Marini ‘Nini’ Ramlan
Marini ‘Nini’ Ramlan from Malaysia created a voluntary class to teach and inspire youths from difficult backgrounds. She hopes for art to be an influence for children to use their imagination and try new things, and inspire them to do the same in their daily lives.
Q: How did you start giving voluntary Art classes?
A: It started with me teaching my nieces and nephews art because I think art should be fun. And I saw my niece and nephew really enjoy it and they’re imaginative now. So, I want to kind of give back to society and I thought, ok well… Everybody’s giving money, so why don’t I just kind of like give art classes.
Q: How do you think art influences the youths?
A: I think it would influence the way they think and the way they see things. Hopefully when I do classes with them, I want them to see something that’s not in front of them. I always say, “paint what you don’t see”, and I think that’s really important for people to understand about art as well. It’s all about you. It’s about your expression.
Q: What are your hopes for these teens that you work with?
A: I want them to know that the world is no longer in Malaysia. I think they need to go out and see what’s out there and art is about the only thing I know that transcends and doesn’t have to have a language. People can like your pictures and you will find that there will be like-minded people around.
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