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On this tour specially designed for children, we focused attention on four key objects: the Astrolabe, Robe, Standing Figures with Jeweled Headdress, and Fountainhead in the Form of Cockerel and Parrot Tail AND closely examined their stories, shapes, colors, materials, and animal themes (where appropriate). With a participatory approach, Aida invited children to interact in their own ways and to respond to questions in order to make connections between their experiences and the objects in the exhibition. Two related art activities followed the tour: Our Little Treasure from the Met: Coin Making Project, and The Rooster, Nature’s Timekeeper. The Seljuk exhibition contained an extensive collection of coins with inscriptions and symbols of animals or figures on them. With these in mind, we asked and helped children to make their own coins, creating a little “treasure” of their own. The exhibition also contained a number of objects reflecting the importance of measuring and organizing time, including tools, symbols, and zodiacs. One of the most notable of these objects, especially for children, was a rooster with a parrot for a tail. Building on the Seljuk idea of the rooster as nature’s timekeeper, this project invited the children to create their own rooster out of a variety of craft materials. Program designed and led by Aida Izadpanah, Ph.D |
