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Art education room in the National Museum of Cuba, Hayana

In March 1968, a room specially prepared for childrcn and for visitors of a poor cul-tural standard was opened in the National Museum. The museuirfs Educational Department regarded an exhibition of this kind as a further necessary cxperiment in order to reach a public untutored in matters of art. Previously, special courses had been organized for specific groups of workers, but the results were not quite as encou-raging as had been hoped, sińce experience showed that lectures are not sufficiently attractive. In the case of children, confronting them with a series of pictures, without any preliminary explanation, in most cases completely failed to produce results. Classes in art practice proved successful in training the children, but not the best way to encourage them to go on to visit the galleries. Some morę direct means was needed to familiarize so many-sided a public with the plastic and graphic arts and arouse in it a modicum of interest.

What are stylcs ? How should a piece of sculpture beappreciated ? What is the role of an industrial designer ? What is a museum ? Such were some of the many questions to which the room must give an answer; and the fundamental problems to be overcome were: how the answers could be fitted into a smali room which should be attractive, the selection of the most appropriate exhibits, the texts to accompany them, and above all the level of the display as a whole.

After some months of preparation the results obtained could not at any time be regarded as finał, but constituted so much experience, likely to lead to something better, or cvcn to a complete change in the case of failure.

The room (fig. 13) is divided into four sections. The first one, very succinctly, cxplains the various types of muscums, and in particular the purpose of museums deyoted to the plastic and graphic arts; the difference between an original and a repro-duction and the yarious uses to which the latter are put. (fig. 14). The second section is intended to show the widc rangę of these arts by exhibiting some examples of archi-tecture, sculpture (fig. //), painting, glassware, mosaics, furniture, ceramics, gold and silver ware, enamel ware, iron work, posters, photography, industrial design (fig. 16). In each case emphasis is placed on how to appreciate the works, painting in particular, sińce it is the art best represented in the National Museum.

The third section is morę dircctly concerned with formal appreciation, through the analysis of the different elements of the picture: linę, composition, colour, tonę, vol-ume and texture (fig. 27). This is carried still further in the fourth section, in which

13. Museo Nacional de Cuba, Habana. En-trance to the art education room.

ij. Entrec dc la sallc didactique.

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