Kateřina Mesdag

2.38 Why Educate Through Art and About Art – An Invitation to Unexpected Territories from a Book Introducing Visual Art to Children (Paper)

Kateřina Mesdag – Department of Art Education, Faculty of Education, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic

Abstract:

The paper presents a practical outcome of an ongoing doctoral research in the field of Art Education Theory, focusing on the issue of introducing visual art to children through the medium of books and exploring its further use in education. The paper introduces two books entitled My First Trade Fair Palace [Můj první Veletržní palác] and My Trade Fair Palace [Můj Veletržní palác] from the Museum Without Walls series [edice Muzeum beze stěn] written by the author. This series, showcasing Czech art museums, brings selected content from their permanent exhibitions to children. The article highlights not only the potential of conveying visual art through books but also describes the didactic approaches the author applies to three different target groups of children. From the perspective of fundamental philosophical views on education, the author considers how and why to educate children through and about art. She explores the basic relationship between the concepts of culture and art as a part of culture, contemplating the nature of “information” communicated to the young perceiver of art and the ways in which artworks can be interpreted. The books in the Museum Without Walls series are intended for both school and extracurricular use, available as printed and audio books. This series and its associated books form part of the author’s larger project, which shares the same title. The project is being progressively developed through a series of workshops that employ methods of expressive interpretation to introduce selected artworks. Additionally, a methodological minisite is also being created to complement the series, featuring the aforementioned audiobooks and videos that explore the expressive interpretation methods.