Throughout Pride month in June, the front wall of Elephant Space (formerly Elephant West) will be displaying 10 posters created by artists aged 9-15 from the area. The open submission competition, led by Hammersmith & Fulham’s youth council, invited visual responses to the subject of LGBTQ+ history, with winning designs touching on ideas of community, inclusion, family and gender binaries.
“The waterfall as a rainbow represents everyone in the LGBT community, and the small silhouette [shows] a person standing, feeling lonely and isolated, but the waterfall is the hope that things are changing,” says Ealing Green College student Malachi John about his work that was awarded second place in the competition, kindly supported by construction company Kier.
“We live together side by side regardless of our similarities or differences”
Jonah Hearn, nine, created a polymer clay, cardboard and acrylic paint sculpture that was photographed for his poster. The judging panel, comprising of members of the Elephant team and Hammersmith & Fulham’s youth council, awarded Jonah one of three Elephant prizes for his work.
“Our world should be like a big house for all of us,” he explains. “We live together side by side regardless of our similarities or differences. No matter how we look, what we believe or who we love, we are all like the children of a big rainbow family.”
The three Elephant award winners will receive a selection of art materials, a set of Elephant paints, a cash prize from Kier and an optional mentoring session. Zainab Zidan and Holly Tedla were also awarded the Elephant prize, for their works which explored gender expression and diversity.
Nick Morgan, Ahmed Ali, Emilie Guille, Nisha Patel and a collaborative project from 7-8-year-olds at Larmenier and Sacred Heart Primary School are also in the final selection.
