Southside students send a message to Trump

A GROUP of Southside students have sent a message to America’s president-elect, Donald Trump, on the importance of gender equality.

Sixth-year art students from Synge Street CBS made a series of symbolic ceramic tiles that carry powerful messages about gender equality, race, the role of women in society and in the developing world.

The intricately-designed tiles, which were all handmade, each bear different symbols depicting various stages of gender equality from the past, the present and the future to show how far the world has come in achieving equality for women through education, justice, technology and cultural change.

Since his election to the White House after beating the world’s first female presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the students said they believed Donald Trump’s “sexist” and “misogynistic” language will only fuel their generation to stand up for equality more. 

“He is sexist, he is a misogynist, he’s a racist and he doesn’t accept climate change,” said 16-year-old Kieran Wilson.

“He symbolises the opposite of everything these tiles stand for. I’m glad we made these tiles and learned the concepts of gender equality before he came to power so we understand what he is saying is wrong.”

The creative initiative – set up by Synge Street CBS and Concern Worldwide, whose headquarters are just metres away from the well-known school in Dublin 2, is an attempt to inform students about the Sustainable Development Goals and the challenges of gender equality, particularly in the developing world, in an artistic way.

Darshan Pokhrel (16) said he gained a lot from the project and said making the tiles was fun and often pain-staking.

“It took time and effort definitely,” he stated. “You do rough work first by sketching your tile, we use clay to mould and then we heated it in a kiln. We then painted it and then put it back in to heat it up again before they were ready for display.”

Luke Gorman (16) added: “We have a better insight into what is happening in the world to what we did before we started. We understand now why some countries are worse off than others. After months of hard work and preparation, the students proudly displayed their art work to a gathering of Concern staff.

The aid agency is planning to showcase the students’ work as part of its plans to mark International Women’s Day next year.