Nine talented young artists from four East London schools set off for Oman and Dubai earlier this year to work with students from four local schools there. People back in Britain were able to follow the students’ epic journey through diaries, photos and videos they uploaded onto their own website daily.
The project was set up by an organisation called Offscreen which began life when four British artists took a life-changing journey to the Middle East. The experience inspired one of them, Stephen Stapleton, to set up the Offscreen Education programme, an art-in-schools project promoting an alternative and creative picture of the Middle East in UK classrooms.
Their stated philosophy is ‘to foster cross-cultural engagement at grassroots level by providing schoolchildren with resources and experiences that will open their eyes to ways of life and points of view that are different from their own.’ One of the ways they try to do this is by taking young artists abroad.
We spoke to the group before they left Britain. One undisguised aspect of the trip was its political agenda, and before setting off the students made clear their aim to break down barriers, learn more about the culture and “convey the truth through their artwork”.
Julson, 15, told us: "All the newspapers say 'bombs this' and 'wars that' but it’s only in some parts, so I want to go show - we want to go show - that Dubai and Oman are different places and prove the media wrong."
So when we asked Lucy, 17, what she feared most from the trip, instead of bombs or hostage-taking, the worst she could come up with was, "scorpions in our shoes."
Considering most people’s perceptions of the Middle East, such a reply might make you wonder if these young people had been living in a box for the last five years! Luckily, these teenagers with nothing to fear didn’t have their heads in the sand. Quite the opposite: they were the voice of a new generation trying to erase what they had been told so that they could go to the Middle East and report back what they saw with fresh and un-biased eyes. Lucy agreed: "We have a responsibility to make sure we convey back to the UK the truth about what the world is really like over there."
As well as working hard on their art projects, the young travellers made several visits, including a trip to a falcon centre, and were surprised to learn how significant a tradition falconry was, and how important tea was when a person had guests (not so different from some of our own traditions after all!).
What they discovered was that Oman and Dubai are stunning places, with gorgeous weather, beautiful scenery and a peaceful atmosphere - and legendary hospitality. Though usually portrayed as a war torn region, the students were able to camp in the desert, ride 4x4s through the sand-dunes and appreciate the fine Islamic art in Oman’s Grand Sultan Qaboos Mosque. Their conclusion: Yes, the Middle East does have violence in particular areas, but should we not appreciate the amazing culture and traditional values it also has to offer?
After checking out their photos and diaries online (the website received 100,000 hits while the expedition was going on), and seeing the beautiful places the team had been to, we were eager to hear about the expedition first hand. We caught up with them at the celebration event in London’s City Hall.
The British students expressed how much they had enjoyed working with their Omani peers; despite being from different backgrounds they had many things, such as music and hobbies, in common. Nearly all of them said the most memorable aspect of the visit was the people they had met. The encounter certainly helped put some prejudices to rest.
Reagan Panzu, a keen musician of 21, told us that he had been surprised by the welcome he had received: "I thought there was going to be a lot of racism, especially towards me; I felt people would take me the wrong way because of the way I’m dressed or the way I look, but there was none of that. "Sam, 16, also emphasized the warmth of their reception: "The mentality over there is just to give and don’t expect anything back- it’s not like that in England."
One common negative stereotype of the Middle East is that women are oppressed, and this lack of freedom is often symbolised by the restrictive clothing people in the West presume they wear. In fact, Lucy found this wasn’t the case: "The female students were [covered up] at first because they wanted to look traditional but when the camera went away they were like 'oh, can I take this off now? I’m bored of this' and put on jeans and skirts."
It seems the students in the Middle East didn't worry too much about negative stereotypes of themselves. Sam said: "I think a lot of the people there were aware of what people thought of them and they didn’t care – which I loved". And did the stereotypes operate in reverse? Zahrah, 16, told us, "They thought the British would be high and mighty, all posh and rich, and that we all lived in London." Lucy agreed: "I think they thought the English were a bit arrogant and thought they were better than everyone else - we told them we weren’t!"
At the moment, it is impossible to ignore the perception of a serious divide between Britain and the Middle East. But it is important that young people, as the next generation of decision-makers, do not let these perceptions lead to prejudice – which is where Offscreen can help. The Head Teacher of Plashet School, Mrs. Nasir, spoke at the project launch and predicted that "Offscreen will have a ripple effect, especially for our young people who are being hit by images of negativity."
Our own contact with the Offscreen students has certainly shown us there is no better way of getting a young person to take a new approach than through peer-to-peer education and seeing things with your own eyes. Empowering young people to find out about the world around them is definitely the right way to go and we’re happy to hear that this is not the end for Offscreen and next year they plan to bring students from the Middle East over to Britain.
Read some of the personal opinions of the young people involved in the project.
About this story
This article was written by Dowa Ojarike, 17, Rhona Ezuma, 17 and Patricia Okello, 18.
