Why do children need art?
What is art for in the first years of our lives?
These are not easy questions to answer, at least not in a clear, reasoned and objective way.
One of the objectives of this blog is precisely to provide answers to these questions.
When we do not do it ourselves, we turn to experts in the field of creative education or we retrieve texts that we find interesting.
One of them is the one written by the English writer Philip Pullman, world-renowned for his trilogy of fantasy novels “The Dark Matter” ( 1995-2000), in 2012, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards.
An award with 15 years of history
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial is an annual prize awarded by the Swedish government.
It is awarded to outstanding authors of children’s and young adult literature, illustrators or promoters of reading.
It is a tribute to the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the creator of the fictional character Pippi Longstocking. It was awarded for the first time in 2003.
That year, it was awarded to Maurice Sendak (author of one of our favorite books, “Where Monsters Live”) and Christine Nöstlinger (author of “Konrad or the Boy Who Came Out of a Tin Can”). In 2005, Pullman received it.
Philip Pullman: “Art is a right”.
In 2012, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the creation of this prestigious award, Pullman wrote a text that has become one of our dogmas of faith.
If the text were not so long and we were not such cowards, we would have it tattooed on our bodies.
We translate three paragraphs for you:
“Children need art and stories and poems and music as much as they need love and food and fresh air and play. If you don’t give a child food, the damage becomes visible right away. If you don’t let a child breathe fresh air and play, the damage also becomes visible, but not as quickly. If you don’t give a child love, the damage may not be visible for years, but it will be permanent.” PHILIP PULLMAN
“Ocells de paper”, by Marta R. Gustens, do you like it?
Visit our SHOP.“If you don’t give art and stories and poems and music to a child, the damage is not easy to detect. Yet there it is. Children may run and jump and swim and eat heartily and make a lot of noise, as children have always done, but there will be something missing.” PHILIP PULLMAN
Vall Karsunke ‘s “Shorts, Buttons & Body”, do you like it?
Visit our SHOP.“We often say, with good reason, that children have the right to food and shelter, education, medical care and the rest of the basic necessities. We must understand that every child also has the right to experience what it feels like to be in contact with culture and art. We must understand once and for all that without stories and poems and pictures and music, children will go hungry.” PHILIP PULLMAN
If you want to read the full text, click here.
The painting that heads this post is entitled “Patines” and is the work of Carmen Segovia. Do you like it?
Visit our SHOP.
