The mural on the back wall of the Commemoration Hall first painted in 1987 by the students from St Peters’ School, has been at less than its best for years now but over the last weekend in September, a group of young street artists from our twinned towns, together with our own youngsters from Huntingdon and Godmanchester united to create an updated wall in vibrant colours. They also created great street art on Godmanchester’s Judith Fields skate park. The new murals depict a montage of designs featuring landmarks in our twin towns,
The Huntingdon and Godmanchester Twinning Association as part of the Bridging Art Mural Cultural Festival (BAM) sponsored a group of young people from the twinned towns in Germany, Italy & Hungary came to paint the murals.
Each young artist then enjoyed a weekend of activities, culminating in a finish with a celebratory hog roast and entertainment by Huntingdon Youth Theatre and presentations at Buckden Towers, where the visitors stayed.
A unique multicultural and intercultural exchange experience among young artistic minds of different nationalities, who have been able to put themselves into play by contaminating themselves with other cultures and deepening the use of foreign languages also through street art workshops, visits to local museums and folklore exhibitions.
The event’s main organiser from HGTA said: “It has been wonderful to see young artists from our twin towns coming together with our own to create these vibrant murals. A lasting reminder of our friendships across Europe. It was a brilliant weekend!”
“It [the weekend] created opportunities for our young people to form new friendships, promote further understanding of each others’ cultures for the future and provide a colourful and educational legacy that will enhance both towns.
The whole event was organized and run by volunteers from the partner organisations, and would not be possible without the amazing help and support of HGTA members, Commemoration Hall volunteers, Huntingdon & Godmanchester Town Councils, local artists and art groups, Huntingdon Youth Theatre members, schools, the Claretian Centre at Buckden Towers and all the many friends of HGTA. Opportunities were created for our young people to form new friendships, promote further understanding of each others’ cultures for the future and provide a colourful and educational legacy that will enhance both towns.
Source: drawn from HGTA fb site and Hunt’s Post articles.