NEON’s educational programme Is this Art?, an innovative approach to the art education of young people, is the first programme of its kind to be held in Greece. The programme was co-designed and implemented in collaboration with the Hellenic Children’s Museum, and has addressed tens of thousands middle school students.

Is this Art? is designed with the needs and interests of adolescents in mind, and utilises the dynamics of art to promote their relationship with culture through school. It is addressed to middle school students, with the aim of bringing them into contact with a variety of forms of contemporary art and some of its most important creators.

Its implementation is based on a digital platform that combines short videos with information about contemporary art and its most important movements, as well as the life and work of important artists. An accompanying educational package contains educational games and tactile materials that strengthen students’ relationship with art. The Hellenic Children’s Museum and NEON collaborated with artist Katerina Zacharopoulou for the academic curation of the programme.

The programme’s material highlights work by major artists who have redefined the way we look and define art today, such as Marina Abramović, Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Martin Kippenberger, William Kentridge, Mario Merz, and Jannis Kounellis. In the near future, the material will be enriched with more artists, presenting different forms of cultural traditions.

The programme is developed over two consecutive meetings in each class. Upon its completion, students play the role of the artist, carrying out group and collaborative activities, and presenting their own visual events.

The words of a girl from the 2nd Middle School of Haidari are compelling: “Art is limitless because imagination is limitless.”

From 2020 onwards, Is this Art? is offered via e-learning to young students of High Schools of Attica as well as High Schools across Greece.