Rivers of the World is the flagship art and education project of London’s Thames Festival Trust delivered in partnership with British Council. Running since 2005 across the world and with Ethiopia since 2016, it aims to increase students’ self-esteem through the realisation of powerful artwork about river environments. Schools involved are partnered with UK schools, sharing ideas about their respective rivers, before expressing them visually through beautiful collaborated artwork. Each picture follows a theme such as pollution, or culture, and sends a message of how essential clean rivers are for every aspect of life on earth.
Since its creation in 2005, Rivers of the World has been delivered in thirty-five countries around the world, currently including Malawi, Kenya, Palestine, Morocco, Ethiopia, Sudan, Lebanon, Tanzania & India and across the UK.
Twenty-four artworks make up the exhibition made by 240 students in Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar and Bishoftu in Ethiopia and further students in Warrington, UK. Focus rivers are the Blue Nile, London’s River Thames and the Mersey River, which connects Liverpool and Manchester. These exhibitions aim to raise the awareness among the public about environmental and climate change and showcase how connection and partnership can boost creativity and encourage global citizenship. We also believe it will be a great platform to encourage the students who worked hard to bring these brilliant artworks to life. By doing so, we believe we could also be launching an army of students to become the next generation artists and environmental conservationists.
Source: British Council Ethiopia
Images by Martha Hardy
