During this creative arts workshop, children will experience the art of Ancient Egypt. They will enhance their general culture and artistic know-how by immersing themselves in the rich symbolism of a thousand-year-old civilization with mysteries that fascinate us until this day. Children will be initiated to hieroglyphic writing. They will have the opportunity to draft their name using the ancient pictograms and to paint a fresco based on the style of the pharaohs.
A few words on Ancient Egyptian art
The Egyptians of old did not seek to represent the exact appearance of things. They were more interested in capturing the essence of a person, an animal or an object, and this for eternity.
Beauty was not their goal. Art for the sake of art didn’t exist in the time of the pharaohs. Artists were truly craftsmen. Indeed, statues and bas-reliefs hidden deep in the temps and tombs were not intended to be seen. Actually, the art of those times mainly served a religious purpose. The ancient Egyptians gave a lot of importance to the physical state of the body. They believed in life after death and thought that the body of the deceased had to be cleansed and very pure in order to be born again in the afterlife.
Symbolism was also highly regarded in ancient Egyptian art. Animals, for instance, were considered mythical representations of the gods.
Colors also had a symbolic meaning:
- blue and green represented the river Nile and life,
- yellow represented the sun,
- red represented strength, power and vitality.
On a pictural level, ancient Egyptians didn’t give much importance to perspective. Their main interest lied in the symbolism and the narrative of events according to the importance of the protagonists, so giving a visually realistic account of a scene was irrelevant to them.
The height of the characters depicted depended on their role in society. Obviously the larger silhouettes were those of important people. The king or pharaoh was always the largest man depicted. Similarly, the size of the gods in the frescos also translated how powerful they were. Generally, gods were depicted as superior to kings and pharaohs.
Pratical information
Date: Saturday 28 January 2017
Heures: 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm
Workshop length : 3 hours including a break
Ages: this workshop is recommended for children from 6 t0 13 years old
Venue: Ecole Montessori Aquilae, chemin des Tulipiers 24, 1208 Genève. The school is close to Ecolint (Ecole Internationale La Grande Boissière). See map.
Fee: CHF 60.- pr child, all materials and snacks included. Children must come with their own apron.
Subscription : Please download the enrollment form here. Please complete and sign it, scan ou take a picture of it and return to [email protected]
Payment : the e-banking details are in the enrollment form and here below. The amount of CHF 60.- must be paid on enrollment as follow:
IBAN CH78 0840 1016 1168 5960 4
> Titulaire: Eurydice Bacca (Labaki), rue de Zurich 37, CH- 1201 Genève
Comment : “first name + name of child”, name of the workshop
MIGROS BANK, 15 RUE PIERRE FATIO, 1204 GENEVA , SWITZERLAND
SWIFT Code: MIGRCHZZ12A
BIC Codes: MIGR CH ZZ 12A
The enrollment of your child is only valid once the payment received and accepted. Thanks.
Information : Eurydice Labaki, [email protected], +41 (0) 78 696 12 45
