Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

The role of arts as antidote to contemporary degrading society has been discussed extensively. Arts of the past unroll local visual languages that envelop the values, morality and spirituality of peoples of the past which are geographically and/or timely distant from us, contemporary 21st century citizens living in an era of consumerism and ecological and social degradation. The significance of studying visual arts of the past is important for raising awareness of our selfhood in relation to the “Other” (nature, persons). The pretext for this proposal is the study of the frescos of Panayia Forviotissa chapel, a 900 hundred year old monument in UNESCO World Heritage List. The frescos depict the personifications of Terra/Land and Mare/Sea. Because of their location in relation to the dome (with the Pantocrator) both Land and Sea are regarded through spiritual lenses: as co-exiting participants, as the “Other.” What might that imply in our “troubled” times? This paper describes how a 4th grade class explored the murals. This proposal, based on and combining imaginative education, place-based pedagogy, museum and arts education shows how the above were used for the development of a program of activities to explore the aforementioned murals. Based on technical characteristics of the murals like rhythm and colour, this presentation narrates a trip inwards, upwards and -through compassion- outwards to embrace the world.