“You shouldn’t be afraid of art,” says Rebecca Proskauer. An educator associated with Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Rebecca has been in Hyderabad for a year, understanding the city’s history, art and culture.
In her sphere of work, Rebecca has worked with school groups. Tours to a museum could be generic or tailored to suit students’ curriculum, like Asian, European, Greek or Roman history. In Boston, she worked with students from Grades 2 to 12. Occasionally, the museum’s education department also worked with pre-schoolers.
Her husband’s work brought her to Hyderabad and soon, she began exploring the city. She took the help of guide books, tour guides and also turned to William Dalrymple’s White Mughals . She visited Salar Jung Museum, Telangana State Archaeology Museum and art galleries to forge connections. During her visits to Telangana State Archaeology Museum, she shared her method of work with the staff. “From time to time, groups of students would walk in and I’d engage with them,” she says.
Contrasting the museum education in Boston and Hyderabad, she observes that she dealt with smaller groups of 10 in Boston as against 20 to 25 in Hyderabad. “Engaging large groups can be tough because we’re not just telling them about art; the idea is to make them observe and see if they have personal insights that would make the experience enriching,” she says. Rebecca finds Hyderabad students eager to initiate a dialogue. “When they get a chance to talk, they really talk. That’s a good thing.”
Visual Thinking Strategy
Rebecca’s method of teaching draws on the principles of Visual Thinking Strategy followed in Boston, developed with perspectives of museum education and child development. “Museum educators were keen to see how much information children retain when they leave the premises. Is there an age or a facility where people appreciate art? This curriculum, apart from initiating art appreciation, helps in language and cognitive skills and makes students comfortable looking at art,” she says.
While engaging students in art and history and following up with their progress in successive years, she warns against information overload. “In Boston, we’d also visit schools and talk to students about a few art pieces. Not every object appeals to every student. That’s the beauty of art; you don’t need to like art to get something from it,” she says. Demystifying an artwork begins from learning the story behind it, how the artist narrates it, materials used, principle characters and function of the art.
Rebecca uses similar principles while addressing students as part of her volunteering work with Pustakaar, a mobile library initiative that makes books available to schools that don’t have the infrastructure for a library. “When I’m sharing a book with my class at Nachiketa Tapovan, I ask students open-ended questions like ‘what can we learn from the cover? What can we say about the characters? What do you think will happen in the story?’ to get them thinking,” she explains. She was pleased when she addressed class V students and among the 23, one student wanted to grow up and be an artist and another wanted to be a writer.
In a different sphere, Rebecca has collaborated with Dr. Lakshmi Saleem from Salaja Hospital, Vijayawada. “Dr. Lakshmi’s dream is to open a Museum of Surgery. She has started a mobile unit, visiting village schools to provide medical evaluations with lessons on safe health practices. She’s working on creating a virtual museum, which she hopes will become a physical museum,” says Rebecca.
In June, Rebecca will be returning to Boston. She hopes to revisit Hyderabad in the coming years. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, conducts offsite seminars and plans are on to bring these seminars to India in 2018/19. Rebecca is working towards facilitating a seminar in Hyderabad.
Rebecca recommends : For a newcomer to the city, Rebecca suggests the following
* Get off at Charminar, stop by at Nimrah Café for chai , observe silver makers at work, explore Mecca Masjid and continue to Chowmahalla Palace through Lad Bazaar. “You get a taste of street life, the mix of cultures, intensity of colours, sights and sounds.”
* Rebecca highly recommends visiting Paigah Tombs. “I tell people that if you cannot visit the Taj Mahal, see the Paigah Tombs for its architecture and inlay work.”
* Visit Badshahi Ashurkhana. “The blue and green floral and geometric tiles, both original and painted replacements after the Musi floods give the viewer a sense of Islamic design.”
* Join Hyderabad Trails (facebook.com/hyderabadtrails/) which conducts periodic walks in different parts of the city, mooted by Gopala Krishna AB. Rebecca has attended more than 10 and says, “These walks take you to lanes that you may not visit on your own. As part of Sufi dargah walk at night, we saw the city in a different perspective. Recently, we explored areas around Rock Castle, listening to anecdotes narrated by Arvind Acharya, who’s making a film on Princess Niloufer.
