In Peques and More We present an interview with Ignacio González Cavero, Doctor of Art History by Autonomous University of Madrid, who has taught as a teacher in Compulsory Secondary Education and in the university field. Since 2007 he has been working in talk to you: of the design and execution of any of its educational programs, carried out, for example, in the Lázaro Galdiano Foundation, at Cerralbo Museum or in the ICO Museum. He combines this work with the field of research.
What is speaking to you?
talk to you: It is an independent project platform that works to support the creation, dissemination and promotion of contemporary culture. It mainly promotes the curation of exhibitions and events at national and international level, develops educational activities programs for children, adolescents and families and provides training courses in the field of cultural management, among other lines of work.
What kind of workshops are offered to children and at what ages does it apply?
The workshops are focused at different ages, depending on the institution in which we are working. Apart from the offer of schools, we have activities designed for children from 3 to 5 years old and families from 6 to 12, as well as teenagers between 13 and 17, a group that is increasingly demanding more activities in the museum. The leisure offer is completed in summer periods with urban camps or longer workshops, which allows us to work with the same group for more days.
We are also increasingly interested in making museums more accessible spaces for all people, and an example of this is emPOWER Parents a project that we started last year in collaboration with the Queens Museum in New York and the ICO Museum in Madrid for families with children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
What is the purpose of the workshops?
The general objective is that children begin to familiarize themselves with the world of culture and museums, learning at the same time to use the gaze as a visual tool and to foster respect for different artistic disciplines. We also want to offer alternatives of cultural leisure habits as a family, so that both adults and children are involved in the same activity during their visit to the museum. In the end, the most beautiful thing is to see how the children finish the activity with a smile and with a “until the next workshop”. In my opinion, that must be the primary objective.
The most beautiful thing is to see how the children finish the activity with a smile and with a until the next workshop
Which centers collaborate with Hablarenarte: and in which cities do the workshops take place?
Currently, and with regard to educational activities, the institutions in which we develop these educational programs are the ICO Museum and the Reader's House, both in the municipality of Madrid. In any case, we always seek to design activities that respond to the needs and peculiarities of each museum or institution.
How do you prepare the session to work later with the kids?
Depending on the temporary exhibition or the route that we are going to make in a permanent collection, we study and analyze carefully the basic concepts that we want to transmit and choose the works that seem most representative and striking for them. Starting from this point we adapt the contents to the ages of the group and always try to have support resources or make some kind of game in the rooms. Once we have clear the fundamental concepts, we think of a possible workshop to put these ideas into practice. All this previous preparation is achieved thanks to the effort, the work and the good interaction between the education team of Hablarenarte: and the institution in question.
What profiles (studies, skills, etc.) do the monitors have to talk to you?
Perhaps the interdisciplinary nature of the team to talk to you: it is what makes us able to approach these activities from different points of view, which enriches the activities. Currently, the team's educators have training in Art History, Fine Arts, Didactics in the museum or Social Work.
The team's educators have training in Art History, Fine Arts, Museum Teaching or Social Work
What do you expect from the participation of children in the workshops and their families? Are your expectations usually met?
The fundamental thing is that children and adults enjoy and learn during the activity. That they themselves carry the “baton” of the workshop visits and that they share together the interest and enthusiasm that art arouses in general. We are also especially interested in the involvement of parents so that even they can discover something new with their children.
How are families before Art, how do we behave with children and how do we do group work?
In general, families respond very well, it shows that you do many activities in museums and other spaces and are increasingly involved, which helps us achieve the proposed objectives.
We are also noticing how the complicity created between the families participating in the same session is increasing. In the activities of Casa del Lector the dynamics of work in the workshops is always collective. Now, for example, we are working on the exhibition of the Efe Agency, and every Saturday we set up a team newsroom where all the participants (including the elderly) must collaborate together to get the project moving forward.
Families respond very well and the complicity created between the families participating in the sessions is increasing
How are the kids who play the most in the workshop?
Really all children, regardless of their age, teach us many things. Each of them has a very different view of art and a perception that, in most cases, is not as conditioned as that of adults. It is interesting to listen to all the things they say and to reflect on the concerns that the different artistic manifestations produce: they can learn a lot from them!
How can we then practice what we learned in the workshop at home or at school?
It is something that we usually propose more to school groups, although we always look for ways to stay “connected”. In the ICO Museum, for example, each participant is given a didactic notebook at the end of the visit, and on the last page an activity is always proposed to do at home (here you can find the notebook of the current exhibition, about Juan Navarro Baldeweg).
In Casa del Lector, on the other hand, we seek to share collective creations through the Internet, and we have published different pages in blog format; The last one is La Gaceta del Lector, which we invite you to visit.
What is your source of funding?
In the field of educational programs, it is normal for the institutions themselves to hire us to develop the activities. On other occasions, we have also resorted to grants and grants, especially to develop more specific programs. Until now we have always sought to participate in programs that are free to the public, although in the current context it is increasingly common for museums and other institutions to start charging a price, albeit symbolic, to the participants. It is a debate that will be increasingly present, and not only because of the financing problems of the institutions, but also because of the greater commitment that it implies among families, for example, in something as simple as not causing casualties at the last minute.
And here the interview with Ignacio González Cavero from talk to you:, I thank you for your generosity in the answers and especially for sharing with us your experience and your work for the dissemination of Art among children and their families. I have been fortunate to conduct many workshops with him and with other members of talk to you: and it is a highly recommended experience for how they strive to involve children in the knowledge of artists and their works through games, entertainment, workshops and much dedication.
