Young artists create murals in Jabal Nuzha for Human Rights Day

AMMAN — To commemorate the 70th Human Rights Day, a group of volunteers and young artists on Monday transformed the facade of the UNRWA school in Jabal Nuzha into a mural championing the right to education and freedom of expression.

Observed annually on December 10, Human Rights Day marks the day in which the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. 

The declaration set forth universal values and a common standard of achievement for people of all nations, establishing equal dignity and the worth of every person, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, opinion or origin.

Devised by a team led by graffiti artist Mike Derderian, the murals’ messages focused on the right to education and the freedom to think and express oneself as the keys for personal and professional development, according to a statement issued by organisers. 

“We wanted to reflect on the power of education by representing the mind as a seed — because the mind is really like a seed, and the more you nurture it with proper education, the more it will grow into a tree of knowledge,” Derderian told The Jordan Times during an interview on Thursday. 

The message gains greater significance on the facade of an UNRWA school, which has faced the risk of closure in the wake of the UN agency’s financial crisis at the beginning of the year. 

“At stake is the education of 122,000 children enrolled in 171 schools around the country, as well as the education of around 4,000 young men and women enrolled in our two vocational centres and teacher training colleges,” UNRWA’s director of operations in Jordan, Roger Davies, told The Jordan Times in April. 

But during an extraordinary session of the UNRWA Advisory Commission in Amman on Thursday, the UN agency’s general commissioner, Pierre Krähenbühl, announced that over 526,000 Palestinian students and their teachers would be able to return to the 711 schools in all areas of operation.

Titled, “Rights on the Wall”, the artistic initiative was implemented by the Cervantes Institute and IDare, a local NGO advised by the Spanish Development Cooperation Agency (AECID), which organised an open day at the school for the promotion of human rights and social cohesion through art. 

“Art is well known for sending out a clear message that empowers people by inspiring them to act,” Derderian said. 

“Graffiti, in particular, is directly there in the streets and not hidden in any gallery, which allows for the message and the dialogue to reach even more people,” the artist added.

Through the course of the day, several other cultural and artistic activities were carried out in the presence of Spanish Ambassador to Jordan Aránzazu Bañón,  UNRWA’s Director of Operations in Jordan Roger Davies and head of cooperation of the EU Delegation to Jordan Corinne Andre. 

The activities included an art contest among students, as well as a free expression wall for them to showcase their ideas and messages for the community, according to AECID.  

Human rights experts Sulaiman Sweiss and Nada Sharif also attended two preliminary reunions held at the creative laboratory of IDare. 

“It is always great to collaborate with others, because the effect of any piece becomes way bigger and you get to make sure the message is passed on,” Derderian said, adding that “now, the volunteers have enough experience to go paint and spread the message on their own”.