As part of our digital exhibit Africa Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, OLCDC wants to engage Miami-Dade County’s youth to get their take on African Modern art. Engaging with art often gives art its meaning. Because Covid-19 stops us from having a collective art experience, which you would normally get when walking around a museum, “hearing” and recording other audience members’ thoughts through the form of written online captions recreates that effect. Interpreting art stimulates our critical thinking and interpretive skills. And everyone can do it. Children, often the most creative among us, bring new ideas and concepts to our communities. So why not have kids and teens look at pieces in a digital exhibition, then submit answers to questions about the piece online? Publishing children’s thoughts alongside the piece - similar to how a caption would work in a museum - gives us a taste of how a piece registers with the audience, and creates a new experience for everyone.What we like about “Interpreting Art at All Ages” is also its interactive element. Whereas our original exhibition was going to be in person, going digital required rethinking of both structure and content. What better way to reflect on complex themes like digital experience, digital reality, interconnectivity, continental art movements, diaspora, transitions, and meaning than by using the internet to solicit a digitally-fluent generation’s interpretation of 20th century, modernist, and physically concrete art pieces? Here’s what we’re asking children to think about, and share when browsing the exhibit:Pablo Picasso once said "Every child is an artist" and we have no doubt it's true! Tell us what your inner artist thinks about the pieces that speak to you. Use the form to submit your responses – to as many pieces as you want! - and have a chance to have your interpretations published in the exhibition. NameAgeHometown/NeighborhoodWhat country in Africa is the artist from? What languages are mainly spoken there?What about the work catches your attention?How does the work make you feel? Look at the colors, shapes, and anything else that brings out your emotion.What do you think the artist is trying to say? How relevant is it today?Does the work challenge how we see and think about Africa? If so, how?Upload a picture of yourself or your artWe want to give children and teens the opportunity to interpret the pieces presented in our digital collection - because they’ll have a significant Gen Z take on it, and because we all learn from new perspectives. OLCDC is excited to present “Interpreting Art at all Ages”, alongside its inaugural exhibition of Africa Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Visit the exhibition online (and kids, submit your thoughts) at artinopalocka.org.
