Morandi

This day we explored Bologna’s most famous artist, Giorgio Morandi, and experienced the ways two different museums devoted to his life and work engage children in their own expression. We began at the home the artist shared with his sisters and parents where his tiny bedroom also served as his studio. We received individual little booklets with each page devoted to “rules” Morandi used to support his artistic endeavors. Each page prompted a simple activity related to that rule. For example, one page directed us to use two full minutes to write our own name - noticing each pen stroke, hearing the sound of pen on paper, and feeling the motions as we wrote. Very similar to a common practice in Reggio Emilia schools, another page directed us to "impara a guardare" - roughly translated as "learn to look" - by examining closely and attempting to capture details, textures, light, and so on around something as simple as a floorboard.

We then chose one of three windows overlooking Morandi’s garden (the source of some of his landscapes) and attempted to sketch what we saw - and what Morandi would have seen, albeit it with more mature greenery now.

Later in the day, we moved on to the Morandi Museum housed within the MAMbo - Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna. Here we examined a large collection of his still life pieces and the works of other artists inspired by his approach.  We were reminded how children in Reggio often are presented with artists' works as provocations for creating their own art.  We then used our own sketchbooks from the morning to add our attempts at doing still life drawings using objects Morandi would have been drawn to. Another option was to create our own color palette inspired by colors typically seen in this environment.