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Guided tours for children in Italian museums
The International/ournal
ofMuseum
Management and Curatorship (1988) 7,63-65
Guided Tours for Children in Italian Museums The Work of the Educational Department
of V.A.M.I.
ALBERICA TRIVULZIO
Introduction Requested by both the museums and the schools of Milan, a pilot scheme has been developed for the Junior Group of V.A.M.I. (Volontari Associati per i Musei Italiani) to provide a structured programme of guided tours for children in museums. The methodology adopted by the group is that of ‘Maieutics’, which is widely used today and is based on a system of questions and answers, stimulating a form of debate between the Volunteer and the children in front of the works of art. Each lesson sets out to encourage the children to express, both verbally and in visual terms, the thoughts and emotions evoked by the experience and discussion of art. The immediate goal is to generate positive, personal and differing responses in order to involve the children fully in the Art Appreciation Programme, and this has been specially designed by the Junior Group for children in the six to thirteen age-group: 1. Introduction to the museum; 2. Participatory approach to the work of art; 3. Acquisition of some tools for visual art appreciation. The artistic and cultural message can then be interpreted by identifying the different components of the work of art and by separating the different elements of its structure in order to compare them with those of other works of art. The job of the Education Volunteer has to be performed in a manner appropriate to young and sometimes even very small children. The children are, through their answers, guided by the Volunteer to work out a preliminary reading of the work of art which, although spontaneous and imaginative, must keep strictly within the art idiom. Consequently the Volunteer must keep the vocabulary used under careful control in order to avoid breaching the limits laid down for the Art Appreciation Programme. The results of this Programme have been very good, and, given the gratifying responses from the children, we have been encouraged to continue practising the same basic methodology. However, we also continue to try to refine certain components of the Programme by means of a scheme specifically aimed at improving the children’s natural talents as observers of the Visual Arts. The guided tours take place twice a week, and each lasts one hour.Bookings, made at the V.A.M.I. information desk, are requested at least three days in advance, and the groups are composed of approximately twenty children each. Two or three Volunteers of the Junior Group are in charge of up to ten children each, and they start by explaining to them how one should behave in a museum: being careful not to approach too closely or, worse, touch the works of art; avoid shouting or milling about; etc. No more than ten to twelve works of art, carefully selected in advance in accordance with specific artistic, historical, cultural and humanist criteria, are included in any one tour. 0260-4779/88/010063-03$03.00 0 1988Butterworth
& Co (Publishers)
Ltd
64
Guided
Tours for Children
in Italian
Museums
Techniques Adopted The ‘reading’ of the work of art is developed as follows: 1. Acquaintance with the work of art is first made through a language which, although very simple and clear, is always strictly limited to the primary art vocabulary. 2. Little chronological information and hardly any precise datings are given; expressions such as ‘a century ago’ or ‘at the time of the discovery of . . .’ are employed instead. 3. Biographical information is given, and always the nationality of the artist as well as the period in which he lived, but this mostly consists of a few events or anecdotes related to his personality and his art. 4. The questions addressed to the children are designed to engage their attention, make them look carefully at a work of art and stimulate their inquisitiveness, as well as to encourage a certain competitiveness in achieving an understanding of it. 5. Approval is signalled for good answers or remarks, but never reproach or disapproval for missing the point. 6. It is very important that the Volunteer maintains the participation of the children at a high level and detects immediately any signs of lack of attentiveness or tiredness, cutting an item short or starting another subject, or, if necessary, altering the plan of the guided tour. 7. Last, but not least, the children are never taught. In Milan, the Volunteers Junior Group of V.A.M.I. is developing at present a programme for children aged six to thirteen which will be provided at the Gallery of Modern Art (Galleria d’Arte Moderna) of the city. However, while planning the programme, we recognized immediately that we could not ignore the Villa in which the Gallery is housed. Once owned by the Belgioioso family, then by the Melzi d’Eri1, and later by the Emperor Napoleon, this handsome Neo-Classical building with its charming gardens, provides a very good example of private cultural heritage converted into a public asset. We thought that it was important to tell children when, how and why all this has happened, and by means of the guided tour we want the children to understand how historical events and social change have transformed the Villa, in stages, from its construction to the present day. Furthermore, we like to emphasize the importance of conservation and the restoration of our cultural heritage, and we also hope that the children will care for this communal heritage as they do for their own cherished possessions. The guided tour of the Gallery has therefore been planned in two parts: the first, to the Grassi Collection, which includes paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries, is conceived as ‘A journey through time to get to know people, animals and places’, whilst the second part is devoted to the Villa and its gardens in order to familiarize the very young visitors with the historical and cultural heritage of their city. Children’s Introduction
to the Museum
The Museum is the place in which the child can find the art collections that tell the cultural history of mankind from its beginnings, by displaying the unique milestones of its significance, its experiences and its achievements as time has passed. The works of art in these collections have been created by artists, and we want to learn their ‘stories’, which may be different or alike, but are all very revealing . The artist began telling his ‘story’ through his work of art from the very moment of its creation, and ever since many people have seen it: men and women, old and young, children like those educated by V.A.M.I. But not all of them have discovered its ‘secrets’. And why? Because they have looked at it without seeing it. What is then the difference between looking at something
ALBERICA TRIVULZIO
65
and seeing it? The same difference that there is between just looking at and getting to know a work of art. If we want to know the story in a book, we must first of all learn to read, and if we want to be able to understand the ‘story’ to be told by a painting we must first learn to read its forms and its colours. But how? By looking very carefully, asking questions, without being in a hurry, and trying hard to note the details and discover the hidden secrets of its ‘story’. This is the ‘story’ that the painter has invented for us to share, and through the painting he continues to tell it. However it is a different ‘story’ for everybody, because each of us will look at, come to know, and love a work of art in a very personal way. Indeed, it was Pablo Picasso who reminded us that ‘a picture is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it is being done it changes; one’s thoughts change. And when it is finished, it still goes on changing, according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it. A picture lives a life like a living creature, undergoing changes imposed on us by our life from day to day. This is natural enough, as the picture lives through the man who is looking at it.’ Editors’ V.A.M.I. V.A.M.I. Venice.
Note is located at Via Bigli 19, 20121 Milan, Italy; Tel. (02) 792.152, and local representatives are to be found in Lucca, Messina, Prato, Reggio Calabria and
ofMuseum
Management and Curatorship (1988) 7,63-65
Guided Tours for Children in Italian Museums The Work of the Educational Department
of V.A.M.I.
ALBERICA TRIVULZIO
Introduction Requested by both the museums and the schools of Milan, a pilot scheme has been developed for the Junior Group of V.A.M.I. (Volontari Associati per i Musei Italiani) to provide a structured programme of guided tours for children in museums. The methodology adopted by the group is that of ‘Maieutics’, which is widely used today and is based on a system of questions and answers, stimulating a form of debate between the Volunteer and the children in front of the works of art. Each lesson sets out to encourage the children to express, both verbally and in visual terms, the thoughts and emotions evoked by the experience and discussion of art. The immediate goal is to generate positive, personal and differing responses in order to involve the children fully in the Art Appreciation Programme, and this has been specially designed by the Junior Group for children in the six to thirteen age-group: 1. Introduction to the museum; 2. Participatory approach to the work of art; 3. Acquisition of some tools for visual art appreciation. The artistic and cultural message can then be interpreted by identifying the different components of the work of art and by separating the different elements of its structure in order to compare them with those of other works of art. The job of the Education Volunteer has to be performed in a manner appropriate to young and sometimes even very small children. The children are, through their answers, guided by the Volunteer to work out a preliminary reading of the work of art which, although spontaneous and imaginative, must keep strictly within the art idiom. Consequently the Volunteer must keep the vocabulary used under careful control in order to avoid breaching the limits laid down for the Art Appreciation Programme. The results of this Programme have been very good, and, given the gratifying responses from the children, we have been encouraged to continue practising the same basic methodology. However, we also continue to try to refine certain components of the Programme by means of a scheme specifically aimed at improving the children’s natural talents as observers of the Visual Arts. The guided tours take place twice a week, and each lasts one hour.Bookings, made at the V.A.M.I. information desk, are requested at least three days in advance, and the groups are composed of approximately twenty children each. Two or three Volunteers of the Junior Group are in charge of up to ten children each, and they start by explaining to them how one should behave in a museum: being careful not to approach too closely or, worse, touch the works of art; avoid shouting or milling about; etc. No more than ten to twelve works of art, carefully selected in advance in accordance with specific artistic, historical, cultural and humanist criteria, are included in any one tour. 0260-4779/88/010063-03$03.00 0 1988Butterworth
& Co (Publishers)
Ltd
64
Guided
Tours for Children
in Italian
Museums
Techniques Adopted The ‘reading’ of the work of art is developed as follows: 1. Acquaintance with the work of art is first made through a language which, although very simple and clear, is always strictly limited to the primary art vocabulary. 2. Little chronological information and hardly any precise datings are given; expressions such as ‘a century ago’ or ‘at the time of the discovery of . . .’ are employed instead. 3. Biographical information is given, and always the nationality of the artist as well as the period in which he lived, but this mostly consists of a few events or anecdotes related to his personality and his art. 4. The questions addressed to the children are designed to engage their attention, make them look carefully at a work of art and stimulate their inquisitiveness, as well as to encourage a certain competitiveness in achieving an understanding of it. 5. Approval is signalled for good answers or remarks, but never reproach or disapproval for missing the point. 6. It is very important that the Volunteer maintains the participation of the children at a high level and detects immediately any signs of lack of attentiveness or tiredness, cutting an item short or starting another subject, or, if necessary, altering the plan of the guided tour. 7. Last, but not least, the children are never taught. In Milan, the Volunteers Junior Group of V.A.M.I. is developing at present a programme for children aged six to thirteen which will be provided at the Gallery of Modern Art (Galleria d’Arte Moderna) of the city. However, while planning the programme, we recognized immediately that we could not ignore the Villa in which the Gallery is housed. Once owned by the Belgioioso family, then by the Melzi d’Eri1, and later by the Emperor Napoleon, this handsome Neo-Classical building with its charming gardens, provides a very good example of private cultural heritage converted into a public asset. We thought that it was important to tell children when, how and why all this has happened, and by means of the guided tour we want the children to understand how historical events and social change have transformed the Villa, in stages, from its construction to the present day. Furthermore, we like to emphasize the importance of conservation and the restoration of our cultural heritage, and we also hope that the children will care for this communal heritage as they do for their own cherished possessions. The guided tour of the Gallery has therefore been planned in two parts: the first, to the Grassi Collection, which includes paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries, is conceived as ‘A journey through time to get to know people, animals and places’, whilst the second part is devoted to the Villa and its gardens in order to familiarize the very young visitors with the historical and cultural heritage of their city. Children’s Introduction
to the Museum
The Museum is the place in which the child can find the art collections that tell the cultural history of mankind from its beginnings, by displaying the unique milestones of its significance, its experiences and its achievements as time has passed. The works of art in these collections have been created by artists, and we want to learn their ‘stories’, which may be different or alike, but are all very revealing . The artist began telling his ‘story’ through his work of art from the very moment of its creation, and ever since many people have seen it: men and women, old and young, children like those educated by V.A.M.I. But not all of them have discovered its ‘secrets’. And why? Because they have looked at it without seeing it. What is then the difference between looking at something
ALBERICA TRIVULZIO
65
and seeing it? The same difference that there is between just looking at and getting to know a work of art. If we want to know the story in a book, we must first of all learn to read, and if we want to be able to understand the ‘story’ to be told by a painting we must first learn to read its forms and its colours. But how? By looking very carefully, asking questions, without being in a hurry, and trying hard to note the details and discover the hidden secrets of its ‘story’. This is the ‘story’ that the painter has invented for us to share, and through the painting he continues to tell it. However it is a different ‘story’ for everybody, because each of us will look at, come to know, and love a work of art in a very personal way. Indeed, it was Pablo Picasso who reminded us that ‘a picture is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it is being done it changes; one’s thoughts change. And when it is finished, it still goes on changing, according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it. A picture lives a life like a living creature, undergoing changes imposed on us by our life from day to day. This is natural enough, as the picture lives through the man who is looking at it.’ Editors’ V.A.M.I. V.A.M.I. Venice.
Note is located at Via Bigli 19, 20121 Milan, Italy; Tel. (02) 792.152, and local representatives are to be found in Lucca, Messina, Prato, Reggio Calabria and