Learning Languages Through Art
Spanish courses at the Bode Museum
August 16th, 2019The spanish cultural institute Instituto Cervantes in Berlin organises spanish classes at the Bode Museum. The aim is to make Berliners more familiar with the Spanish language, art and culture by making use of the spanish artistic heritage preserved in the Museum.
The project named “El arte del leguaje / El leguaje del arte” (aka The art of the language/The language of art) is running throughout the whole year 2019, with the first event taking place in May and the last one scheduled for December 7th 2019. The initiative consists in true and proper Spanish classes for every Berliner interested in the Hispanic world as well as in arts.
The class-series originates from a cooperation between the two institutions of the Instituto Cervantes and the Berliner Bode Museum. The spanish art experts Dr. Anna Talens and Dr. Amanda Robledo will be the ones holding classes which will be entirely in Spanish and will focus on analysing some of the artworks from the Museum’s collection.
An audience of all ages is expected to attend classes. Those interested can choose to join one of three different groups. Adults classes will take place starting from 6 p.m. while the pupil’s group as well as a group of mixed ages will gather in at 11 a.m.. Each class costs about 10€ and lasts from 60 to 90 minutes.
Different topics will be covered throughout the courses, such as sculpting techniques, religious sculpture, funerary sculptures and historical insights. The courses makes use of works of art to present and showcase the Spanish culture, history and language. By analysing works of arts the history of Spain and of its relations to Germany will be also traced back, pointing out not only cultural differences between the countries but rather similarities.
The chosen works from the collection of the Bode Museum are products of particular historical and cultural instances and, in this sense, they are able to showcase the culture from which they are coming. Through a direct contact with artefacts, which clearly recall their Spanish origins, the participants can establish a personal, emotional connection to the foreign culture. In this way the culture appears livelier and will remain much more impressed in people’s minds than just by reading books.