Murals Created in China

Keyhole to Diversity: This Mural Project was painted on panels at Tungwah International School in Songshan Lake 松山湖, Guangdong, China. Our middle school students were actively engaged in the design, production, and documentation. Our collaborative inquiry for this project was how to capture diversity without representing every single culture that exists in this part of the world. It always seems that we are leaving out someone or some group or language, but it's crucial to make art succinct. We started by choosing symbols that expanded the meaning of the school's values, such as Open-Minded and Risk-Takers. These animals, however, hold different significance for different cultures and are open to being self-represented by the viewer. The geometric keyhole-shape, artistically-interpreted, gives the viewer a glimpse of a community-style living that is not achieved through bland ‘toleration’ of differences, but through healthy enculturation where the best aspects of each culture are celebrated and incorporated into a richer community full of ancient and spiritually-elevating traditions. The keyhole invites us to open the door to an ‘internationally-minded world, and not fall into the trap of assuming that unity can only be achieved through uniformity. The animals are accompanied by sinuous trees representing their unique ecology. The name of each animal is written in a different language and alphabet to further demonstrate that cultural symbols can be transformed across and throughout different societies.