Author: Seb Toussaint

Oma Mohamad, (close to 80 years old) chose the word التعاون which means “cooperation”. She told me that she has experienced a lot of cooperation on a small scale in her refugee camp. Her family arrived from what is now Israel in 1948 to an empty piece of land. Since then, and thanks to families cooperating, the camp has evolved with concrete housing, new schools, paved roads and small businesses setting up. Although Balata Refugee Camp is a rough place because of its role at the forefront of Palestinian resistance, there’s almost no violence between the inhabitants themselves who’ve always stood together and cooperated. The trouble has always been with outside forces.

Oma Mohamad told me that she would like to see more cooperation on a larger scale in order to live in a peaceful world. The powerful people who rule our countries have a lot to learn from the humble people of Balata.

Yara chose the word فرحة, which means “happiness” in arabic. Yara and I met a year and a half ago as she lives on the same street as I here in the refugee camp. Yara and her family are always inviting me for food and making lemonade for me. And Yara definitely stands for happiness on this street! I could have guessed she was going to choose this word!
Last time I was here she chose the word “my mother” because her mother was ill and she wanted the wall to be a surprise for her. This year her mum’s a lot better and Yara smile is an even bigger one!

Fatima chose the word ” المرأة ” (the arabic word for “woman”) . She says that being a woman in Balata Refugee Camp isn’t the end of the world but it could be a lot better. There’s a lot the next generation should do to change things for the best!

Fatima is a teacher in this little school in the camp. This is the first mural I’ve painted since coming back to Palestine. I’ve been having great fun seeing friends I’d made here and who weren’t expecting I’d ever come back! Thank you to @beyondusnonprofit for giving me this opportunity!

This is my last mural of this episode on the island of Maoré. My pupils chose the word “Maungadunia”, the Maoré word for “youth” and wanted me to paint it on the most visible wall of the village. Local tales stress the importance of trusting the younger generations and pushing them forwards. This word was chosen by the youth, for the youth. They face many challenges especially since there aren’t enough schools on the island for every child to be able to attend full-time. Some kids get to secondary school but still can’t read or write. However, they’ve shown me great willingness to learn, and they’ve put in so much hard work while painting with me, that I leave Maoré with a lot of hope!

Big thank you to Juliet, Nafissa and Julian and the ARLL! Marahaba to the inhabitants of Ongojou!

The best part in all my projects is getting to know a community and their culture(s). The people here in Ongojou on the island of Maoré have been very supportive of the project! I’m always very thankful for the amount of stuff I’m taught and the trust that people give me from the start. I’m brought to believe people trust artists more than polititians, tourists or NGOs. Staying in a same place for several weeks gives me a real feeling of how people live, love, laugh, play, wash, eat, pray, party, and grieve. And it also gives my pupils time to sharpen their skills!

“Zema” is the Shimaoré word for “goodness”. It was chosen by the youth of Ongojou on the island of Maoré. They chose it because it is a core value in the local tales where being good to others always pays off! 

 

“Udjama” means unity. The local kids chose this word because their village was formed by people who were kicked out of an owner’s land. But the tight community stood together and found a new place to live where they could acces water and grow crops.

“Uvenzana” is a Shimaoré word meaning “to love each other”. It was chosen by the local kids of the village of Ongojou on the island of Maoré. It’s a word that the kids found in local tales of Ongojou and which they would like to share with everyone

I’m painting in Ongojou on the island of Maoré (Mayotte) off the East Coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
I’m painting with the help of local youth, words that have been chosen by the youth themselves. The kids have been learning traditional tales of their community and finding words to represent these tales. Here I wrote the word “maji” (water in Shimaoré) on one of the walls surrounding the well which provides water for the village. They call the well “chissimani” and the tale says that a princess fought the evil spirits around the well and turned into a beautifull tree which guards the well untill this day. This vital well is what enabled the village to develop since it was the only source of freshwater in the area.

It is such a lively and inspiring place to paint in with so many people turning up to wash clothes, dishes or their own bodies. The clothes and the plastic tubs make the place extremely colourful !

I spent the last 4 weeks on this huge project inside my football stadium which was also my “art school” when I was a teenager. The Stade Michel D’Ornano is the home ground of Normandy’s top professional football club : Stade Malherbe Caen. I’ve been attending games here since I was a kid in 1998. When I was a teenager I started designing and painting huge flags and banners for the supporters group. The older lads pushed me to create even more and encouraged me as they sensed potential. I’ve never had a formal art education, so being part of this supporters group (the MNK96) this is the closest thing I have to an school.
This summer I was asked to paint 365m2 of my stand however I wanted. I included symbols of my city Caen, my region Normandy, and of course my football club SM Caen.

While painting these murals I made sure I passed on some of my experience to some younger lads, becoming a teacher in the “school” I used to attend as a pupil. Thank you to M, who helped me all the way! .