By Paola Chiericati

 

How did the idea of ​​creating this space dedicated to children come about?

«The Budding Museum has been active for 16 years, and was born as a foreign antenna of the Musée in Herbe in Paris; became independent in 2010 opening up to other collaborations and also becoming a producer of interactive paths for children with the Vallée de la Jeunesse in Lausanne. It constitutes a space for play and interaction, aimed at the very young, who can discover and experience art here, in all its forms. This is the purest sense of the educational museum. One of the main purposes is to prepare the young public for visiting museums, providing children with some interpretation keys to approach artistic creation and understand its language.

 

How does the budding museum actually bring children closer to the world of art?

«The Budding Museum offers exhibitions related to the world of art conceived for special visitors: children. Thanks to these interactive paths, young visitors are involved in the experience of approaching art with all the senses. We want to surprise them, amaze them and educate them in an environment created for them, to introduce them to culture by playing ».

 

Within your business, play occupies a prominent place ...

«Ours is an original pedagogy, based on play to stimulate the sensitivity, curiosity and creativity of young visitors and thus prepare them for visiting the great museums around the world. And in fact, the most popular activity for children between the ages of 4 and 11 is playing: and playing at the budding museum becomes "the way" to bring them closer to artists and their work, and also to the world around them. , to arouse the curiosity to know more. An experienced “magic formula” that allows young visitors to feel like protagonists of a discovery, amuses them and at the same time involves them actively and emotionally ».

 

Over the years you have created an important network of international collaborations

«> The budding museum offers exhibitions created by Swiss institutions (Vallée de la Jeunesse in Lausanne) and European institutions (Musée en herbe, Center Pompidou in Paris; in the past it has also collaborated with the educational department MAMBO - Museum of Modern Art in Bologna ) which offer educational courses for children. The conception of the exhibitions, which actively involves children, is to allow an independent visit following the various play activities. The budding museum is recognized by the association of Swiss museums: in 2001 it obtained the Coop award for culture, in 2011 the "Culture Award" of the city of Bellinzona and in 2013 the partnership by the Club for UNESCO Ticino. It is a private museum, managed by the association of the same name which relies on volunteering for the organization of its activities. Our action is developed on the margins of museums, which it does not intend to replace, with an autonomous educational function and with the freedom and effectiveness of an independent body ».

 

The new Lugano space will allow the carrying out of multiple activities ...

«The upper floor was designed for the Museum's activities (exhibitions and workshops), while the new multidisciplinary KidsArti project will come to life on the ground floor. At a time when Lugano is opening up to new cultural paths, the Museum wishes to be at the heart of this change. The cultural vivacity, the potential catchment area and the possibility of diversifying cultural proposals, allowing to further enrich the contents and didactic principles with multidisciplinary activities. Arriving in Lugano, the budding Museum, the only one of its kind in Ticino, will concentrate on creating a multidisciplinary proposal designed specifically for the new city reality ».

 

What is the KidsArti project about?  

«Born from the collaboration of the budding Museum with Motoperpetuo, Madamadoré and the Emergency Theater, KidsArti allows us to offer various multidisciplinary activities for children and their families in one place. Synergies will be created with the different realities and the Museum for individual shared events: workshops for families between art / music or theater or dance and a special "adult-child" program (0-3 years), called "Baby Art" which represents a real novelty. Alongside the synergistic activities, each group will naturally also carry out its own programs autonomously ».

The world of school is of course a constant reference for you.

"Indeed. In these years of work, tens of thousands of children have had fun and were enthusiastic by participating in our activities with their families or schools. Some, now young adults, have let us know that the budding Museum has made them become museum visitors, or they are already returning with their children, and this is fantastic! We have developed various programs specifically aimed at nursery schools and primary schools, convinced that we are offering an important experience here in Ticino, which stimulates their imagination, emotionally involves them in the moment of discovery, actively in the atelier, gives them "keys" to approach the works of art preserved in museums with different attention ».