London showcases child refugees artwork as part of global exhibition launching on Monday

A new exhibition bringing together young people’s artwork depicting their hopes and fears for the future launches on Monday [November 14th] around the globe and online.

The Visions of the Future Global Art Exhibition, on display in 10 cities across the world, including three key sites in London, emphasises shared experiences such as climate change, mental health, race and gender, and peace and harmony.

The exhibition constitutes a powerful, brilliant and beautiful testimony as to how the next generation really feel about the world as it is today and highlights how they want it to be in the future.

It is the brainchild of Omara Elling-Hwang, the UK-based founder of WriteUnite CIC, a non-for-profit organisation she created at the age of just 16.

WriteUnite aims to ensure young people across the globe have a platform to express themselves, feel empowered and that they are heard.

The exhibition draws on a thousand drawings, poems, stories and images from children in 28 countries, across six continents, which were published in the WriteUnite Visions of the Future book earlier this year, and included thoughts on global affairs through to individual concerns.

From November 14th their work is being taken from the page to the pavement, showcased on street corners, at bus stops and on billboards around the globe and will run to coincide with World Children’s Day on Sunday, 20th November.

The exhibition has also been curated into a virtual gallery space and includes additional works from the Visions of the Future book as well as pieces created especially by young people for the exhibition.

Omara says: “It’s really eye opening to see young people from different countries drawing similar pictures such as earth destroyed by climate change or the oppression of young girls and women. But they also draw images of hope and positivity with rainbows, sunshine and a world where there is peace, kindness and equal rights.”

Alongside drawings there are also personal insights, including from Myanmar child refugees living in Thailand, reflecting their own individual experiences.

Sixteen-year-old Sitt Paing says: “We are fighting each other and hating. In fact, the world should be full of love. No racial discrimination and no religious discrimination, we are all humans. So, we all are the same and, one day, I hope we’ll have the chance to see a peaceful and pleasurable world without wars.”

Sitt Paing’s exhibit can be found on Euston Road, outside London’s King’s Cross Station. More artwork can be found in the city on Charing Cross Road, outside Leicester Square Station and on the Albert Embankment near the International Maritime Organisation.

Other cities taking part in the exhibition include: Paris, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok and Sydney.

The online gallery exhibition is live on the WriteUnite website at writeunite.org from November 14th.

The full list of exhibit sites is:
Bangkok: Billboard outside MBK Shopping Centre.
Buenos Aires: Two billboards inside Alto Palermo Shopping Centre.
London: Three bus stops on Euston Road, outside King’s Cross Station; Charing Cross Road, outside of Leicester Square Station and Albert Embankment near the International Maritime Organisation.
Los Angeles: Five bus benches in Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Venice, Beverly Grove and West Hollywood.
Mumbai TBC
Nairobi: A billboard at Bunyala Roundabout on Uhuru Highway.
Paris: Five digital posters around the Centre Pompidou.
Singapore: One billboard at Bugis Junction.
Sydney: Two billboards at Bondi Junction Station.
Washington DC: One bike share unit near The Capitol (First & D Street SE).