Adults may chastise children for gluing, tearing and writing in their favorite books, but Ljiljana Karan doesn’t.
In fact, she encourages it.
This semester, the UNC freshman is working with eighth graders at A.L. Stanback Middle School through Postcards for Progress, a UNC student group dedicated to encouraging international cultural ties through the arts.
One of five artistic coordinators for the group, Karan came up with the idea to create “altered books” — used books full of art, notes and photographs.
“It’s a unique way to have pages of your favorite books be filled with anything and everything about yourself,” Karan said.
Laura Ziemba, the Hillsborough-based middle school’s art teacher, will help the eighth-graders to create their projects, which they will send to young students at a school in Beijing, China.
The two schools are working to establish long-term communication that encourages the arts.
“We look at so much different art from all over the world,” Ziemba said. “They’re anxious to see how the Chinese kids portray themselves.”
Ziemba, an artist who has been teaching for 22 years, said that the altered books allow more room for creativity than do more disciplined self-portrait projects.