Moscow homeless turn to art
Published 20 November, 2007, 08:13
Social workers in Moscow have found an unusual way to help the city's homeless. The special programme offers them a way to express themselves through art.
As temperatures in Moscow drop below freezing, all energy goes on trying to keep warm. And the city’s homeless feel the bite of the chill more than most.
Thousands of people will sleep rough this winter, battling to stay alive with sub-zero conditions and not enough to eat.
However, help is at hand. Local social centres offer homeless people much needed shelter and a chance to meet other people.
But it is not only a chance to get a cup of tea and socialize. They’re also encouraged to get their creative juices flowing.
Art therapy
Art is used as a kind of therapy.
It encourages men to express pent-up emotion by thinking in a more constructive way.
Social worker Marina Perminova says that in the centre they “try to make people think positively by using a fond memory to show that they used to be happy.”
We can reveal our true emotions. We don’t think hard about what to paint, we simply think about how we feel and draw from the heart
They can then use this to change how they see the present, helping them overcome their troubles." she said.
The programme is growing in popularity. Kirill Chiturkin has been homeless for more than 10 years after losing rights to his mother’s inheritance and therefore his flat.
A former soldier in the Russian Army, Kirill now spends his time dodging police and begging on the streets of Moscow.
He says this centre gives the homeless a chance to do something different, and show they have brains and talent.
“We can reveal our true emotions. We don’t think hard about what to paint, we simply think about how we feel and draw from the heart,” Kirill says.
It is this raw emotion which is plastered on the walls of a special exhibition. Some bright and colourful paintings convey positive messages or ideas of a better life. Others are more subtle and intriguing.
But organisers say all of them have value, and its important the public get to see that.
Social worker Nadezhda Klyueva says “what matters to us is that people can see that a homeless person is not just a smelly hobo in the metro. We think it is crucial for these people to recover their dignity.”
The homeless people who create this art have had no formal education. They paint how they feel.
Most have remained anonymous. But most feel it's a way of combating isolation in the real world.
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