On the occasion of the the iconic sculpture Maman by Louise Bourgeois brought to the Greek public by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and NEON, a rich program of school programs was designed and implemented, made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s grant for SNFCC’s operations and programming.

The programs are inspired by the autobiographical hue permeating the artist’s oeuvre. Following Bourgeois’s artistic journey from childhood through her youth and on to her maturity, the workshops incorporate several artistic practices employed by Bourgeois over the course of each respective period of her life. At the same time, underneath her iconic spider sculpture, participants can hear Louise, as a child, a young woman, and an adult, talk about her thoughts and events from her life.

Concept/Design: Very Young Contemporary Art (VYCA)

Kindergarten–3rd Grade

My name is Louise – L. B.

From a very young age, Louise used to help her mother in their family business of mending woven rugs. What she enjoyed most was drawing the missing designs on the worn tapestries, so that they could then be woven with thread.

At the workshop, young students embark on a journey back in time! They find themselves in 1920 Paris, meet 9-year-old Louise and help her mend a valuable tapestry that has just arrived at her mother Josephine’s weaving workshop.

For the purposes of the workshop, students will need to bring along with them a piece of fabric that belongs to their mother or someone else they are very fond of, since at the end of the workshop the textile will become a thread to form a collective tapestry.

4th–7th Grades

Fabric is a memory exercise – L. B.

Although Bourgeois is better known for her sculptures, at the beginning of her career, and for nearly twenty years, she was dedicated to painting and printing. Her writings, just like her designs, are a collection of deep personal thoughts and memories from her childhood.

The artist used to jot down thoughts and images on countless sheets of paper, on the back of her designs, and in many, many journals. “You can withstand anything as long as you write it down,” she used to say.

Inspired by Bourgeois’s illustrated books, students become acquainted with mixed collage and fabric printing techniques, and then create a handcrafted textile journal, Louise-style.

For the purposes of the workshop, students will need to bring along with them a photo (childhood, family) printed on paper, as well as a piece of fabric that reminds them of something from their life or a beloved person.

8th–12th Grades

Maman is an ode to my mother – L. B.

Sculpture Workshop

Louise Bourgeois created her first sculpture shortly before turning forty. At that time, she first painted the “spider” symbol on paper, and then started to experiment with various materials, such as wood, clay and plaster. At the age of 88, she created the giant spider Maman.

In the words of the artist: “ My best friend was my mother, and she was deliberate, clever, patient, soothing, reasonable, dainty, subtle, indispensable, neat, and useful as a spider.”

In this workshop, revolving around the sculpture Maman, students work on conflicting concepts, such as strong-fragile, love-fear, protection-entrapment, and construct a creature (real or imaginary) that symbolizes motherhood.

Working from inside out, both symbolically and functionally, they will first mold the creature’s frame using galvanized wire, and then dress it with materials, such as plaster cloth, to shape it in the form they have imagined.

For the purposes of the workshop, students will need to bring along with them a piece of fabric that belongs to their mother or someone else they are very fond of, since at the end of the workshop the textile will become a thread to form a collective tapestry.