Peter Smart

What's your thing?
Design

Peter Smart, runs the creative marketing consultancy Roam Design based across the South of England. He is also currently studying at the Arts University College at Bournemouth and is a member of Gateway Church, Poole. For more about Peter and his work, visit www.roamdesign.co.uk

My Articles

I've often heard it said that faith should inform artistic work, but in my experience the way in which this can be done often proves elusive. However, I recently completed a university project which changed my thinking. My topic: Child Soldiers.

A month ago I knew very little about this subject. Then one afternoon I sat down to watch some TV over lunch. After flicking through my options, I ended up watching a documentary on Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am not ashamed to say that God unlocked something in me during that hour and I was in tears by the end of it.

Did you know:
 
- There are approximately 300,000 child soldiers in the world. That’s three for every hair on your head
- It is estimated that there have been over 100,000 child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1993
- Many of these children are taught to use guns, forced to mutilate or kill civilians, and are regularly abused
 
The stories of these children stayed with me for several days and I knew that God had done something in me – I was just not sure what yet.
 
A week later we were then given a new brief on our course. This was to visualise complex information in a way that would be simple to understand. By this point I knew I wanted to research more into the issues surrounding the use of child soldiers and thought this would be the perfect excuse to do so. I did not intentionally bring my faith into my work; it just happened, in a very natural and normal way.
 
I spent the next few weeks researching. What I read, heard and watched in that time made me angrier, sadder and more crushed than at any point in my life. However, I knew I had to keep reading.
 
My research and development of the project eventually turned into an exhibition; The Child Soldier Cycle. This installation was bigger than anything I had ever attempted before. To complete it was a relief.
 
However, during this process so much fruit had been gained. My passion for the subject had become apparent to my course mates and I even ended up chatting with each one of my tutors about my faith and why I cared so much about this topic. Again, this wasn’t forced. I did not set out on an evangelistic mission; God was just in it.
 
Many people walked through my exhibition following the life of a child soldier. They were led round to five main stations, showing the key stages in the child soldier cycle: instability, conscription, brainwashing, daily life and rescue. These main stages were separated by real stories and quotes from former child soldiers about their harrowing experiences. This again created amazing situations in which to talk about faith and God; situations I had been praying for.

To bring faith into artistic work must not be clichéd. I don’t think what I’ve done is particularly extraordinary. However, I believe that what God can do with it is completely extraordinary.
 
I’m just hoping for more opportunities like this.

Share:

Share

The Child Soldier Cycle

I've often heard it said that faith should inform artistic work, but in my experience the way in which this can be done often proves elusive. However, I recently completed a university project which changed my thinking. My topic: Child Soldiers.