Sir, – The various sections of both the National Museum and National Gallery work with school groups on a range of topics and have developed some wonderful resources to facilitate this sector. However, inevitably, due to logistical constraints, only a small proportion of students benefit from these encounters.
But education is only part of the story. Children will visit museums and galleries in their own time, with family or friends, and these institutions can be unintentionally adult-centric in such circumstances. For the most part, objects and paintings are displayed at adult-eye level and descriptions of both are written in dense, academic and often impenetrable language.
Would it be possible to display a small and possibly rotating, selection of objects or paintings at a child’s eye level and adapt descriptions and explanations into child-friendly language? The objects and paintings in these national institutions belong as much to them as they do to their parents, guardians or teachers. – Yours, etc,
FIONNUALA WARD,
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Mountjoy Square,
Dublin 1.