames.
Westminster Pimlico School, St Georges RC School, St Marylebone CE School
For more information click on www.thamesfestival.org
Tower Hamlets Mulberry School for Girls, Oaklands School, Raines Foundation School, St Paul’s Way School
Addey and Stanhope School Lewisham Artists Shona Watt and Pete Gomes led art and design workshops with a school class group. Pupils researched the Wildlife of the River Thames and then, facilitated by Shona and Pete, made an artwork based on their ďŹ ndings in the style of Damien Hirst.