Preserved artwork sparks childhood memories
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Published: 15th September 2023
Katty Okeny was an 11-year-old at Woodridge State School when she did a painting as part of an art project.
A decade later the artwork by the now 21-year-old is part an exhibition highlighting childhood stories at The Living Museum of Logan.
She was completely unaware her painting entitled The Right to Clean Water had been preserved.
“I was really surprised. I feel seen and I didn’t think I could ever feel that way,” said Katty, a Boronia Heights resident who works as a support worker for high needs children with disability.
Katty’s childhood painting, which depicts a woman fetching water from a pond, is part of The Big Voices: Children’s Art Matters exhibition at the Living Museum in the Kingston Butter Factory Cultural Precinct.
The exhibition features some of the 2000 artworks in a Children's Art Archive collected since 1986 by leading academic and early childhood educator Dr Barbara Piscitelli and now held by the State Library of Queensland.
Katty said her mum was the inspiration for the painting which draws on stories she was told about their Sudanese-Ugandan heritage.
“I remember my mum always told me stories of how they always had to walk miles for clean water and I remember pictures of them with buckets on their head and stuff like that, so I was like oh: I should do that.”
Katty said it was a wonderful idea to preserve art by children.
“Art is a way of communicating. It’s a pathway for young artists to come together and be seen.”
Watch our video at: 16x9 Big Voices Katty V 3 - YouTube
Big Voices is on display at the Living Museum of Logan in the Kingston Butter Factory Cultural Precinct (Tuesday to Saturday) until May next year. Admission is free.