Get kids out of the house, into the gallery By Kim Kyu-heong

Publisher:The Korea Herald - Publication Date: 25-01-2008
Vacation. A time for rest, relaxation and fun with the family. But with children's winter vacations entering their second month, this time of year can have exactly the opposite effect. Being cooped up in the house, the kids are ready to burst with all that pent-up energy, just as the patience of parents is likely to reach its end. Getting the children out of the house may be the first step in achieving some peace and quiet around the house, but placing them in an educational environment is also of utmost of importance.

Countless academies and camps offered during the vacation season attempt to combine fun with education, but a pair of programs in Seoul adds culture to the mix, through art. Making heads or tails of modern art can be a confusing and mundane task for anyone, but the Savina Museum of Contemporary Art takes a crack at explaining -- in English -- art from the last few decades to elementary-age children.

In the programme A Picture Puzzle! youngsters will be taken through Savina's current exhibition, a survey course of contemporary Korean art entitled How to Look at Pictures. A more apt exhibit name for the children's edition would include "in English" at the end of the title. In addition to listening to simplified descriptions of the paintings, the 70-minute programme includes a number of activities such as sentence composition and crossword games designed to make the gallery a fun place for children, not the uptight and boring museum where adults quietly stare at the wall.

While Savina focuses on applying English to the works at hand, the Sejong Centre for the Performing Arts offers an entirely different, more hands-on approach to cultural education. Through their programme Hello, Automata -- I'm a Little Automatist children are given the opportunity to breathe life into their artistic creations.

The programme, originally developed in the United Kingdom, focuses on the combination of art and motion, as children are challenged to create moving works. While children in third-grade and below create paper, plastic and wooden works powered by manual motion, fourth to sixth-graders have the opportunity to create battery-powered figures.

Both the programmes at Sejong and Savina are designed to expose children to art constructively -- whether through English or hands-on activities. If in the process, moms and dads can get some peace, that's all for the better.

A Picture Puzzle! will run at 11am and 2pm Tuesdays to Fridays from Feb 19 to 29 at the Savina Museum of Contemporary Art near Anguk Station (Line 3, Exit 1). Programme fees are 6,000 won (US$6.33) per child. For reservations, call (02) 736-4371.

Hello, Automata -- I'm a Little Automatist runs every day through Feb 10 at the Second Art Annex of the Sejong Centre for the Performing Arts, located at Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5, Exit 8). Full programmes begin at 10am, 11am and 2pm Mondays to Wednesdays and run from 40,000 won ($42) to 50,000 won ($53). Condensed 90-minute programmes are offered five times daily Thursdays to Sundays for 20,000 ($21) to 25,000 won ($26.39). For more information and reservations, visit sejongpac.or.kr.

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