The initiative is part of the international project The Names of Freedom in which, based on photographs and videos of children in the occupied territories, students from all over the world, together with prominent artists, will create a visual work.

The first such art work will be depicted at the Horacio Aravena Andaur school, in the capital’s San Joaquín district, designed by Chilean-American Ian Pierce (Ekeko), who has created several large-format paintings in both local and foreign public spaces.

Ekeko specializes in community art for educational purposes and his work addresses themes such as historical memory, human rights and collective identity.

Our intention is to make as many of these international solidarity murals as possible, connecting with teachers, painters and, of course, children from different countries, he said.

He added that there are currently artists interested in participating in London, Philadelphia, Puerto Rico and Peru.

Once the Chile-Gaza pilot mural is completed, we will start contacting more sponsors and organizations that can make the initiative grow worldwide, he said.

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