Elephant Connects Community And Diversity During Pride

July 20, 2022 | |
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Two students from Ealing Green College, part of West London College, have been recognised for their art by winning prizes and an award in the Elephant’s LGBTQ+&Inclusion Art Competition which celebrated June’s Pride Month.

Zainab Zidan won an Elephant Award and Malachi John won second prize, awarded by Kier.

Both Zainab and Malachi had their work on public display at Elephant.

Zainab’s work, a collage, is titled ‘Breaking Barriers’. Zainab said: “I had taken different parts from women and men and then combined them to show anyone can be who they want to be.”

Malachi’s artwork, titled ‘You Are Not Alone” depicts a waterfall as a rainbow and represents everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. Before it there is the small silhouette of a person standing lonely and isolated, gazing at the waterfall, which is the hope that everything is changing.

Malachi said: “I was shocked and really pleased at the same time to find out my artwork was valued and to receive the acknowledgement.”

Both Zainab and Malachi have recently completed their studies on the Step Up to IT, Art and Media programme which is run at Ealing Green College. Next year Malachi plans to progress to Art and Design Level 1 and Zainab, who wants to be a pharmacist or doctor, plans to progress to Applied Science Level 1, but is also considering Travel and Tourism.

Emmely Elgersma, who organised the art competition at Elephant, said: “We wanted to reach out to schools as a way of communicating with our local community, using a public space to show what people are feeling. The project, which is the first of its kind has worked so well we will be utilising the space in a similar way for the future.”

Gareth McLennan, Head of Curriculum for IT, Digital and Creative said: “Congratulations to Zainab Zidan and Malachi John, and thanks to their teacher Lorna Acikalin for overseeing the whole Step Up to IT, Art & Media group’s entries. You’ve all done West London College proud!”

During Pride month, Elephant was proud to support young artists aged 9-15 from our local community in West London.

Adorning the front wall of Elephant Space are posters chosen from an open submission competition led by Elephant in conjunction with Hammersmith & Fulham’s youth council.

Together we invited visual responses to the subject of LGBTQ+ history, with winning designs touching on ideas of community, inclusion, family and gender binaries.

Entries came in a variety of mediums, going beyond pen and paper to encompass large-scale collaborative works. Love Is Diversity, for instance, is a work created by 60 school kids between 7-8 years old, with each pupil using oil pastels to create hearts set on contrasting background squares.

The colours were then blended together to reflect the way that the mixing of different cultures and backgrounds is vital to progressive inclusion. “Pupils discovered that colours opposite each other on the colour wheel made each other brighter when side by side,” teacher Nicola Chance explains. “We felt that this was like our world, that we are better when we are with people who are different to us.

“Pupils discovered that colours opposite each other on the colour wheel made each other brighter when side by side”

Nisha Patel, Haven Inclusion, 2022

Malachi John, You are Not Alone, 2022

Three of the posters have been presented with special Elephant Awards. Nine-year-old Jonah Hearn won his for creating a polymer clay, cardboard and acrylic paint sculpture that was photographed for his poster. In his work colourful clay figures stand together. “We live together side by side regardless of our similarities or differences,” the young artist says. “Our world should be like a big house for all of us.” Holly Tedla also explored gender expression and diversity in her winning work.

“We live together side by side regardless of our similarities or differences. Our world should be like a big house for all of us”

The three Elephant award winners will receive a selection of art materials, a set of Elephant paints, a cash prize from construction company Kier and an optional mentoring session.

All of the posters can be viewed at Elephant Space on Wood Lane, alongside quotes and reflections from the young artists.

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