Activities and Highlights

On March 20th at 10:00 a.m., our school community came together to celebrate poetry and literary sharing through the initiative “Gift a Poem,” as part of UNESCO’s World Poetry Day celebrations. The event, involving both students and teachers, was marked by an atmosphere of reflection and creativity, reinforcing the role of literature as a link between different members of the community.

The preparation for this activity was grounded in the pedagogical work carried out in the classroom. Under the guidance of the Portuguese and English teachers, students were invited to immerse themselves in the work of Polish poet Adam Zagajewski, specifically through the poem “Try to Praise the Mutilated World.” The analysis of this piece allowed for a rich discussion on the ability to find beauty and hope in a fragmented and imperfect world, serving as a catalyst for each student’s individual expression.

Using selected verses from the poem as an inspiring starting point, students began a creative writing process. The result was a diverse collection of original texts that, while maintaining a dialogue with Zagajewski’s work, reflected the experiences and sensitivities of our student body.

The public event began with a heartfelt reading of the original poem, a moment that brought silence to the school space and set the tone for the act of sharing that followed. After the reading, the poems produced by the students were distributed to the entire community present. This “gift of poetry” transformed the act of reading into a moment of communion, in which each participant received a fragment of another’s worldview, thus fulfilling UNESCO’s mission of promoting peace and understanding through the written word.

Finally, it should be noted that, as IAI is a specialized arts school, a character was also created within the scope of the Drawing class, reflecting the students’ creativity and technical skills. This element, carefully conceived and designed, emerged as a form of artistic expression and was directly connected to the activity in question.

Schools involved

  • Instituto das Artes e Imagens in Vila Nova de Gaia