AN Island artist is travelling to Rwanda to document the work carried out by volunteers working to clear minefields.

Jason Butler wants to capture through drawings and paintings how the demining project works in the African country and the importance of the work carried out by the Mines Awareness Trust.

He leaves Jersey next week accompanied by the trust’s fund-raising officer, Samantha Evans. They will spend 11 days in the field with the clearing team, following them as they clear explosives laid after the genocide in 1994. Rwanda has since been an extremely dangerous place for civilians but the Trust, who have been working in the country since 2004, hope to complete their project by 2009.

Jason said: ‘I had been doing some commissioned painting in Guernsey and was looking for a big project. Genevieve Langford, who runs The Gallery in Guernsey, put me in touch with the Trust and we discussed what we could do and came up with the idea of this art project. I will be making as many drawings as possible and taking photos for future paintings.’

During the trip Sam and Jason will spend a few days in Nairobi with the dog trainers who teach the animals to sniff out the explosives. The whole continent is a new experience for Jason. ‘I’ve travelled a lot but I’ve never been to Africa before,’ he said. ‘It’s a big trip and a great opportunity to raise awareness for the charity. It’s a lot of responsibility, but I’m looking forward to it.’

The work produced from the trip, which was sponsored by HSBC, will be exhibited in Jersey at The Arts Gallery, St Helier, in October following an exhibition in Guernsey earlier in the year. Jason also plans to create a video about the experience for use in presentations at Highlands College and other organisations.

• Picture: Jason Butler with a selection of his work. Picture by David Ferguson (00600854)