DECONSTRUCTING THE WILD >< CHILD

This Learning Unit aims to understand whether the history of the construction of fantasy and creativity as related to the “exotic Other” still informs current methods and ideas of museum, gallery and art education practices (not only) for children – and if so, how these connections work. We propose to look at parts of this history through our own experiences and ideas in respect to art education for children. The figure of “the child” as innocent, in need for guidance and protection with an embedded potential for fantasy and creativity that should not be spoiled by “civilization” is in itself a construction that underpins the concepts of Child Art of the 19th and 20th century and might still unconsciously inform our own ideas and approaches.

This Learning Unit consists of a sequel of four workshops that are connected with each other and build upon each other’s content, but can also be used separately or partly. The Learning Unit provides working suggestions; as well as texts and archival material, for these workshops.

To work with this , the best way is to establish a working group that meets four times in the timeframe of two to four months (this could be a semester course or a supervision group of arts education lecturers par- allel to their teaching, or a group working in the context of arts educators/museum educators training or a private group of critical arts educators who wish to go through a process of self-reflection/history learning, or a group of arts/museum educators who wish to become critical arts/museum educators).

The hosts of these workshop sessions should take the responsibility to prepare the content, to provide a safe-space atmosphere (including finger-food, fruits, water…, taking care of breaks, time, materials, organ- isation and preparatory communication, meeting space) and communication roles including the documen- tation of the process.

The Viennese case might serve as an example to help to discuss the connection between local and global histories, the personal and the political histories, the practices and the discourses. The LU seeks to encourage different art educators to find ways of working on these seams in their specific contexts as well through the Viennese example.