Скачать или смотреть Children create works of art using all the senses

(6 Jul 2018) LEADIN:
An artist in Amman is teaching visually-impaired children how to paint and draw.
The students at the Royal Academy for the Blind use smell and touch to develop their skills.
STORYLINE:
Heads bent down, deep in concentration.
These youngsters are completely focused on their art class.
They are using more than just their eyes to paint a picture.
At the Royal Academy of the Blind, these pupils are learning to use touch and smell as well.
They use scented pens to help them navigate the page and create something truly unique.
The children learn to associate specific colours with particular scents.
"Through it, blind people got to know colours and to know how to make beautiful paintings, so yellow is the smell of lemon, blind people know yellow through the smell of lemons, because lemons are yellow and green is the smell of mint," explains student Mia Khalid Jadden.
For the last six years, acclaimed Jordanian artist Suheil Baqaeen has been volunteering his time.
He aims to change perceptions about what visually-impaired people can do.
The school has also found the art class to be exceptionally helpful to their students, lifting their spirits and building self-confidence.
Mia, 15, has been blind since birth and never thought she would be able to participate in art classes.
"It changed my thinking. It gave me the idea that drawing is not just a hobby, it's a way to express our imagination and when I draw, I draw from my heart," says Khalid Jadden.
Aseel Bashar Roman, 12, has glaucoma.
Her condition has caused her low self-esteem but drawing and painting is changing that.
"I used to be tired because I always used to think, 'why are those people better than me?' Now I don't, drawing made it a lot easier on me and it showed me how I can show people that used to say things about me that I'm better than them."
She has been learning to draw for seven years.
She says that art has the power to change emotions.
"A drawing can affect you and can remove the feeling of negativity inside you. The drawing can even express the energy inside you."
This strong passion for art is very important to both the pupils and their teacher.
Baqaeen is keen to only teach those who are interested in learning.
"I do care that he (the pupil) should have confidence and satisfaction. I am not here to waste my time. I come with love. If I do not come with a feeling of passion for this lesson then I do not need it," he explains.
Baqaeen says that the child who succeeds best in his class is one "which likes to express himself especially in this hard stage in his life."
With minimal educational support for children with disabilities in Jordan, Baqaeen needs all the passion and determination he can find.
But with their vibrant paintings, these pupils are proving anything is possible.

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