It was in an emergency that the multidisciplinary artist of Armenian origin Lousnak Abdalian designed the one-day installation White flags intended to raise awareness of the deaths of thousands of children in ongoing armed conflicts. Whether in Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, Sudan, Armenia, Yemen…
“The child is the ultimate white flag,” Lousnak tells us, who at the age of 7-8 saw the first bombs fall on Beirut in 1975. The mere presence of a child should be a signal. to stop. Regardless of its origin, we cannot monopolize the pain of a killed child…”
Even if Lousnak targets all wars, it was the all-out bombings in Gaza that convinced her to make an artistic gesture.
More than 11,000 children have died there so far. It’s terrible, and it continues. It keeps me from sleeping… In a context like this, I believe that artists have a role to play. Sometimes we manage to better communicate the pain, the pain and the injustice.
Lousnak Abdalian
With the aim of creating an installation that is both inclusive and participatory, the Montreal artist collected white sheets in a dozen cities across the province. Montreal, Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Aylmer, Saint-André-Avellin… White sheets in memory of all these dead children, regardless of the conflict in which they perished.
But so that the installation was not “morbid”, Lousnak turned to living children from Quebec to counterbalance the effect of the white sheets which resemble shrouds.
She contacted primary school principals to ask their young students to draw messages of peace. “It’s easy to draw war and bombs, but peace is more difficult to represent,” the visual artist tells us. That said, I insisted that they draw happy drawings. »
The children answered the call. There we find all kinds of drawings, and flags of several countries at war.
In addition to the white sheets and some 400 children’s drawings which will be displayed in the large room of the MAI gallery, there will be added a two-minute video which will run in a loop and in which we will find drawings by Lousnak, with words from author Najla Saïd, daughter of Edward Saïd, American intellectual of Palestinian origin – author of Orientalism (died in 2003).
Everything was mixed to the music of French composer of Lebanese origin Élie Maalouf, who plays the bouzouki.
“I asked Najla to write words or haikus, which are in fact inspired by snippets of conversations between Palestinian children captured in Gaza,” explains Lousnak. Words written in English have been translated into French, Armenian and Arabic. “Stick figures” were drawn in chalk by the artist, but with her left hand, to “create a link” with the world of childhood that she represents.
Najla Saïd’s words will also be found jumbled up on the floor – written on sheets of paper – among the white sheets and children’s drawings.
The space to walk through all these objects will be limited. It is important. So that people are aware of what they see, but also where they step. It’s an installation in memory of dead children, so I don’t want visitors to be too comfortable walking through this route either… It will also allow them to appreciate each of the elements.
Lousnak Abdalian
Once the Montreal installation is over – it will take place for a single day, Saturday April 20 – Lousnak’s objective is to present his exhibition in other cities and even in other countries.
“We will start with other cities in Quebec, inside and even outside, but eventually, I would also like to present it in other countries. The goal is to make as many people aware of the reality of war as possible. I want to show how many children are dying, I don’t think people realize that. »
White flagsat the Montréal gallery, arts interculturels (MAI), April 20, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.