MAS | Museum Aan de Stroom > MAS in Young Hands > The tricks of the trade
The tricks of the trade
A spider also has to understand the lines of its web. The objective on the one hand is that young people should feel at home in the MAS. At the same time they should become acquainted with the collection itself.
That is how De Veerman became involved. The organisation, with its slogan ‘a broad view on art education’, prides itself on ten years of experience stimulating children and young people to be creative and gain an insight into the arts. ‘In comparison with other art educational organisations our work is often based on demand. We rarely work with youth work organisations. Mostly with art houses, and we don’t limit ourselves to one art discipline’, says project coordinator Annemie Geerts. ‘We start from the participant and from the arts. For example you can use dance to socially connect a group. But our intention first and foremost is for participants to gain an insight into rhythm, style and the language of dance itself. The artistic aspect, in other words.’
De Veerman developed a customised program for MAS for the 2011-2012 season, in order to expand the ideas of the ten selected young people about a ‘museum visit’, to allow them become acquainted with the collection in new ways and to empower them in terms of setting up other initiatives aimed at other young people. In brief, to properly prepare them for the high expectations of MAS vis-à-vis MAS in Jonge Handen.
Project coordinator Annemie Geerts worked with three artistic trainers in this frame: Jutta Troch for music, Eric Raeves for dance and photography and Lore Suls for image and media – she is also a guide at MAS. The three of them appealed to completely different senses of these young people, which they did not at all associate with a museum. But that is what De Veerman’s philosophy is all about: to let young people explore something themselves so they get a sense of what art is and what it can be instead of merely appealing to their minds, with a dry knowledge transfer.
Next part:
Imitate a sabre
During a first stage – the input stage – the training program challenges young people to do more than just hang around the corridors.