Faces of Missing ‘Chibok Girls’ Sculpted in Nigerian Art Project

Faces of Missing ‘Chibok Girls’ Sculpted¹ in Nigerian Art Project

A new art project in Nigeria is centered on the still missing victims of a 2014 mass kidnapping in the town of Chibok, Borno state. Militants³ raided a government-run school for girls there and seized many students.

The newly completed project presents clay likenesses of 108 school girls who remain missing eight years later.

The militant² group Haram captured 276 teenage girls in all. About 160 of them have been released, some after years of captivity⁴.

At 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.

So, French artist Prune⁵ Nourry decided⁶ 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.

Students from across the country created the statues.

Nourry 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.

Some of the former hostages from the kidnapping also took part, as did some parents of the missing students.

Nourry 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.

Habiba Balogun oversees⁷ the Bring Back Our Girls campaign in Lagos. She told Reuters the missing women "have been in distress⁸ for eight years."

Balogun 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 tragic⁹ like this"

Words in This Story

clay – n. an earthy material that is sticky and easily molded when wet and hard when baked

display – n. a setting or presentation of something in open view

distress – n. the feeling of being very upset or worried

elevate – v. to be given a more important position

1 sculpted   

adj.经雕塑的

参考例句：

• a display of animals sculpted in ice 冰雕动物展
• The ladies had their hair sculpted by the leading coiffeur of the day. 女士们的发型都是当代有名的理发师做的。

2 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

5 prune   

n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除

参考例句：

• Will you prune away the unnecessary adjectives in the passage?把这段文字中不必要的形容词删去好吗？
• It is our job to prune the side branches of these trees.我们的工作就是修剪这些树的侧枝。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

8 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

9 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。