An Introduction: Welcome to the Blog!

From the archives: “The unseen trauma“ by Rong (11-14), 2022-23 winner

Here at ‘Never Such Innocence’, we are excited to announce this blog as a new supplementary resource alongside our competition this year on the theme “How do we Prevent War?”, specifically discussing the Art submission category. Please note that Poetry, Song and Speech are other submission options if you feel like your creative expression would suit a different medium. Feel free to use the themes mentioned in the blogs if you need a bit of inspiration!

from the archive: “Ukraine Kahovka” by Artem (9-11), 2023-24 winner

The charity began as a first world war commemoration project for children and young people but eventually we opened creative exploration of conflict in all forms from history to the present day. We’ve had submissions from young people from all walks of life and different nations. sharing their common experience of living with war - whether in relation to family members being lost to war physically and mentally, or reflecting on their country’s history, or how conflict has had a lasting impact on society now.

This resource will explore fine art and modern art in relation to our previous submissions to discuss how conflict has and continues to be explored in creative formats. We hope you use this opportunity to get some inspiration to start if you want to take part; maybe you can open difficult conversations so we can head towards a more empathetic future in which the concept of ‘war’ is just a myth. 

We will discuss multiple aspects of designing your submission. How can we use existing historical references to shape our understanding of war and conflict? Are there repeating themes and images like doves or blood that can either present peace or violence to help the viewer see what we want them to see? What is the potential for 3D art and how can you use the physical form of the work to confuse the viewer into realising there may be more than one perspective? These are all things we’ll be exploring in the upcoming posts. 

from the archive: “What does a tank mean anyway?” by Julia (16-18), 2020-21 third place

The works shown in this page include the winners from multiple age groups and different art genres that display the potential for exploring the theme. From acrylic to watercolour to sculpture to digital illustration you can see how different mediums can have different visual impact. Julia’s piece “What does a Tank mean anyway?” used digital media in a way that helps us reminisce children’s books from the 90s to 00s whilst also holding dark undertones like the hidden tank to show the blissful lack of knowledge that new generations have in regards to cruel historical events; these are the kind of things we will compare when discussing the different ways to use art history to shape your work. 

The posts will follow the discussion points listed in the “Pathways to Prevention” link on the competition information page whilst also chasing world events like Holocaust remembrance day and the world day of justice so you can have a lot of relevant references for ideas on what to make. The next post will discuss remembrance art to commemorate Armistice Day and propaganda war art and how our young people shape their work to reflect the impact the first world war has had on society. We’ll be posting every two weeks (barring Christmas week) on a Monday throughout the competition so you’ll have lots of work, from the archives and professional, to comb through for inspiration!

FROM THE ARCHIVE: “THE REALITY OF WAR“ BY THE YOUTH OF SUHA SUHA (14-16), 2022-23 WINNER