Learning through art at Qatar Foundation’s ‘Seeroo fi al ardh’
QATAR Foundation’s Seeroo fi al ardh art installation by M.F. Husain is open for school visits to help students learn about culture and heritage outside of the classroom.
Unveiled in 2019, Seeroo fi al ardh is part of Qatar Foundations’s (QF’s) growing art collection at Education City. The late Indian artist Husain incorporated philosophical and cultural elements to create his masterpiece that is experienced through a 20-minute audiovisual performance.
Suad Al-Salem, Head of Visual, Literary and Drama Section at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, says the installation is embedded within the educational curriculum. “The Seeroo fi al ardh exhibition at Qatar Foundation comes as one of the leading exhibitions in Qatar that can be benefited from educationally and on many levels, such as integrating visual arts with the rest of the subjects within the school curriculum,” she said.
“The exhibition uses traditional and contemporary elements that relate to social studies with elements like lighting, movement, and sound which all relate to science. On the other hand, the exhibition took its name from a Quranic verse, which reflects the integration with Arabic and Islamic subjects.”
Al-Salem explained how Seeroo fi al ardh will be implemented in the curriculum for public schools, saying: “Field visits to Seeroo fi al ardh aim to develop and add to the students’ creative knowledge and skills. The visual formations will be used in art lessons, as well as theatre classes to encourage students’ dramatic abilities inspired by the art installations.”
More than 250 schoolteachers in Qatar have been given an exclusive tour of Seeroo fi al ardh to see how the art installation could be incorporated into a cross-curriculum plan.
Carolyn Parker, Director of Qatar Academy Sidra, part of QF’s Pre-University Education, said: “Engaging in art is essential to learning experiences and conceptual journeys and adds to an understanding of culture.
“Art and arts education skills can carry over into all other academic subjects and into life outside the classroom. It is through art, and engaging in art exhibitions, that students can engage in observation, interpretation, and analysis, and explore different perspectives.
“Skills used in all areas of study and seen in the world around can be practiced through art, as students are able to determine whether what they think is accurate and relevant. Critical thinking is a skill for life, and while it can be developed through exploration in the arts, it has uses in all aspects of education and life experience.”
Tracy Worner, Head of Drama Department at GEMS
American Academy Qatar, has immediately seen how she can include the art piece in teaching plans. “I can’t wait to be able to bring my students to the Seeroo fi al ardh exhibit,” she said. “Students need to be exposed to as many creative experiences as possible. It inspires them and expands their minds.
“I would reference the installation in an art lesson, looking at the different mediums the artist has used to create the work. I would also use it as a visual aid in history lessons and address some of the themes such as how the industrial age has had an impact on the world, as well as how the use of transportation has opened up globalisation.”
Jessica Schneider, Visual Arts IB Specialist, Qatar Academy Doha – part of QF’s PreUniversity Education – explained how students will be prepared with context before visiting Seeroo fi al ardh, and the teaching methods to consider back in the classroom.
“The art installation is quite a conceptual show and, similar to the IB curriculum, teachers are expected to provide opportunities and experiences for students to develop their own understandings,” she said.
“Prior to the visit, teachers will need materials to prep students ahead of the visit on what to expect such as videos, images or interactive games that can be found online. I would provide visible thinking strategies for the teachers to have the students start with inquiry into what the show might be about.”
Schneider also pointed out that general classroom teachers should be equipped with the tools to make explicit connections between what they teach and the Seeroo fi al ardh artwork. “It would be beneficial to develop guiding questions and material resources to support generalist teachers using the key concepts such as the Primary Years Programme and the Middle Years Programme Diploma Programme (DP), which offer guided lenses for students to analyse their interaction with the exhibition,” she said.