Methodology
The key feature of the programme is the workshops it offers in which, depending on the individual museum, different techniques may be experimented with: artistic, compositive, reading, interpretation of works of art or the forms of the natural world using a scientific-experimental approach.
All suggestions are based on ‘doing’ as a cognitive tool, as an active way of constructing knowledge.
Objectives and skills
• Development of the sense of oneself to acquire awareness of one’s own body, thoughts, emotions and behaviour.
• Approach to the grammar of the visual language to increase creative, aesthetic and expressive skills and, likewise, to provide instruments to communicate with the language of images;
• Understanding of the importance of cultural heritage to recognise the historical evidence present in the territory.
• Contact with naturalistic-scientific knowledge using observation, discussion, and experimentation to teach the ability to recognise via experience and adopt behaviour that is responsible towards natural resources, contributing to the protection of the environment.
All the educational units in the programme have the objective of developing critical, creative and divergent thought thanks to the use of diverse materials, instruments and techniques and the reinforcement of transversal skills of a social nature aimed at encouraging multicultural integration.
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DOGE’S PALACE
Active tours
The perfect crime. Find the culprit in the Doge’s Palace
A crime that actually took place in the Doge’s Palace in the middle of the fifteenth century is the leitmotif of an itinerary that winds its way through the most important places in the Palace – from the courtyard, the institutional chambers, the prisons and the Doge’s apartment – trying to discover the countless clues that will shed light on an intricate event that took place when Francesco Foscari was doge.
Who is it for: Primary School (Grades 3-5)
Duration: 2 hours
When: Every day
Time: From 8.30 on
Languages: Italian, English, French, Russian
Parties and Pomp: Doge’s Tales
During the tour of Doge’s Palace, the young visitors will discover, thanks to info cards and visual aids, the main representative figure of the Serenissima Republic. The doge’s symbols of power, the costumes, the parties and the celebrations that have enriched the history and the Venetian culture will be presented in a dynamic journey that will develop through the rooms of the ducal apartment. At the end of the activity, the attention will be focused on the figure of the “dogaressa” and on the reasons why there were only very few wives of doges to have the honour of being crowned, in a lavish ceremony, thoroughly documented in the paintings of the palace.
Who is it for: Kindergarten and Primary School (Grades 1-2)
Duration: 2 hours
When: Everyday
Time: From 8:30 on
Languages: Italian, English, French
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CA’ REZZONICO: MUSEUM OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY VENICE
Workshops
Tales in pictures. Pietro Longhi’s Venice
As a whole, the twenty-eight canvases depicting everyday life by Pietro Longhi offer a highly accurate visual chronicle of eighteenth century Venice. After a brief visit to the museum, we shall pause in the Longhi rooms to look more closely at a series of paintings from an aesthetic and formal perspective. In particular, analysis will concentrate on several figures, objects and settings that will be described in detail, with reference to the historical and social function they played in Venetian life in the eighteenth century. With these elements as the starting point, the participants will take part in a creative, enjoyable activity in which they will create short illustrated tales, using sheets of paper, pencils and coloured pastels. “Stories in images”, of which the painter was a master, is therefore an ideal introduction to illustration and the relationship between narration and pictures.
For: Primary School
Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes
When: every day except Tuesdays, from 10 am
Languages: Italian, English, French
The fresco
The educational programme starts by looking at the materials and instruments that are needed to create a fresco: from the preparation of the mortar to the demonstration of the various ways to transfer the drawing to the plaster. The first stage is the creation of a group fresco followed by a personal one. Finally, in the museum they will look at Giandomenico Tiepolo’s frescoes with an ‘expert’ eye.
For: Upper Primary School
Duration: 3 hours
Quando: Monday, Friday, at 9 am
Languages: Italian, French
The portrait
The itinerary in the museum starts with an analysis of half figure portraits; the objective is to identify the constitutive elements of a human face, observing the importance of their proportions in the portrayal and introducing the matter of materials and drawing techniques, such as pastels that are no longer often used, but were very common in the eighteenth century. Attention will then be paid to the psychological aspects of the portrait to aid recognition of the different emotional states of the figures captured by the artist. Interpretation of full-figure portraits will pay particular attention of the function played by clothing and gestures when identifying a character. The practical activities will play on the children’s natural egocentric conception and ask them to reproduce their own image after observing themselves in a mirror. Using the technique of pastel drawings, each child will be encouraged to define their own physiognomical features and to portray their own emotive state when creating their own self-portrait.
For: Upper Primary School
Duration: 3 hours
Quando: Monday, Friday, at 9 am
Languages: Italian, French
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CA’ PESARO
Workshops
Leo and the magic triangle. Painting workshop
The magic of colours is told in a fairytale in which Leo the chameleon is the lead character. In a specially prepared workshop, with manual activities and optical experiments the children will learn to distinguish the different colours, how contrasts are created, and how colour is perceived in reference to additive and subtractive synthesis. The second part of the programme takes place in the exhibition rooms of the museum where the children will be accompanied during their observation through their now ‘expert’ eyes of how eighteenth-century artists knew how to use the scientific laws of colour theory in their work.
For: Kindergarten School and Primary School
Duration: 3 hours
When: Thursday, from 10 am
Languages: Italian, English and French
Silent life. Composition, drawing and paiting
The workshop offers an active approach to the genre of painting that is traditionally known as ‘still life’; precisely because it gives life to everyday items and objects, it offers a particularly valid field of study that is suitable for the exploration of the alchemy of what we see and how it can be portrayed (relationship between the objects, between objects and background, arrangement of the planes. After the first part of the activity, which takes place in the museum, experiments will be carried out in the workshop rooms on two traditional artistic techniques: watercolours and oil painting, with the aim of verifying how the choice of the expressive means produces different results
For: Primary School
Duration: 3 hours
When: Thursday, from 10 am
Languages: Italian, French
The colors of white
Some fish only see yellow, a cow only see grey. What does seeing colour actually mean?
In the world of art artists have always striven to understand the magic of light, studying how to arrange colours in their works; however, it is in modern art that new forms of expression were found to express it, using innovative and unconventional techniques and materials. Following in the footsteps of the most revolutionary artists of the twentieth century, using wax pastels, colour dust, fabrics, etc. the young participants will create their own original artist’s book in the shape of an accordion that reflects light and pays it homage.
For: Kindergarten and Primary School
Duration: 3 hours
When: every day except Monday, from 10 am
Languages: Italian, Spanish
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LACE MUSEUM
Active tours
In Search of the King Rooster
The hunt for rooters, peacocks, carnations and pomegranates that are hidden between the extraordinary interlaces of Venice. Through an introductive game the kids will fall into the shoes of little explorers on a search for the forms and decorative motifs that have evolved over the centuries.
Who is it for: Primary School
Duration: An hour and a half
When: Everyday except Monday
Time: From 10 on
Languages: Italian, English, Spanish
On the Crest of a Wave
Who could wear precious lace? What was its use? The itinerary winds its way down a time line that explains how lace developed in both its form and daily use. At the end of this journey, a large piece of lace will be made using the structures and techniques of the Venice point; at the end of the workshop the class may take this away with them as a memory of their visit to the museum.
Who is it for: Primary School (Grades 3-5)
Duration: 2 hours
When: Everyday except Monday
Time: From 10.00 on
Languages: Italian, English, Spanish
Workshops
Small Craftsman Grow
The islands of Murano and Burano are most known for their artisan traditions that have been passed down for centuries. What do the arts of glass and lace have to do with one another? By the construction of small artefacts the kids will understand the ancient crafts, rediscovering the art of creation.
Who is it for: Primary School (Grades 3-5)
Duration: 2 hours
When: Everyday except for Monday
Time: From 10 on
Languages: Italian, English, Spanish
Truth will come out!
“Knots” and “braids” are an essential part of lace: What’s the difference between them? Actually creating some small items will show just how these elements, which have always played a key role in the history of man, are closer to us than we think.
For: Upper Primary School
Duration: 2 hours
When: every day except Monday and Tuesday, from 10 am
Languages: Italian
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PALAZZO MOCENIGO: STUDY CENTRE OF THE HISTORY OF FABRICS AND COSTUMES
Active tours
An invite to the Palace
What was life like in a Venetian Palace? What were the mannerisms of the rich Venetian society in the 700’s? How were the nobles dressed? And the children? The answers to these and many other questions will be found through a game-type journey that will cover the rooms of the Palace, once inhibited by the distinguished Mocenigo family, and today enriched by an extraordinary collection of male and female clothes from the 1700’s, accompanied by a vast selection of accessories (shoes, gloves, hats, fans). The tour will end with a stop in the new section dedicated to perfume, to discover the secrets and origin of the art of perfume, that had a wide circulation in Venice.
Who is it for: Primary School (Grades 3-5)
Duration: 2 hours
When: Everyday except Monday
Time: From 10 on
Language: Italian, English, French and Russian
Venice and fashion
Historically, Venice was one of the most important production centres of fabrics: Rediscovering the city in this light is the objective of the first part of the programme and will use the lively emblems of the ancient arts and crafts guilds, positioning them on the map of Venice, to visualize the places that, with the curious names of alleyways, squares and buildings, still evoke the intense activities associated with the production, dying, and sale of fabrics. But how did they dress in the past? Did they change often? Did they use underwear? These questions will be answered in the second part of the workshop when attention moves to fashion, in particular that of the eighteenth century, and a vast selection of which is on display in the museum rooms with splendid men’s and women’s garments, including children’s clothes and a wide range of accessories that are testimony to the customs and everyday life of that period.
Duration: 2 hours
When: From 4 November 2014 – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
Time: from 10.00 on
Languages: Italian, English
Workshops
The world on a piece of fabric
A workshop in which the different kinds of fibres used for fabrics, whether natural, manmade or synthetic, can be seen and touched, getting to know where they come from and how they are transformed into our clothes, analyzing the stages that start with the raw material and end with the spun. This is followed by actual weaving with the concrete creation of a braid, first on paper and then on a small manual loom, with a live demonstration of weaving on a shaft loom at the end.
Who is it for: Primary school
Duration: 2 hours
When: from 4 November 2014 – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
Time: from 10.00 on
Languages: Italian, English
It’s only a question of…. Nose
What are perfumes made of? How are scents created? Starting from princess Teodora’s adventures, who brought, from Byzantium to Venice, perfumes and phenomenal ointments, the young visitors will be introduced to world of perfume and its secrets. The proposed experience will take place in a laboratory that will have the whole class participating, with smelling games that will put everyone’s nose to the test. The kids will be asked to recognize the origin of the different substances that make up/ compose the perfumes, some of everyday-use, and others more puzzling, but with a strong evocative power. The kids, like real perfumers, will bring home very special recipes to test miraculous potions from the 16th century.
Who is it for: Primary School
Duration: 2 hours
When: Everyday except Mondays
Time: From 10:00 on
Language: Italian, English
The Palace’s Artisans
By listening to myths and legends, the children will learn the incredible origin of the antique arts of lace and glass. Learning through game-type activities and the production of some artefacts inspired by the arts will allow each child to experience the secrets of the crafts, transforming them, for the day, into a mini-craftsman. A short visit to the Museum of Mocenigo’s Palace will enhance the manual experience thanks to observations of the precious and ample collection of glass and lace in exhibition.
Who is it for: Primary School
Duration: 2 hours
When: Everyday except Monday
Time: From 10 on
Languages: Italian, English, Spanish
Dyed and printed
Game – a lesson to get to know the different phases of dying and experiment creatively and actively with printing on fabrics.
The young elementary school participants will be invited to write their own name together with a figure, using letter stencils and images.
Each participant is asked to bring a 100% white cotton T-shirt that they will decorate during the activity.
Who is it for: Primary School
Duration: 2 hours
When: from 4 November 2014 – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
Time: from 10.00 on
Languages: Italian, English
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MUSEO DI STORIA NATURALE
Active tours
In search of dinosaurs
An interactive game and the museum section devoted to palaeontology allow the participants to become the protagonists of the history of life on earth, from the very first single cell organisms to man, demonstrated not only by the traces of fossil organisms from millions of years ago but also the skeletons of a dinosaur and huge crocodile. At the end each participant will make their own plaster cast of the fossils they have studied.
For: Upper Primary School
Duration: 3 hours
When: from Tuesday to Friday and only on Saturday morning
Hours: September, October and June, at 10 am; from November 1st to May 31st, at 9 am;
Languages: Italian, English
Workshops
Naturalistic safari in the museum
A journey on foot, winding through the museum rooms that are dedicated to Venetian collectors and their collections, following the tracks they made on a map. The young participants will be encouraged to observe the naturalistic finds very closely, drawing, collecting, pasting and documenting in a variety of ways the different discoveries of the journey on a special portable map-suitcase they can take with them to experience other adventures in the museum.
For: Kindergaten School and Lower Primary School
Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes
When: from Tuesday to Saturday
Hours: September, October and June, at 10 am; from November 1st to May 31st, at 9 am; Tuesday and Thursday afternoon at 1.30 pm
Languages: Italian, Spanish