Is there a perfect way of educating our children? I am on the brink of entering my next institute of education and I’m pretty nonplused about this. It is easy to say our system is the best, that it guarantees this and that out of a child. Then again, there is a lot of criticism thrown at it. I didn’t really expect this issue to bug me while I was on holiday, but somehow, in Warsaw, it did.
On our second day, we visited the National Museum in Warsaw. It was a modern-looking building (no surprises there). It was an interesting place, not exactly as big as the Art and History Museum of Vienna nor as “historic” in a sense, but featured a good variety of Polish art. What I found especially intriguing was the wood sculptures of Christ and the miniature carvings of the interior of certain churches. It was something that hadn’t popped up in other European art, and so I assume it was something unique to the region.
The National Museum in Warsaw with its modern facade!
Wood carvings of Crucified Jesus were graphic, but very common.
What really startled me, eventually, was the number of kids in the museum. They were excited and walking around with their teacher. It was a Tuesday, and these children were having a tour of the museum. There were a slew of ages from early primary to late Secondary. They all gave us strange stares and had a hard time wondering if we were from China or Japan.
A group of them even said “konichiwa” to us…
What impressed me about this was the way in which the teacher would explain to the children the significance of certain artwork, and how there were even worksheets to fill. The kids would sit around a painting or sculpture and the symbolisms and history of it would be revealed to them. Even though I knew not a word of Polish, I could sense the conciseness in the teachers’ voice, the manner in which she delivered her lesson was very well practiced. It wasn’t just a casual field trip.
I had to be very candid while taking these pictures to ensure the kids didn’t look over at this strange Asian guy.
The same could be said for the next two attractions we visited, the Warsaw Rising Museum and Wilanow Palace.
Unlike in other museums we had visited, these two places were swarming with children the moment we entered. The entire entrance was almost totally blocked out by huge volumes of youth and innocence. Inside Warsaw Rising Museum, there were exhibits portraying the events of August 1944, when the Polish civilians illegally stocked up on ammunition and weapons and revolted against the Germans. They fought for months before eventually losing out. The Polish leaders of this uprising were eventually hunted down when the Russians defeated the Germans and were either sent to exile, jailed indefinitely or executed (the Russians feared these men would revolt against them). It was a tough fight that had very little support from any foreign parties, and was not honoured until many years after the war, when the stories of these brave men surfaced.
The state flag at the Warsaw Rising Museum.
The park to remember those that sacrificed their lives and freedom.
There were tour guides and teachers bringing kids around and explaining to them certain events and the significance of the exhibits. The tour guide spoke with some sort of electrified exuberance that I have no idea how he managed to maintain. The kids looked on as if awestruck and although it was totally in Polish, his words impacted me anyway. There were a few graves of fallen soldiers and children would walk around and observe these heroes from the past.
Next up we went to Wilanow Palace, one of the few historical buildings around the area that hadn’t been destroyed in WWII because it was quite a distance from the city centre. It had a nice yellow/white exterior and, like any other palace, had a nice garden with nice ponds surrounding the complex. It reminded me of a cross between Melk Abbey and Schönbrunn Palace. It was the former residence of King Jan III, and much of what we saw was original.
Strangely enough, it was the first palace to have an entire room – in fact two entire rooms – dedicated to Chinese art. Of course, I’d be lying if I told you I had any interest in Chinese art. But to see Chinese characters scrawled on the walls, and paintings of Chinese landscapes was a good change from all the murals, frescos and tapestry that would normally feature in every room in a palace. (Plus the obvious fact that our race is Chinese, of course.)
Everything vaguely Asian is very much appreciated.
I can recognise at least two words.
Similar to the museums, there would be children led by their teachers and they would have the rooms and art pieces explained to them. The kids seemed intrigued by the palace complex, as was I. In my opinion, it wasn’t similar to the other palaces simply because the ceilings in this palace were much lower, equal to that of a normal home. In the other palaces the ceilings were always freakishly high and made you feel like you weren’t really in someone’s living space. So in a sense that made living here seem more realistic; you could even imagine living here for a change. That would be the main takeaway of the palace, though I probably should have read more into its history.
Lower ceilings!
Do you remember your field trips? What did you learn? How does Singapore choose to commemorate its past and celebrate the arts? I remember going to the Science Centre, Hort Park and the NeWater Plant. I think we may have visited the Kranji War Memorial, Bukit Chandu Memorial and even the Changi War Memorial, where there was a small chapel to commemorate the dead and gone. We even went to Palau Tekong to witness how Basic Military was conducted back in Junior College. As a random student in the Education machine, I think we’ve done a fair job as a nation in ensuring we know of the hardship and horrors our ancestors had to go through.
It is just a pity we couldn’t do more, especially in the arts sphere.
Here in Poland I have witnessed a place with a rich history yet a troubled past, a place with famous artists, yet destroyed artworks. I sense a latent urgency in the system, one that will go all out to ensure the past does not repeat itself, one that sees the value in educating its youth beyond just the ability to count and memorise, but to instill actual values and appreciation for the intangible. Every painting explained, sculpture uncovered and historical place unraveled is a victory in itself. It prevents the next generation from ignorantly repeating the mistakes of the past.
The names of those that had given their lives for the freedom of Poland.
I lament because Singapore does not have the resource or capability to have a sustainable arts syllabus built upon relics from the past. Our history and local art collection just isn’t vast enough as compared to these European giants, and so it will be impractical to teach our kids the same way they do here.
A common sight here in Warsaw.
But man, you should have been here. When the teacher points out certain things about a painting or a relic from the past, a moment in time or a momentous occasion, the kids would gather around, wide eyed with wonder and focus. They would raise their hands, ask questions and be genuinely interested in what they were learning. There would be no falling asleep during lessons, no restlessness or large-scale fooling around. They wouldn’t listen just for the grades, or to make their parents happy.
The kids would actually learn.
The Shallow Traveller 