Faces of Missing 'Chibok Girls' Sculpted in Nigerian Art Project
2022-12-15
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1A new art project in Nigeria is centered on the still missing victims of a 2014 mass kidnapping in the town of Chibok, Borno state.
2Militants raided a government-run school for girls there and seized many students.
3The newly completed project presents clay likenesses of 108 school girls who remain missing eight years later.
4The militant group Haram captured 276 teenage girls in all.
5About 160 of them have been released, some after years of captivity.
6At first, the mass kidnapping caused international anger.
7A social media campaign called #BringBackOurGirls received wide attention.
8Famous Americans, including U.S. first lady Michelle Obama pressed for the girls' return.
9But, over time, the subject of the kidnapping and hostages mostly disappeared from public discussion.
10So, French artist Prune Nourry decided to use art to increase public knowledge about the missing girls.
11She named the project "Statues Also Breathe."
12It is on display at an art center in Nigeria's capital Lagos.
13Students from across the country created the statues.
14Nourry collected pictures of the missing girls from their families.
15She then passed the images along to university students.
16They sculpted the pieces at an event at Obafemi Awolowo University, in southwestern Nigeria.
17Some of the former hostages from the kidnapping also took part, as did some parents of the missing students.
18Nourry told Reuters news agency it was a good way for people who have long felt useless to do something to finally help the missing women.
19"The fact of being able to at least give a little thing through sculpture, through what we know how to do, was healing," she said.
20Habiba Balogun oversees the Bring Back Our Girls campaign in Lagos.
21She told Reuters the missing women "have been in distress for eight years."
22Balogun said she is pleased that a project had been created to "elevate" the issue.
23She hopes it can serve as, in her words, "a permanent record in the history of our country about something tragic like this"
24I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A new art project in Nigeria is centered on the still missing victims of a 2014 mass kidnapping in the town of Chibok, Borno state. Militants raided a government-run school for girls there and seized many students. 2The newly completed project presents clay likenesses of 108 school girls who remain missing eight years later. 3The militant group Haram captured 276 teenage girls in all. About 160 of them have been released, some after years of captivity. 4At first, the mass kidnapping caused international anger. A social media campaign called #BringBackOurGirls received wide attention. Famous Americans, including U.S. first lady Michelle Obama pressed for the girls' return. But, over time, the subject of the kidnapping and hostages mostly disappeared from public discussion. 5So, French artist Prune Nourry decided to use art to increase public knowledge about the missing girls. She named the project "Statues Also Breathe." It is on display at an art center in Nigeria's capital Lagos. 6Students from across the country created the statues. 7Nourry collected pictures of the missing girls from their families. She then passed the images along to university students. They sculpted the pieces at an event at Obafemi Awolowo University, in southwestern Nigeria. 8Some of the former hostages from the kidnapping also took part, as did some parents of the missing students. 9Nourry told Reuters news agency it was a good way for people who have long felt useless to do something to finally help the missing women. "The fact of being able to at least give a little thing through sculpture, through what we know how to do, was healing," she said. 10Habiba Balogun oversees the Bring Back Our Girls campaign in Lagos. She told Reuters the missing women "have been in distress for eight years." 11Balogun said she is pleased that a project had been created to "elevate" the issue. She hopes it can serve as, in her words, "a permanent record in the history of our country about something tragic like this" 12I'm Bryan Lynn. 13The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 14________________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16clay - n. an earthy material that is sticky and easily molded when wet and hard when baked 17display - n. a setting or presentation of something in open view 18distress - n. the feeling of being very upset or worried 19elevate - v. to be given a more important position 20________________________________________________________________ 21What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 22Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.