Children sketch their view of the world in Lotus Blanc display

via CAAI

Wednesday, 03 November 2010 15:00 Emilie Boulenger

ABOUT 50 drawings representing how the children of the NGO Pour Un Sourire d’Enfant see foreigners will be displayed at the Lotus Blanc training restaurant on Street 51 for one month starting on Friday.

As part of French Culture Week, 300 of the 2,500 children, aged from 6 to about 20 who are learning at PSE’s centre were initially asked to draw a picture illustrating their vision of French people.

The drawings, which often depict foreigners in the broadest sense, represent varied scenes.

Whereas some show tourists in Angkor Wat riding on elephants or archaeologists restoring temples, others portray people wearing swimsuits at the beach, or offering gifts to children at play.

The captions, which were written in Khmer, will be translated and promise plenty of charm – for example, one child explains that his drawing of people extending hands in the roadway illustrates how people are polite in France and help each other crossing the road.

“Children were really happy to participate in this project and we feel like organising more and more artistic activities,” says Benjamin Pecqueur, restaurant relations officer at Lotus Blanc.

The opening of the exhibition will be all the more pleasant as it will be included in a food and art party on Friday night.

For US$15 each, an unlimited French-style buffet will be laid out and entertainment will be provided by Déborah and Sébastien, who will be playing gypsy jazz featuring influences from the works of French writer Boris Vian.