Fiona Fernandez: Engage, excite, educate

Pic for representation

"Our youngest visitors are 18-month-olds," said Elaine Chan, matter-of-factly, as her fellow group members at the table, this yours truly included, took a moment to soak in the idea. The dynamic Singaporean is manager for education at National Gallery, the island nation's newest institution [it opened in 2015] to promote arts and culture across age groups and diaspora.

"We have dedicated programmes for preschool visitors. We use art as the basis of activities to educate and inspire children to the world of visual arts. Hand-on approach is the key," she added. We were fortunate to be seated beside the dynamic educationist who seemed to be the brains behind a vibrant programme that involved workshops, trails and tours that were possible thanks to strong partnerships with families and schools. She had her hand on the pulse of two critical age groups - the toddler as well as the tween - that made for an insightful chat over chai during one of our breaks. "The kids and their parents seem to love this focus of ours," she shared; gleaming with pride at how one of Asia's youngest nations was able to tap its young population into entering museums and galleries. Later that day, veteran educationist and conservationist Smita Godrej Crishna could be heard expressing her amazement to Chan at the tiny country's giant's steps in education.

Ideas, debates and deliberation resulted in a buzzing vibe inside the four walls of a conference room as an eclectic mix of minds from different faculties and interests converged at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sangrahalaya last weekend. It was to set the ball rolling for the city's first children's museum that was currently under construction within the complex. Expected to be ready for its first visitors later this year, the 50-odd participants were privy to the ongoing plans, surveys, and perhaps, the most invigourating part for us - how museums were able to engage young minds in other parts of the world.

From sleepovers inside museums [yes! And with full parental support] to Harry Potter trails and allowing their young volunteers to critique the museum's own collections, it blew our mind, to put it mildly. Local influencers were also helping create a sort of mini ecosystem beyond the walls of the museum. Take for example how the British Museum as reaching out to smaller, local museums to showcase their treasures, or how the National Gallery had commissioned local artists to create sections of its site. At NYC's Brooklyn Museum, teenage volunteers were encouraged to helm its marketing and outreach programmes; truly revolutionary ideas, these.

Back to home turf. The intent is there, the bright minds are on board, and the building is taking shape - complete with an amphitheatre, reading corner, terrace and canopy of green. What it needs is to offer our young visitors the best possible avenue to experience culture, history and heritage in a manner that will educate and engage at the same time. We can't wait for the day when its doors open to the magic that is expected to be curated, we hear, by who else, but five schoolchildren and their teams.

mid-day's Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city's sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

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