THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE - Ademiju, aged 9
THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE - Ademiju, aged 9
The Brightness of JuJu began with a story; the story of an island inhabited only by children, who understand the world through colour, and have lost all knowledge of their ancestors. 120 school children from Willow Bank and Harris Garrard primary schools in Thamesmead heard this story and weaved their own tales into it; while walking, talking and making with artists Dunya Kalantery and Rima Patel, over 30 workshops and 3 years, from 2020-2022.
The JuJu story was told through taking walks together in Thamesmead; collecting treasure; turning the found treasure into pigments; the children naming the colours they made*; and building worlds with clay. When Rima and Dunya encountered the magic of the colours the children had named, it was obvious that the colour poetry had to grow into a book.
*The Brightness of JuJu is the colour name given to a grated yellow flip flop. 
For the making of the book, the children continued their explorations into the world of JuJu through printmaking, world-making, photography, and finally collage.
All page layouts in The Brightness of JuJu book are original, untampered with artworks by the Children of JuJu. Ink paintings, photography, found objects and colour names were collaged to make the poetry and pages you see in the book.
These artworks were used as a storyboard for the story of The Brightness of JuJu; written by Dunya Kalantery, inspired by three years of conversations, walks, and storytelling with the Children of JuJu.
The book can be found in Thamesmead library, along with The Brightness of JuJu public artwork and a display of the pigments and their colour names. Every co-author of the book was given a copy of the book they made.
