Gangstø – November 2011

In November 2011, 20 Brønnøysund scouts spent a weekend at Gangstøa. We painted and went for walks in the local environment. We visited, among other things, the Bindal rural museum, the forminnerløypa that has forminner from the Viking Age and the Iron Age, and we also visited burial mounds etc. Two people from Sri Lanka were here. They invited Peacepainting to their homeland. Cooperation is under way.

Marcus Olsen

Marcus Olsen

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Exhibition at the Nansen School

I have had the pleasure of following Catrine Gangstøs art project ‘Peacepainting’ he last three years, where children from different religious backgrounds come together and unfold with color and drawings. Through a wordless language the children express feelings and thoughts that can not be expressed otherwise. We find that coping occurs, and that hate turns to hope. I am deeply moved and impressed by the work Catrine Gangstø does, which has also gained national attention. It is original, it's professional and educational well-founded - and that means a lot for the kids who are lucky enough to participate. Perhaps her work also makes the world a better place to live. I sincerely hope that Catrine Gangstø can continue her work - for the good of us all.
Inge Eidsvåg, Lillehammer, Norway 13 January 2011

Gunnar Danbolt, Professor Emeretius at the University of Bergen

Gunnar Danbolt inspired the concept in the Spring 2008. He recommended us to contact the St Olav Festival.

"I have had the opportunity to study at close range Catrine Gangstø's Project ‘Peacepainting’ and I am very impressed with what she has achieved. Encouraging children to draw and paint, is in itself not particularly difficult, but the result is rarely interesting.

So I must admit that I had not great expectations when I first went to see these drawings. But I was surprised, very surprised, because these children, who Catrine Gangstø had taught, showed both the form and terms of coloristic maturity that was likely to surprise, while they also had a message to convey. There was no doubt that the images were made ​​by children, but they had acquired some experience that enabled them to exploit the limitations of what the not yet fully developed motor abilities had set for them.

In short - Catrine Gangstø had taught them a visual style that made it possible for them to express their thoughts and feelings. When she today has created a larger project to run a peace-building work across borders, I can only warmly recommend it. This is a project that deserves all possible support, because it is the children who represent our future.”

Sincerely, Gunnar Danbolt"

Exhibition in Vassås Church – June 2009

Geirr Lystrup had a singing time with all 7 year olds in Bindal municipality at Bindalseidet School. They performed at the exhibition’s opening. "Dear Catrine, here are some lines about pictures and hope:

On two occasions I have been as lucky as to experience children’s paintings in a meeting with an audience. The first time was in Vassås Church in Bindal, where the walls around the whole church were covered by exciting subjects properly framed and with thought-provoking titles. To experience children’s thoughts in the present time expressed through pictures was both thought-provoking and hopeful. Themes such as friendship, fear, war and peace were prominent. Especially exciting was to see that the themes are universal and exist similarly strongly within different ethnic and religious groups.

The second time I got to experience the pictures was at the exhibition in the Ministry of Defence in Oslo. On both occasions I had the pleasure of singing together with a children’s choir. To experience children making themselves heard with their own feelings through song and pictures makes a strong impression, especially thought-provoking within intitutions such as the Church and the Ministry of Defence. I hope that this children’s project will reach long and reach a new audience, also with cooperation between children from different nations.

Geirr Lystrup"

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