JEDDAH, 28 April 2004 — Handicapped children yesterday demonstrated that art transcends all barriers. They proved it with an impressive performance to mark the 10th anniversary of VSA arts-KSA at the CircWonders Festival which began last night in the Red Sea city.
The festival, sponsored by Tarek Ahmed Juffali, was hosted and supervised by the Help Center.
VSA arts-KSA is a voluntary arts program for people with special needs.
The festival — the third since the establishment of the Help Center — aims to bring together “persons from all segments of our community, our country, our region and even our world to collectively learn about the world of arts, as depicted by persons with special needs,” according to Maha Juffali-Ghandour, executive director, VSA arts-KSA.
The CircWonders was chosen as the theme for this year’s festival, she said, in keeping with VSA arts’ belief that everyone has a child inside them that needs to be brought out.
“We want each of our guests to feel creative and sincere, and to express oneself freely. This can only be achieved if we take a journey into the world of children,” said Maha, who also presented a slide show on various activities for children with special needs.
The festival, spread over three days, includes workshops, lectures, performances and exhibitions of artwork made by people with special needs.
More than a dozen children with special needs gave performances to continuous applause from the audience. Acts included the traditional Saudi pipe dance “Al-Arida,” a rope dance, and some clowning around.
Suad Juffali, one of the trustees of the Help Center, said in her welcome address that the CircWonders Festival involved not only those with special needs but the various schools and institutions which provided support.
The Help Center is a philanthropic non-profit organization. It was founded by the late Sheikh Ahmed Juffali in 1985 to provide mentally handicapped children with care, treatment and support.
The center now has 320 children and 180 staff.
The mission of the VSA arts program goes hand in hand with that of the Help Center. The aim is to help those with special needs become creative and productive members of society, by enabling them to grow in self-esteem and allowing artists with special needs to exchange experiences and techniques with those from other centers and thus develop their talents.
