Azimino certainly has opened the window into our next exciting IB Unit of Inquiry which is all about art! The transdisciplinary theme is “How we express ourselves” and the central idea is “Through creative arts we can discover a culture’s history, beliefs and values.”
Yesterday ISN Elementary Class had an awesome time visiting the Chihiro Museum in Azumino. Despite the rain we even got to play outside for half an hour on the wide, green lawns surrounding the museum. When we arrived, the wonderful staff lead us through many of the stunning exhibits, answering the many questions from our intrigued students. Sculptures, books and paintings were just a few of the many interesting attractions. Students were even able to play a few of their own musical masterpieces on the old piano and the even older pump organ. Along with the awe-inspiring paintings by Japan’s famous artist Chihiro Iwasaki, there were also exhibits by other artists from around the world. It was excellent for students to see such a wide selection of painting styles and their many uses of lines, colours mediums.
In our class investigations we have been reading some of the stories about Tetsuko Kuroyanagi in her wonderful autobiography “Totto-chan The Little Girl at the Window”. At the museum students were thrilled to be able to see some of the actual paintings and drawings Chihiro did for this amazing book. Students were also delighted to see the train-classroom, the exact replica of Totto-chan’s classroom as well as the many other exhibits which made Totto-chan’s story come to life.
