Abu Dhabi: 2,000 Students and Teachers Transform Louvre Museum into Classroom

More than 2,000 students and teachers showcased their exceptional skills and creativity in the classrooms of the Louvre Abu Dhabi during “Students Takeover Monday” initiative last week. It attracted 1268 students of Aldar Schools and 791 students of NYUAD was a special experience of learning out of the classrooms.

Sarah Louise Nunn, Head of Education and Public Programming at Louvre Abu Dhabi said in an interview the initiative was a success. She told Khaleej Times that the change in environment made people open to the change where the teachers wanted to do something interesting with the curriculum, the students also welcome the change. He also meant that the museum environment enables the students to conduct history lessons and design subjects and other learning activities in a dynamic and interesting way that makes learning more effective. ’They become access roads to understanding how people live and engaging in the idea of art through Islamic art’ she concluded.

Teachers at Aldar Schools shared positive implications of the exposure. The drama teacher Fiona Montgomery was running a workshop which aimed at utilising drama skills to bring tapestries to life. “The real joy was working in such a dynamic and exciting way with the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the artefacts within the museum and the spaces within the museum”. Jasmin Ferguson an art teacher was also optimistic that the children would love the opportunity to make their own art pieces in relation to the pieces around them. She also noted that students were able to connect “what they were studying and the artist’s works in concrete ways”.

The students were excited and showed interest in the activity. “I liked doing a form of art by myself in a background surrounded by art,” said one student. Omar had the privilege of having access to the art being taught by teachers in the exclusive museum while Jana was thrilled to find that what he will learn is facts about the art.

From the perspective of the university the Louvre established a stage for lecturers to hold class and students to take part in different workshops and activities related to their creative entities. Mariet Westermann, Vice Chancellor of New York University Abu Dhabi said, “Congratulations to the curators and designers for creating an academically rigorous and inspiring treasure house of world culture and history”.

Sarah explained that all schools should take part in future programmes and described the part of the Louvre Abu Dhabi that is aimed at creating creative and immersive learning environments.