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Bruno Munari teaches us about the great possibilities that lie within children |
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# Bruno
Munari - an artist with a great sense of humor |
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Bruno Munari was born in Milan in 1907. He spent his early days in a small town in the provincia of Veneto, nearby the beautiful nature of the Adige River. His experiences playing by the river, the waterwheel, in the grass, and trees - in
the heart of nature - evidently greatly influenced him. |
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In 1927, Munari returned to Milan and began following the futurist movement. Futurism is an art movement that praised speed and machinery; the movement attempted to destroy all stereotypes and traditional sense of values. While the futurists acclaimed machinery and cars, Munari saw things from quite a different perspective - he believe that "human
beings shall be masters of machinery." At the exhibition featuring futurism in 1935, he presented his artwork, "the
useless machine." |
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It will be difficult to talk about everything he has done and achieved; he was extremely active in various fields - bookbinding, graphic design, product design, space design, sculptures, paintings, motion picture, poetry, and writing - until his death in September, 1998. |
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Like "the useless machine," every one of his pieces are humorous and witty. They are simple in shape, yet clearly spoke to and stirred people's souls. What he continued to communicate throughout his life was that "art
shouldn't be complicated, rather, it should be something
that enriches our minds." Munari's artwork - which evokes laughter, yet clearly and straightforwardly communicates their meaning - brought art close to us and touched our hearts. |
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An artist, a designer, an author of illustrated books, a design theorist, a sculptor, a poet. The way you see Munari differs depending on what work of his you're familiar with. If I had to give him a title, I would describe him as an artist loved by all in Italy. That is Bruno Munari. |
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# Munari's commitment to children |
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It is only a fraction of the countless fine pieces of work Munari completed in his lifetime, but I would like to introduce some of his work to you with a focus on those created for children. |
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From the late 1960s to the 1970s, he developed intellectual toys and games, many of them developed in collaboration with education specialist, G. Belgrano. |
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This is a toy known as "Plus and Minus." It is comprised of 72 cards; plastic sheets with an illustration of animals and landscapes, heavy paper with holes, and tracing paper. You add or subtract a card to create and expand your own story.
The depth or perspective of the objects change depending on which layer you have placed the cards. The object in the card placed on top looks closer, the one at the bottom farther. Children
easily learn to see things stereoscopically while creating a story with these
cards. It actually is a very 3-dimensional game even though the toy itself uses 2 dimensions.
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Like the "Plus and Minus" game, all of Munari's toys require children to make extensive use their imagination and creativity, cultivating their power of observation and satisfy their appetite for learning, for "wanting to go further." |
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He also produced many books for children. He created approximately 40 picture/illustrated books and these are still widely appreciated in Italy. Many of you may already be familiar with his books as they have been translated into other languages. |
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His very first picture book was originally created for his son in 1945. This book had a little twist; some of the pages had holes in them, some pages were smaller than others. Picture books of this type may not be so rare these days, but considering that this was back in the 1940s, such thinking must have been truly extraordinary. They are all quite simple contrivances, but he immediately succeeded in stirring the children's curiosities. By adding such interesting twists to his book, he managed to draw children, who were still too young to enjoy the story, into the world of books. |
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Munari's "the picture book to meet before all books" teaches children, who haven't been taught to read yet, the joy of reading books. Twelve books made of simple materials - a book with 3 pages of wooden boards, a book of felt with a button hole, a book with yarn running between the pages - make up 1 set. These books that may be enjoyed by using one's sight, touch, hearing, and smell all represent Munari's strong message that "A
book is a book even without words." |
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The other pillar of Munari's commitment to children was his workshops. |
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His efforts in this area began at the exhibition called "Momentary Design" held at a gallery in Milan, 1973. This served as a foundation from which "Playing with Art" held at the Brera Art Gallery in Milan in 1977 developed. This was Munari's very first workshop for children.
Since then, he conducted children's workshops all over
Italy, and worldwide in countries such as Venezuela, Israel, Spain, U.S., France, and Japan.
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Munari's workshops® not only honed children's five senses, but also their sense for weight, temperature, and balance, and sparked their curiosity and interest. |
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Photo: Atto Cenerelli |
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All children go through a phase of drawing like others do; they draw the same figures such as houses, trees, the sun, and people, as though they were an icon. Munari asked the children to reproduce this stereotype in order to teach them the power of expression. And at times, he asked children to gather colorful objects found around them to show them that there are, for example, different shades of green, to nurture their power of observation. He also used projectors to project images of birds, wings, and fallen leaves, to help expand their sense of perspective. At another occasion, he used magazine cut outs and copy machines to teach children how easily they could create their own work. He invented a very prismatic program using various methods to stimulate the children's creativity. |
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He said much later that, "my workshops for children are the most significant piece of work I have ever done." This communicates just how dedicated he was to the workshops. |
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Actually, "Munari's workshops®" still take place. It was in 1978 that Ms. Beba Restelli, one of the people carrying on the tradition of "Munari's workshops®," first learned about these workshops. She was amazed at the way Munari approached the children's world.
"I was completely blown away. I mustered all the courage I could and called him to say, please let me learn from you."
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After that, she began to run her own workshops while receiving advice and instructions from Munari. In 1986, she opened up a laboratory in an apartment near the center of Milan, and since then many workshops have been held there or at public facilities such as museums or libraries. The subject of the workshops varied. Sometimes they were reproductions of Munari's workshops®, and others were developed over time in cooperation with Munari. And at the beginning of every year, Munari visited Ms. Beba's laboratory to join in on the first workshop of the year. |
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# The workshop to "make your own book" |
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I went to see the Ms. Beba's workshop held at the elementary school in a small town called Cesena, located in the provincia of Emilia-Romagna. Twenty-two first grade students participated in this workshop. The theme was "make your own book." |
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First, there were preparations. Various kinds of paper - cardboard, drawing paper, wrapping paper, aluminum foil, tissue paper, paraffin paper, tracing paper etc. - of various colors were brought in. And then the papers were cut into various sizes. They
didn't have to be the same size. Some were larger, some smaller, some longer, some shorter. Good preparation is key to having a smooth workshop. |
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Cut papers were placed evenly over the table so that the children could choose the paper they liked. Then a few examples - created by layering the papers, folding them in half, and stapling them together - were placed on the tables. |
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When everything was ready, the children came in to the room. Ms. Beba first asked them, "Can you guess what we are going to do today?" One of the children answered, "Are we going to be using paper?" And then another one said, "We're going to make books, aren't we?"
"Right! Let's make some books. Now look on the table. Do you know what this paper is called? It's wrapping paper. What about this one? Yes, it's tissue paper." Ms. Beba explained to the children that there are many kind of papers. Munari's workshops® value taking a closer look at the various materials, and getting to know their individual properties. |
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"Ok, do you know how to make a book?"
The children shouted, "It's easy!" "I know." "Let's see, first pile up pieces of paper, and thenc"
Ms. Beba made one to show them how it's done.
"May be this one for the front cover, and place another one on top. I'll use different ones because it wouldn't be as fun if I used paper of the same shape, same size, or the same color."
She layered about 5 pieces of paper, folded them in half, and stapled them together.
"I think I want to make a hole here. OK?"
"Yes!" the children agreed.
Then she said, "I'm going to crumple a piece of tissue paper into a ball," and glued it on to one of the pages. She thumbed through the pages, and that was the end of her explanation. She
didn't say too much verbally, rather, she showed them how by using her hands
and actually making a sample. Children had already begun to chose the paper they liked.
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The first step is to layer the papers and then staple it together. Some children tore the paper into even smaller pieces or in half. Then they laid them on top of each other, and created books with different sized and colored pages. While children were busy at work, Ms. Beba walk around to give them technical advice.
"When you staple it together, put it in the middle to make sure the smaller paper doesn't fall out."
"We don't want to tell them what to do. We just want to
teach them how to do it." This is the cardinal rule of "Munari's workshops®."
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Once the format of the book is complete, then the children can start decorating the front cover and the pages inside. Some tore off a bit of the pages or made holes in them. Others crumpled a piece of aluminum foil and pasted it on to a page, or had tissue paper running from the back cover to the front like a ribbon. And there was a child that had made a pocket using poster board and placed a ball of tissue paper inside it. |
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As soon as they finished working, they rushed over to show Ms. Beba their creations.
"Look! This is a book of the sunset. When the sun sets, the blue sky turns orange."
His book was made of blue drawing paper with orange tissue paper in between.
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What surprised me was that not only did the children talk to the teachers or Ms. Beba about their books, but they also started talking each other.
If one child said, "My book is about bad people," the other replied, "Mine is a book about Spring!"
Without having been told to do so, the children had given their books a title! |
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One of the books Munari created is called the "Unreadable Book." It is made of paper of all colors that have been shaped into a trapezoid or have had their corners cut off. There is not a single word written on any of the pages. The individual readers perceive images from the shapes or colors using their own sensibilities. Each person can enjoy the book by creating their own story. |
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The books children created were exactly like this "Unreadable Book." It
has verse and tells a story without using words. Every child is a brilliant poet. Even though they don't have full command of the language, there is a story there only they can tell. It was an hour full of surprises ? I was amazed with the level of concentration, imagination, and creativity. |
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In 2001, ABM (Associazione Bruno Munari) - Bruno Munari's Association - was established by his son, Alberto Munari, Ms. Beba, and educator Ms. Pia Antonini who have worked together with Munari. The ABM aspires to promote Munari's work and also to protect his intellectual properties. The methods Munari used in his workshops for children have been successfully registered as a "Metodo Bruno Munari®."
http://www.brunomunari.it |
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ABM also established a master course for nurturing successors of the "Metodo Bruno Munari®." In 2006, 15 educators/curators from all over Italy received the certificate upon completion of this master course. |
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Ms. Beba is also currently focusing
on the tutoring educators. She speaks with teachers at kindergarten, elementary, and junior high schools to communicate what "Munari's workshops®" are about, and what is necessary to actually conduct such workshops. |
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A lecture for teachers was also held at the same elementary school in Cesena. Teachers from kindergarten and elementary schools in the city got together after finishing their classes to participate in the workshop. The theme of the day was "the sense of touch." Using materials they brought (wool, leather, fur, sponge, mesh, foam polystyrene, satin etc.) the group of teachers worked together to created artwork to stimulate their sense of touch. |
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Once they were done, each group showed their artwork. The group touched the works of others, and gave each other feedback. They learned how to instruct by participating in the workshop themselves.
It was 7 o'clock when the workshop, which began at 4 o'clock, ended. I was very impressed by the diligence of the teachers. I am certain that in the future the population of workshop instructors will increase and that Munari's workshops® will be conducted in various locations.
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 The "Bruno Munari Elementary School." |
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I may be digressing a little, but in Italy, there are quite a few schools named after Bruno Munari. Italian schools are customarily named after great people in history such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Giuseppe Verdi, and the government determines which names schools may choose from. But in recent years, Bruno Munari's name was added to this list. This also underlines how well regarded Munari is as he is recognized as a major artist equal to Leonardo da Vinci. Schools named after Bruno Munari tend to have a focus on figurative education. |
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Reexamination of more relaxed education policies has been a burning issue in Japan. A while ago, I saw on TV that art and crafts classes are being rapidly cut out of the school curriculum in Japan. These subjects may be regarded as being less and less important in the future. |
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Munari's
workshops® don't require any special tools or materials. Even so, children get very excited and eagerly try to express their own worlds. What "Munari's workshops®" reminds us is that all children have great creative potentials, and we can stimulate their creativity with easily accessible tools. |
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If we've already grown up, it's hard to expand one's creativity in a day. Even if you suddenly decide to create something, your brain and hands won't respond well. Munari once told us,
"Imagination comes from watching, and creativity comes from thinking."
Training one's creative mind may also mean training one's ability to think. Nothing further needs to be said if you can acquire the ability to think while having fun. Learn while playing - this is another cardinal rule of the Munari's workshops®.
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And lastly, one more piece of wisdom from Munari. |
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Today's children are the adults of the future.
Let's lend a hand so that children can be freed from stereotypes.
Let's lend a hand so that children can further develop all their senses.
Let's lend a hand so that children's sensitivities will become more enhanced.
Children with great creative minds are happier children.
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Report/photographs by Ari Sugimoto
Photographs provided by Archivio del Laboratorio di Beba Restelli
Edited by Think the Earth Project, Tami Okano
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