There are many ways to teach the principles written in a book through class activities. This art exhibit, KaLIKHAsan, a project of the Diocese of Baguio, that started on the first week of May at the Porta Vaga Mall was based on an encyclical of Pope Francis using natural elements as medium.
“Laudato Si, Signore” means praise be to you, my Lord in Ita- lian. Laudato Si was the title of the encyclical of Pope Francis in 2015 that focused on the environment and its destruction. Some teachers brought pupils from different elementary and secondary schools to the Minuyungan Hermitage, San Pablo Seminary in April to use art as the medium to express their understanding of the statements in the book.
Picking up leaves and other found dried objects, Simon Kyle K. Oborza, Ezrha T. Ngaosi, and Mhegan V. Basares made a collage entitled, “The Tree of Life” to express their thoughts on a line. The high school students were from Saint Louis High School of Balatoc and Don Bosco High School. Pine needles made up the trunk and leaves from what looked like guava leaves gave texture as the branches and leaves of the tree.
Fern and weeds were used as other plants surrounding the tree. Lighter green leaves gave the artwork a different tint.
The image of a bird on a nest was created by Althea Tejada of Don Bosco, Nicole Fortunato of SLAH, and Angel Oboza of SLHBS. Pine needles were used for the lower body, crown, and tail of the bird while long leaves and fern made up the nest. The face, beak, and wings of the bird were made from folded and twisted leaves.
Jhillyane M. Lorenzo in her artwork, “Sustain our nature, for a better future,” interpreted the quotation from St. John Paul, “Christians in their turn realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith.” The medium used to paint this was soil and charcoal.
Mycah Zean Castro Sisai expressed the statement in the book that reads, “The ecological crisis is also a summon to profound interior conversion … Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” She used soil and charcoal in the art piece.
Steffany M. Judan, in the images of the painting expressed the part of the book that said, “Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
The integration of natural elements, art, and principles of faith were used as a means to inspire and create a consciousness in the children of today how man is connected to ecology. The distractions of technology have alienated reality from the virtual world. Bringing them outdoors and allowing them to use the found items to say what they feel can ground them again.
– Nonnette C. Bennett
