On Friday the 31st of March the year 7’s at Dartford Grammar School for Girls displayed their created bonnets during the annual Easter celebration assembly. The theme for this year was surrealism and so the students spent a lot of time creating bonnets that depicted this theme for part of their Art & Design class.

Surrealism is an arts movement created in the 1920s and used by artists and writers who want to experiment with how to express the subconscious mind. Some of the most well know artists to follow this movement are Salvador Dalí and René Magritte. Some students even recreated parts of Salvador’s ‘Persistence of memory’ by incorporating melted clocks. The event included the students from the whole of year 7 parading their creations along the main hall and onto the stage to songs like “Work From Home” by Fifth Harmony and “Rockabye” by Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie.

The works on display included a fish tank with blue lights on the bottom, a duo piece that was titled ‘Unicorn Land’ and an umbrella hat with rows of pink flowers hanging from it. The overall winner had created an interesting interpretation of an ear out of paper mache.

For some students, the competition increased innovation and allowed them to express themselves, however for others it can be a bit nerve wracking to display their hats in front of an audience.

Emily Abernethy, a student a Dartford Grammar School for Girls, said, “it’s good to see that even though grammar schools mainly focus on academic subjects such as science and maths, they still encourage students to be artistic and expressive”

Overall, the students seemed to enjoy the event and so did the audience.

Chloe Lewis, Dartford Grammar School for Girls