At the Chaumont art and history museum, the All Saints’ Day holidays had a nice surprise in store for children, an introductory mosaic workshop. Immersion
For two weeks on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, young people aged 5 to 12 will be able to slip into the shoes of an ancient artist at the Museum of Art and History. These events are at the initiative of the museum curator, but it is Jehanne Finez, mediation manager at the museum, who chooses the theme and activity.
We accompanied the first small group of five children Monday October 21. They began by following an interactive presentation of the day’s work, a Gallo-Roman mosaic over 1,800 years oldfound in Maranville. It represents a leopard in conflict with a snake. They then learn all about mosaics; owhere are they found, how are they madethe different types, what are they used for…
Sometimes the vocabulary is a little complicated for children, but Jehanne Finez makes sure that everyone can understand well. The children were able share their vision, their anecdotes and their own interpretations before moving on to manual activity.
The star activity of the day
In the next room, the wolves find all the materials necessary to make a reproduction of part of the mosaic they discussed a few minutes earlier. There is brushes, glue, cardboard with the pattern to be reproduced sketched on itbut above all tesserae of all colors (homemade by the museum).
Under the watchful eye of Jehanne Finez, who directs and guides the children, they patiently assembled the tesserae to give life to a snake as beautiful as the one in the mosaic original, in just under an hour. The concentration is palpable, interspersed with small exclamations of joy at each step forward.
“The mosaic is so good!” exclaims one of the young girls with sparkling eyes, a sentence which does not lack make the mediation officer smile. After rushing to finish before snack time, they were all able to proudly hold their work.
The kind of activity that works
” These afternoons serve to cultivate and occupy the children with an artistic activity that makes them work on their manual dexterity ” explains the organizer. Two classes from large sections of Nogent will also come and test these activities on November 22which demonstrates that there is a very real interest.
To participate, you must reserve your slot and pay €4 per child (from 5 to 12 years old) who must be accompanied by an adult. Other events of this type are already planned by the museum, notably on Christmas timebut this time on the theme of animals from the Neapolitan nursery.
