On August 27, 2009, Marcos Chin will be participating in a traveling fund-raising group show at Maxalot Gallery in Amsterdam for ASEM, a non-profit organization for the children of Mozambique. This project was especially important to Marcos because he was born in Mozambique as well his parents.
Serendipitously, Marcos was asked to participate in this exhibit. In 1975 Mozambique gained independence from Portugal after hundreds of years; however, 10 years prior to that began the revolution or civil war that carried on for decades after. As a result there was a mass exodus during that time, and luckily Marcos and his family along with thousands of others fled the country fearing that their lives would be torn apart by the war.
Unfortunately for many of those who remained, that was just what happened. Mozambique's war lasted until the early 1990s and was coupled with economic instability, famine, drought and other natural disasters. Many of the children of Mozambique therefore, became victims of violence, poverty and were separated from their families and forced to live on the streets.
For this exhibit eleven artists from around the world were asked to create a piece that would help to enlighten the public to the every day life of the children of Mozambique, in hopes to inspire awareness and positive action in some capacity.
Below is the final image followed by 2 images of the sketch stage. Marcos comments on his process, "It was my intention to keep this piece somewhat narrative and have it include some qualities that might be inherent in story book illustrations. The children here are hopeful, food and water are plentiful and they are spreading goodness to one other, celebrating and partaking in it."
