Western News: April 15, 2021

6 Thursday April 15 2021
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
WESTERN NEWS
Teacher finds her voice through art
• By Bea Gooding
ANH QUE CHU knows a thing
or two about how it feels to not
be able to communicate what’s
on her mind.
As an art teacher for people
with intellectual disabilities at
the Art for Life Trust, she understood
how much of a barrier
language can be.
Not knowing a word of English
when she first moved to New
Zealand in 1982 as a refugee following
the Vietnam War made
tasks such as getting a job that
much more strenuous.
But through art, she was able
to find her voice and has enabled
others to do the same.
Said Chu: “When I first
came here I couldn’t speak
English, so I went to Teachers’
College in the hopes of getting
a full-time job. But my English
wasn’t good enough at the time,
so I was very depressed. I just
wanted to have a full-time job,
but I couldn’t.
“The only thing I was good at
was practical art and demonstrations
on how to paint.”
When teaching in schools did
not go to plan, she drew on her
strengths by selling off drawings
and paintings.
She later graduated from
Ara Institute of Technology in
2000 with a Bachelor of Art and
Design.
After landing a full-time job
privately teaching children and
adults at Your Studio Trust for a
number of years, Chu established
the Art for Life in 2013.
It provides art tuition to people
of all ages who live with an intellectual
disability.
It did not matter if students
had autism, Down’s syndrome,
or attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder – anyone could learn
how to make art using acrylic
and watercolour paint, ink pens
or charcoal.
At the end of year exhibition,
it was also a chance to generate
their own income by selling
pieces they made.
Art enabled them to express
themselves and to learn more
about colour therapy, but it was
a safe and inclusive place to
make friends while developing
confidence, self-esteem and pride
in their work.
Teaching art in other places
STRENGTHS:
Anh Que
Chu (right)
with student
Wendy
Blackler at
the Art for
Life Trust,
which
teaches
people with
intellectual
disabilities
how to find
their voices
through art.
PHOTO:
GEOFF
SLOAN
like high schools often meant the
end goal was to make students’
art stand out, but at the trust, it
was a different story.
“Here, that’s not the goal –
show them that you love them,
care about them, and help them
express their feelings,” said Chu.
“A lot of students here can’t
talk or hear, so you have to find
a way to understand and help
them communicate.”
Becoming a teacher was something
Chu fantasised about as a
teenager, but she never expected
to do so in another country.
Chu was a 25-year-old art student
when her family was forced
to flee Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1979,
four years after the Vietnam War
ended.
External tensions stemming
from the country’s dispute with
Cambodia and China in the
years that followed caused a mass
exodus of nearly 800,000 people
– most of Chinese descent, just
like Chu’s family.
After seven days of being
crammed in a boat with 396
other refugees, they eventually
made it to a refugee camp in
Hong Kong.
It was where she met her future
husband, a New Zealander, who
was working at the camp with
the Salvation Army.
Art has been a constant in
her life since her teenage years.
During the war, she was inspired
by an encounter with two art
students, who encouraged her to
study at Hanoi Arts School.
Now, Chu gets to live out her
teaching dream in a field she
is most passionate about while
making a colourful impact
within the disability community.
“A good teacher follows the
student. Usually, you try to get
the students to follow you, but
here, you follow them.”
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