United Kingdom art museums

English Museums Worth Visiting with Children

"WE WANT to rid children of boredom in museums." With these words, Madeleine Mainstone, head of the Education Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London's Kensington district, expressed the goal pursued by many museums and galleries trying to attract more children to their premises.

"Victoria and Albert" is the richest treasure trove of visual arts, but it is precisely the magnificence and diversity of the museum's exhibits that can quickly overwhelm and confuse a young visitor coming to the museum for the first time. "If a child is prepared for what they will see and it's explained why it needs to be seen," says Madeleine Mainstone, "they can develop self-education skills." And this process can begin as early as four years of age if the right atmosphere for developing curiosity is created. For this purpose, the museum organizes special children's clubs twice a year, during Christmas and Easter holidays—one for children under 10, and another for older children. It's delightful to watch how enthusiastically toddlers master the basics of art studies, becoming acquainted with the finest examples of pottery—Persian plates, Florentine jugs, Chinese bowls.

"Does this design suit the jug's shape well?" "What's drawn around the edge of this plate?" "Do you think it's good or bad that there's a ship drawn on the bottom of this bowl?" Such questions make children think about elementary aesthetic problems, and after discussion, each child chooses an object and makes sketches of it.

These holiday clubs are another step forward in developing the educational program conducted by the museum. They complement Saturday classes with children that began about 11 years ago. Two school teachers work with children (ages seven to eleven), showing them how to observe and evaluate objects while stimulating their creative abilities. Additional activities can take various forms: discussion with questions and answers, amateur performances, drawing, painting, paper cutting, object sorting games, or—for the youngest—a "find the object first" game.

A special room has all necessary materials—colored pencils, scissors, colored paper, glue, etc. Children are even allowed to handle and touch some museum exhibits. Madeleine Mainstone says: "We strive to teach children tactile perception of form and texture... This clearly demonstrates to them that artists and craftsmen use the same materials they work with in school."

The famous Whitechapel Art Gallery in London's East End invites teenagers aged 12-18 on Saturdays and during holidays to a workshop located in the "Upper Gallery." Working as much and however they want, young artists discover new paths for realizing their abilities and master new materials and artistic techniques. "We try to minimize help to children in their work and only give advice when they ask for it themselves," says Eileen Graham, a former drawing teacher who now heads the Upper Gallery.

England requires children to have the desire to develop their talent and readiness to set themselves a creative task and try to fulfill it. Judging by the constantly changing exhibition of drawings, paintings, collages, linoleum prints, sculptures, pottery, etc., the organizers' expectations are being met.

In the same East End is the Geffrye Museum, which first began spreading education during leisure hours 25 years ago. The museum is housed in an ancient ensemble of interconnected buildings (once an almshouse for the poor) and has a suite of rooms decorated in the style of different eras—from the 16th century to the present day.

Daily during school holidays, the museum fills with children. Boys and girls wander through the halls with pencils and notebooks in hand, learning about life in past centuries, how people dressed, what furniture they had, what tools they used; they become visually acquainted with the living conditions of famous people.

Each schoolchild receives a task sheet upon entry, compiled taking into account the age and main interests of the children. For example, the task might involve completing an essay or finishing a drawing, where the child must find what exactly is missing in the essay or drawing. Or they might be asked to record different types of kitchen utensils used over several centuries. Or they must answer a crossword puzzle testing historical knowledge. Finally, for five-year-olds, it might simply be a blank sheet of paper for sketches. Teachers working at the museum come to help the little researchers; there are boards with necessary information and a reading room.

Younger children (under 11) visit the museum in the mornings, while older children come in the afternoons. Besides studying history, they can try their hand at silk screen printing under expert guidance. One teacher wore a beautiful blue-green tie: "Steven made it yesterday; he's 12 years old." The museum has a studio and workshop where children can engage in drawing and painting, pottery, modeling, weaving, doll making, music, and basket weaving. They dress up in historical costumes or make them themselves.

In the southeastern suburb of London is another famous museum providing special opportunities for children. It's called the Horniman Museum after its founder and is divided into three departments—ethnographic, history of musical instruments, and natural sciences. On Saturdays and during school holidays, children participate in clubs covering these three areas of science, try their hand at various arts and crafts. They are allowed to handle and examine some exhibits. Recently, a special laboratory was created at the museum, equipped with sound recording and television equipment, also available to schoolchildren.

Even museums without permanent programs designed for children don't leave them unattended. The famous Science Museum in Kensington arranges special Christmas lecture series for them. The museum has a "children's gallery" where schoolchildren can turn working models of machines and devices on and off themselves, illustrating various scientific principles.

All these activities are, naturally, organized completely free of charge in addition to the universally available opportunities for group school excursions. They are undoubtedly very useful for any young researcher embarking on an intellectual journey in search of new knowledge.