Tuesday, 4 December 2007
TorontotheBetter encourages sale of art with social commentary
"An African Grandmother" drawn by Sallie Thayer of Colouration. The card was designed for one of the Ontario branches of WOMEN FOR AFRICAN GRANDMOTHERS, a group associated with the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
In the drawing, an African grandmother holds one of her many grandchildren -- all of whom are now being raised by her since her adult children have all died of HIV/AIDS.
The bowl at her side is empty and she is tired. She -- and her "children" -- need our help in order to survive.
However, like the tree behind her, she may be bowed, but she is still green, still unbroken -- still a strong African woman.
I entitled this one "We Shall Overcome, Someday" after the protest song of the 1960's. These are, obviously, three Burmese monks representing all the monks and people of Burma who started off with such hope for change this past fall. As we know, those hopes have been cruelly crushed.
The monks are carrying a banner which we can't see. We can imagine what it must say and how great their determination was in the beginning.
The background is a drawing from a battle in the Second World War -- war and oppression never change, the weapons just get more sophisticated!
If you are interested in seeing additional drawings of this type, go to my blog at
# posted by Unknown @ 8:10 pm 
