I do agree with the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto when he says that today both Art and Art Education have the indispensable mission of mediating between Technology and Nature. However, I find that Technology should lag behind Man, his history and Nature and return to be considered as a useful and positive instrument for the elevation of the human being and his soul. In a few words: Man and Nature should find again their centre and Technology be at the service of the Common Good.
Therefore, if Education, deriving from the Latin word educĕre, means ‘revealing’ or ‘exposing’ to the outside, then Art Education means take out through Art: a spiritual and creative path, along which anyone may discover his inner well-being and recognize his infinite and inexplicable potentials. This helps to lower any personal defenses and meet the others without unreservedly.
I do believe that Art Education can truly help man find himself again and rediscover the sense of circularity for human relationships by the means of Art and Knowledge in favour of the Common Good. On this purpose, I have deliberately chosen an interdisciplinary educational approach to Art based on the metaphor – fairy tales, myths, parables, sayings and proverbs, daily parallel stories, ancient, modern and contemporary – and on the Socratic maieutics: that famous method of the midwife which helps the child to leave the womb to reveal his potentials and talents to himself and learn how to share them with the others.
Thanks to the combination of these two methods, I can normally and easily make adults, teenagers and children feel comfortable in front of an artwork. They become able to connect empathetically with it and with the hand and soul of whoever produced it, i.e. the artist. Furthermore, leaving them free to use multiple languages, verbal and non-verbal, helps them
- to enter into a connecting process between one idea and another one experienced elsewere, in other fields of knowledge.
- to express their opinions assertively, but openly.
- to discover their ability to search and find solutions democratically together with others
Not only! When the two methods are combined in the right way, they can stimulate their imagination, fantasy and critical thinking, and help them to become awarer of their spiritual side and learn how to give it a certain value.
My seminars therefore include moments of artistic and thematic externalization, in order to provide participants with the possibility of acquiring important tools for inner growth applicable in Art educational activities, as well as in one’s daily professional, family and friendship life.
At the end of the courses, the participants will be able to use each of these cultural means to create metaphorical artistic itineraries touching the heartstrings of everyone’s Spirit (children or adults) who will transform themselves from simple visitors into spect-Actors of each proposed activity.
The seminars are also held upon request in Italian, French or English. They are aimed at educators and teachers, museum operators, high school and university students, parents and any adult who may be interested in it.
From theory into practice, hereunder some of my suggested themes:
