La Grande Lessive, French for “great laundry”, is a one-day international art event. It was born from the idea of hanging clothes after washing, thus opening the way to a new approach to art exhibition.
This event has grown into an art phenomenon, which is conceived as a means to tighten social links and trigger an interest and a desire to create art. No professional skills are required. One mainly has to deem something he has drawn as worthwhile and which deserves to be displayed.
On March 28, the event took place, for the second time in Guyana, when it joined 55 countries worldwide, on Main Street opposite the culture, youth and sport ministry. The one-day art gathering saw more than 500 students expressing themselves through art in drawing, painting and paper craft. These were then pinned with wooden pegs on clothes lines.
In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, University of Guyana art lecturer Michael Khan, who works part-time as a clown and has a profound love for children and art, explained that the event was also a project for his art students, who will be graded for their participation.
“My students are part of the La Grande Lessive to stimulate the children. For children, art is a means of self-expression. Whatever is on their minds they will be able to express it in a tangible way, that is, through their artwork. Children aren’t as lettered as adults and they cannot verbally express their emotions, but through art they can do that,” he declared.
Khan’s art students will be graded for art room management, role of the teacher, ideas and concepts they shared with the children, and other areas.
Last year, the event was held at the Georgetown International Academy basketball court in Prashad Nagar, but Main Street was chosen this year because of its historical background in serving as an art venue.
