Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD will visit our school next Monday to unveil our Peace Sculpture which was created by TY stduetns in conjuction with Creative Engagement, NAPD. View our gallery below and also read about how the project came about and its meaning. A video about our project can be viewed here.

Our sculpture is entitled “Heiwa”, this is the Japanese for “Peace”. This idea came from many weeks of brainstorming, constructing and deconstructing. As a school we are very lucky to have a diversity of cultures such as Japanese, German, Lithuanian, Nigerian, Dutch, Egyptian, Spanish, Canadian, Malaysian and Filipino. In particular there are five Japanese pupils here for the year and two of these were directly involved in the creation of the sculpture.

During art class, Miname and Shoko taught us how to do the Japanese art of origami. We were fascinated by this craft and its meaning.

The story goes that after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, there were many children suffering from leukaemia. One girl in particular believed that if she 1000 origami cranes she would fight the battle against leukaemia. Unfortunately she didn’t survive. As a result, Japanese pupils make origami cranes and deliver them to the site of the bomb.

How we made our sculpture

Artist Joe Mallon and Ms. Burns encouraged the core group to experiment with wire, cardboard, thread and found objects. We decided to make 18 origami cranes out of stainless steel and decorate them with fired porcelain pieces. Every TY pupil played a vital role in this to make each piece unique, individual and eye-catching. Finally we displayed the cranes on stainless steel tubing at the front of the school where they represent the different cultures in our school

We learned many key skills such as problem solving, teamwork, building in clay, decorating clay and firing.