A group of students from Harrow International School Hong Kong have been shortlisted to exhibit their art and poetry at the Natural History Museum in London, UK on 17 March. Their work has received the Highly Commended award at the Global Canvas Art and Poetry Competition 2016 organised by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.
Caitlin Hopkinson (Y7, Keith), Megan Hopkinson (Y7, Keith), Holly Hunn (Y7, Matthews) and Elizabeth Lowndes (Y6, Matthews) produced a 6ft x 6ft mural and a set of wooden cut outs on the theme of ‘Wild Wonders’ for the competition. The girls developed their work in the Art competitions extra-curricular activity since September and focussed on endangered animals of Asia.
“Our Wild Wonders project was based on some of the key endangered animals of Asia,” explain the girls who created the work. “All of the animals are somewhere in Asia; for example, the tiger is from Indonesia and the pink dolphin is from our local area, Hong Kong. We are doing this to raise awareness for their conservation.
“We are all willing to help and support this effort in any way we can. We could not fit every animal in this project, such as the Panda, but decided to include less well-known animals such as the pangolin. In addition to our painting we created some painted wooden cut outs of each animal that on the reverse include facts about the species. Our hope is that the audience can handle these and learn more about the situation of these animals and how they can help.”
The Global Canvas Art and Poetry competition is part of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s Art for Survival programme. Established in 2004 it aims to encourage young people to express their concern for the environment and, in particular, endangered species with which we share our fragile planet.Website of David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation