EL ANDAMIO
by Galo Muñoz

There are children who may not express themselves verbally, but use visual expression in educational and thought-provoking ways. This ability gives them the power to transform reality. The themes they draw from often come from everyday life. For this reason, they teach us lessons that we may naturally incorporate and apply to our daily living.

Children also depict themes that touch on the remote history of our humble country, including the pre-Columbian period, invasion, popular protest and the FSLN's political project. This history spans five hundred years of African and indigenous resistance.

To create a mural, the artist must first begin with a concept of his/her life and reality. In children's murals, these ideas come from workshops led by community artists. Then, children are given art materials to transform their ideas into visual form. (Funding for these materials comes from all types of grassroots organizations.) The mural may contain text, reproduce original documents like newspapers, or draw from the oral tradition of storytelling or poetry etc.

With perhaps two years of experience, the children can rescue and relate episodes from history, which are present in the people's collective memory but are "forgotten" in official textbooks.

To represent reality, scenes are drawn from festivals, traditions, legends, myths, beliefs, the earth's struggles, and the simple beauty of everyday life. These creations are born in the daily practices and history of our people. And they make us witness their illusions, hopes, pain, and deception.

The day when dreams became reality...
A mural full of beautiful colors, clear like the children's minds and hopes, and blazing like their dreams - this mural can be found at the Institute of Professional Development (INSFOP) in Esteli. Its' theme is five hundred years of resistance.

Look at the details of each episode made by these artists' petite, skillful hands. Indeed, this work recollects, step-by-step, our pre-Columbian origin, our social organization, and our people's struggle. Their fight brought us freedom on July 19, 1979.

Who would have imagined that these artists, at such an early age, could have brought about such a historic movement? A technical and professional handling of light and dark colors gives their work an expressive reality.

Muralists that work in the "Oscar Gámez" Community and INSFOP workshops are given technical and educational advice by members of the "Boanerges Cerrato" Muralist Brigade. These muralists have painted several murals, representative works of our society, with profound themes of a humane and quotidian nature. Nature exists in relationship with humans, artisans, popular culture, and rural way of life. It's a people's form of expression - their dreams, smiles, and fears.