An art exhibition showcasing work created by Year 8 students from Westside School opened yesterday evening in the GEMA gallery.

The Pop Art project focuses on Gibraltarian identity by featuring local food and colloquial Llanito words and expressions. Although the works were already being developed by the students as part of a school project, they have been presented as part of the ‘Celebrating Llanito' initiative that Gibraltar Cultural Services  (GCS) launched earlier in the year.

Speaking to YGTV, Westside Art teacher and project lead Kyrane Lia said: “A Pop Art project is usually done with Year 8s every year but we wanted to incorporate the idea of Llanito language and Llanito food this time. We started looking into the history of the Llanito language, why we speak the way we do in Gibraltar and how it has formed part of our identity and our culture. It’s very important because it’s something that’s being lost among the younger generation. It was a nice project to encourage them to speak more Llanito, so I made a dictionary and they started speaking Llanito in class.”

When GCS put out a call to see if any artists wanted to form part of a project exploring Llanito, Ms Lia reached out them and she thanks Cultural Development Officer Davina Barbara for offering her students “a fantastic opportunity to have their work in public for the whole community to see.”

Ms Lia explained that the works focus on shoes and food as Pop Art usually takes popular culture as its subject. “As the students love wearing Croc shoes and other styles, it’s about transforming popular footwear into the food they want to present in their artwork.”

Although some students said they knew little or no Llanito, Ms Lia says that, as the project progressed, they started speaking with more confidence: “I had a few students who said they didn’t speak any Spanish or Llanito. We discussed why Llanito was being lost so I explained to them the importance of our identity and why we shouldn’t lose it.”

Alan Perez, Head of Art at Westside School, said that teachers  were “very proud” of what they do because they engage in a lot of personalised learning: “We focus on the strengths of the students and bring out that creativity within.”

Minister for Education John Cortes, also at the launch, added: “You’ve really captured it—helping keep the Llanito language alive is really wonderful.”

Members of the public are invited to visit the exhibition at GEMA Gallery, Montagu Bastion, which will be open weekdays 10am to 3pm and selected Saturdays throughout the summer including this Saturday, 27th June.

The exhibition will run until the end of July, coinciding with the summer programme for more interaction. Visitors will also be able to experience the creativity and cultural insight of Gibraltar’s young artists amongst the extensive collection of works on display at GEMA.

This project forms part of GCS’s wider efforts to support artistic initiatives that preserve and celebrate Llanito, encouraging young people to engage with and express their cultural identity in meaningful and contemporary ways.

For more information, please contact [email protected]