Enjoy a visit to the museum while aesthetic education is in progress

In the era of double tax cuts, taking children to visit museums and art galleries is an ideal way for many families to spend their weekends. Chen Keyi, founder of Tusi Aesthetic Education, believes that the fundamental purpose of aesthetic education is to allow people to establish a state of life, become "artists of life", and empower people to live a better life.

About 10 years ago, when he was still studying art management and education at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Chen Keyi discovered that the public’s appreciation of art was still at the level of “what the paintings look like.” She believes that the essence of art is not technique. With the popularization of aesthetic education, people are increasingly aware that the most important thing about art is to bring shocking power to people's souls, to educate people with beauty, and to beautify people.

Watching exhibitions is the best starting point for aesthetic education

If you want your children to have "beauty", you first need to bring your children to "beauty". Interest is the best teacher. Select exhibitions that children are interested in and have connections with as the starting point for museum aesthetic education. If you choose, you win half the battle.

I remember last year's "Hao Miyazaki and the World of Ghibli" exhibition at the Today Art Museum, which vividly reproduced the birth process of 21 animated films. Do you want to take the kids to watch it all in one go? No, I don’t want to cover everything, I just want to cover everything. For example, if you do some homework in advance, you will find that the biggest difference between Hayao Miyazaki and other animation masters is that when he creates, he first draws a scene in his mind, and then constructs the story step by step based on this picture. At that time, cartoon production did not use computer technology, so hand-drawn pictures had to be played together.

We then made some cards with images for the children to randomly select 3 or 4. There was no story continuity between the cards, and the children were allowed to make up a story based on the pictures of the cards in their hands. Such small games not only allow children to understand the principles of animation, but also stimulate imagination, creativity, and arouse a sense of participation. The exhibition is no longer a "high hanging" existence, but a theme that can be participated in and a touchable activity.

At that time, there was a 10-year-old girl who impressed me deeply. She not only used the cards she drew to make up a story in order, but also made up a story backwards with great interest. Therefore, there is no child who is "unable to calm down". As long as we find the child's points of interest, they can always give us unexpected surprises. Of course, parents should also get rid of the obsession of "must watch it all" and do not force their children to stay for a long time. If they no longer enjoy the exhibition, the physical strength and emotional capacity of the children will be exceeded, and it will become "checking in for the sake of checking in". ”, that would be counterproductive.

Going to exhibitions is an important way for children to establish a sense of cultural identity. By making exhibitions a part of children's daily life, children can gradually develop their artistic accomplishments.

Open the five senses and knock on the door of art

It is common for many parents to give "pointers" to their children in front of famous paintings. This painting is a masterpiece by a certain master and is worth a lot of money! In fact, if a piece of work has no connection with our lives, even if it is priceless, it will not be able to touch the hearts of children. Parents may wish to give priority to exhibits that are closely related to their children’s lives. For example, flowers, birds, fish and insects in nature are easy for children to get close to and love. I took the children to appreciate Qi Baishi's collection of works "Unfortunately Silent".

Everyone thinks that Qi Baishi is a master of shrimp painting. In fact, shrimps only account for a small part of his works. "It's a pity that there is no sound" means, "It's a pity that there is no sound, otherwise you would all think that what I painted is real." Therefore, we played the sounds of bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, and crickets in the children's headphones, and let them play the game of "listen to the sounds to find the pictures." First, let the children feel happy in the museum, and then make them think further, "Why did Qi Baishi paint flowers, birds, fish and insects?" Then the children can easily understand that Qi Baishi expressed through his paintings that "I don't care about traveling to famous mountains and rivers, just a grass in life." Every tree is beautiful, but the beauty is actually in my backyard."

For another example, "Daisies and Poppies" collected by Song Art Museum was created one month before Van Gogh's death. At that time, his condition improved and he picked a bunch of flowers from the mountains. The daisies were fragrant and the poppies were charming. He was worried that the flowers would not last forever, so he set up a drawing board and drew the flowers.

In order to let the children feel Van Gogh's state of mind when he created this painting, we will bring a handful of daisies during the exhibition, allowing the children to get close to "Daisies and Poppies" through their own noses, and use emotions to connect Van Gogh's artistic life.

As Qian Zhongshu said, "In daily experience, vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste can often impress or communicate with each other, and the various functional areas of the eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and body can be separated without distinction. Color There seems to be temperature, the sound seems to have an image, the cold and warmth seem to have weight, the smell seems to have an edge." Therefore, during the exhibition, we should try our best to use games and props, as well as our own strengths, to help children open the door to art with their five senses, appreciate the works from all dimensions, and understand the author's creative intentions. For children, feeling is more important than knowledge. Because a person's mental growth begins with sensory experience.

Ask good questions to stimulate children’s thinking

If the homework before watching the exhibition is a burden for some parents who are too busy, then it is better to change the role and let the children Following his preferences and ideas, it is also a very clever way to be a little tour guide and lead adults to see exhibitions without any pressure. Good answers are not as good as good questions. The following questions can help us establish an emotional connection between children and works: Tell us which work you like best and why? What is your least favorite piece of work and why? If you could have one piece of work in your home, which piece would you choose? What piece of art would you most like to give as a gift to a close friend and why? There are no right or wrong answers to these answers, and parents do not need to do any homework to communicate with their children without any barriers. It is also a clever way of communication that enhances the parent-child relationship.

For parents with exhibition-related backgrounds, they can set a virtual character for their children and play cosplay games in the exhibition hall, which can also better help their children understand the theme and author of the exhibition. For example, in the "Splendor of China" exhibition at Tsinghua Art Museum, we asked the children to act as little archaeologists, carefully observe and describe the characteristics of the artifacts, and deduce without looking at the labels, "How old is this work from us?" "What might it have been used for?" "How was this thing made?"...

The contemporary art works that make parents scratch their heads the most do not have the meaning and value that the art world has concluded. , so it is more suitable to use questions to guide children to think about deeper things, and go to the exhibition with questions to find answers. The "Art Karman Line" exhibited at the Red Brick Art Museum is a very typical example. Teacher Xu Bing painted the "Book of Heaven" he created on the surface of a rocket and sent it to outer space, but the rocket ultimately failed to launch. He presented the launch process and rocket wreckage through exhibitions.

We asked the children, "Although the rocket launch failed, do you think it was a complete failure? Is there any success?" I still clearly remember one child saying something special on the spot. If there is philosophy, "If you fail, just fail, because there is still a long way to go."

When we asked, "Which disciplines does this exhibition integrate? How do you think it is integrated?" "One child's answer was very profound: "Technology makes art more rational, and art makes technology more romantic." Some children asked: "If contemporary art has no boundaries, can everything be called art?"... There are a thousand answers in a thousand people's minds, but the most precious thing is the process of exploration, thinking and verification.

If parents find the questions difficult, they may wish to prepare a sketchbook and pencil for their children to keep a diary of the exhibition at any time. For example, let the children copy the patterns and shapes they like, or even record just one sentence - what day I was on, who I was with, which venue I came to, what exhibition I saw, what was the exhibit that impressed me the most that day... Very meaningful.

In addition, many exhibition exits have derivatives shops. After visiting the exhibition, parents may wish to spend a little money to buy some related books, postcards, refrigerator magnets or notepads. This is not a waste of money. It can cost dozens of dollars. A small gift of 1 yuan may be able to motivate the child to continue to visit the exhibition next time, and also help the child establish a connection with the exhibition. After taking it home, he is likely to read related books, documentaries or TV programs. The child's interest in related topics It will be thicker.

There is a mother in our Tu Siqun group who goes to museums every weekend. In 5 years, she took her daughter to 145 museums and watched 237 exhibitions. She said that taking her children to visit museums is as normal as going to the supermarket. It is a part of life. Starting from visiting the museum together, starting from spending a good weekend, let the children have a broader life.

This is not just for children to learn knowledge. The aesthetic education significance of the museum lies in that when a child gradually understands what real beauty is and what real knowledge is, they will learn more about it in the future. On the road of life, they will infiltrate beauty into every corner of their lives, and they will be the "lifestylers" of the future.