Pakistan: Salaar Khan - Spotlight

Salaar Khan, a ten year old boy from Pakistan, represented his country at the 2003 Festival He has grown up speaking many languages. His mother communicates with him in Pashto, the language of the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan, The second language he speaks is Urdu, the national language of Pakistan. A national language brings together people from all the different corners of the country and helps them in understanding each other, Salaar's father speaks to him in English, the international language.

But there are also other languages that Salaar knows, He knows the language of music. Even though he does not understand Italian, he still enjoys the songs of Andrea Bocelli and loves to sing along. He does not know a word of Greek, yet he loves the melodies sung by Nana Mouskouri.

To top it all up, Salaar knows a fifth language. This is the language of art. All the people of the world understand it. Even though Salaar has never visited the Netherlands, he sees and understands the pain on the face of Van Gogh, tie is fascinated by the peace on the Buddha's face and the half-smile of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. With the many languages people have for understanding each other Salaar often wonders why we continue to fight.

Salaar says about his painting:

"In the new millennium with my magical paintbrush I will change this world into a better place, with the magical swirls of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings, In my painting, I have painted myself wearing my country's traditional "Sindhi Topi" and waistcoat. In my hand is my i magical paintbrush, which is painting a magical rainbow. With the help of my magic paintbrush I am painting the whole world into a peaceful, calm and greener place with a garden of colorful hearts. Ahead of me is the world of today with factories that are giving out smoke and polluting the environment, missiles, a cracked ground and a dull sky and I a running towards it to change it. But I can only make this magic happen if l have good feelings like 'love' in my heart."

COPYRIGHT 2004 International Child Art Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group