Educational programmes for grades 1–5

Who was St. Wenceslas and why is he the patron saint of our country? Why do we celebrate his holiday in late September? Participants will learn about the legend of St. Wenceslas and his depiction in art. For their artistic activity, they will let themselves be inspired by the art of Svatopluk Klimeš, who used an unusual medium to create his painting of St. Wenceslas – fire.

How do our activities affect events on the other side of the world? What influence do they have on people from different cultures? What can we learn from them?
Czech painter Otto Placht lives with a tribe in the Amazon jungle. In his work, he combines native and modern artistic traditions. We will work with his painting Grass to enter into the depths of the jungle while creating our own depiction of the rich diversity we stand to lose if we do not take proper care of our planet.
Educational area: People and Their World (The Diversity of Nature)

How many different kinds of materials can be used to make art? What is friendship, and who is an angel for us?
Sculptor Věra Janoušková’s quietly standing sculpture An Angel for Vitík is an homage to a good friend of her’s. Janoušková gave trash from the junk yard new form and a chance at a second life. In this programme, students let themselves be inspired by her art to create their own angel using unusual materials.

Do we notice the people around us? Are we capable of recognising when they are happy or sad? What is charity? And what is the soul?
The artist Pavel Brázda explored the human soul and created colourful portraits of people. As we explore his painting Mrs. Charity, we will look for ordinary situations, identify big and small experiences, try to estimate interpersonal relationship and talk about colours.

What is an ordinary stone?
In his art, Jiří John often depicted the minerals hidden beneath the surface of the earth. He discovered the understated beauty all around us, which is at first glance invisible. John’s typical depiction of various layers and his use of subtle lines shows us what might lie hidden beneath the surface – in the natural objects around us and in ourselves.
Educational area: People and Their World (The Diversity of Nature, People Around Us)

Who are the people that Josef Čapek captured in his paintings? Why did he paint them? Why do the figures look like they have been composed from geometric shapes?
In this programme, we will work with Čapek’s Organ Grinder to introduce students to the world of geometric shapes and people who have been less fortunate in life than others.

What is medicine and where does it come from? While on their missions, the Jesuits encountered new species of plants that they studied and recorded in herbaria. Based on this gathered knowledge, Jesuit apothecaries prepared medicines to help the sick. Participants in this programme will become Jesuit chemists and come up with medical treatments.

What is snow? Where does it come from and where does it go? What atmosphere does it create? And what does a snowflake actually look like? In this programme, kids will explore painting with ice and, inspired by Dalibor Smutný’s Snow and Snowflake, create their own work of snow art.

What is the story of Jesus’s birth? Who are the members of the Holy Family? Who is the Madonna? Working with Jan Koblasa’s Madonna, Rudolf Březa’s Czech Madonna and Giulio Romano’s Painting of the Holy Family, kids will discover various ways in which artists can depict Jesus and his family. They will then create their own nativity scene and play out their own Christmas story.

What happens in nature in the spring? What does spring look like and what colours does it have? What activities and games does it invite us to engage in?
Since time immemorial, the clicking of marbles has been an integral part of spring. In this programme, kids will not only play with marbles but will also use them for painting. Inspired by Antonín Kroča’s Spring, they will capture the energy and joy of nature as it awakens in spring.

When we say love… What is love? What is the symbol of love? What forms of love can we experience? What would life be like without love? Michaela Maupicová’s Heart shows us that love is a mosaic consisting of many parts. By arranging and printing, kids will create a physical representation of their idea of this, the strongest theme in life.

What happened on Easter? And what came before? What are the stations of the cross and why did Jesus follow them? By working with Karel Černý’s Resurrection, kids will learn the story of Easter while finding out about Easter customs and the magic and miracles that supposedly happen around Easter time.