An exhibition with class! Gallery lessons for school groups

We invite nursery school groups and primary and secondary school pupils to gallery lessons at the International Cultural Centre.

What is a gallery lesson?

A gallery lesson consists of two parts:

•   Tour of the exhibition – during the tour, participants engage in conversation, analyse the works and discover their meaning and context together.

•   Creative activities – depending on the topic of the class, this may include completing task cards, group work, an educational trail or art workshops that allow for personal interpretation and artistic expression.

Our workshops are an encounter with art, a space for developing imagination, creativity and social skills. We combine theory with practice, encouraging the discovery of different forms of expression and personal interpretation of the works. We teach attentive observation, critical thinking and conscious participation in culture – all in a relaxed atmosphere conducive to creativity. The programme of classes is based on the core curriculum, enriched with new topics.

We adapt the classes to the age of the participants, the needs of integration groups and the suggestions of teachers. We conduct them in Polish, English and Ukrainian.

From 29 September to 12 December 2025, we invite you to gallery lessons at the exhibition “Brâncuși. Sculpting with Light”.

The exhibition is a journey through Constantin Brâncuși's creative path – from his native Romania to his Paris studio, where the artist built his image through photography. It was there that he arranged his sculptures into a coherent narrative, intertwining simple forms with questions about meaning and beauty, and reflections on light and space.

Topics:

Recommended for kindergarten groups and primary school pupils in years I-III

• Through Brâncuși's lens

Constantin Brâncuși created sculptures with simple shapes, revealing what was most important in an object or person. He was inspired by nature, folk art and the traditions of his country. Not satisfied with photographs of his works taken by others, he learned to photograph them himself. His photographs, though sometimes blurred, captured the character and soul of the sculptures.

During the class, we will visit the exhibition together, following a trail of puzzles and riddles. We will count, draw, guess, search and discover. We will add colour to Brâncuși's black-and-white photographs and also consider what was essential in a sculptor's studio. In the artistic part, the pupils will experiment with forms and textures to create their own sculptures inspired by Brâncuși.

Core curriculum: supporting the child's activity, improving sensory integration and the ability to use developing cognitive processes; strengthening the child's sense of individuality, originality and the need to form personal relationships and participate in a group; building the child's sensitivity.

Developing competences such as creativity, critical thinking, reasoning, argumentation and inference; comprehensive personal development through deepening knowledge and satisfying and stimulating natural cognitive curiosity; teamwork and social activity.

Classes recommended for preschool groups and pupils in grades IV-VIII of primary school

• Contemporary interpretations

In addition to photographs of Brâncuși's works, the exhibition also features works by contemporary artists that create a dialogue with his works. The artists reinterpret his forms both in traditional materials such as wood and metal, and in modern techniques such as animation. In doing so, they show how Brâncuși's ideas influence today's approach to form, material and space.

During the classes, we will actively explore the exhibition, analysing works separated by more than half a century, and consider whether and how the approach to art has changed. In the workshop part, we will let our imagination run wild, cutting, gluing and combining words and images to create our own compositions.

Core curriculum: developing key competences (creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, critical and logical thinking, reasoning, argumentation and inference); introducing pupils to the world of values; strengthening the sense of individual, cultural, national and regional identity; supporting the exploration of culture, the reception of art and the need to co-create it in a manner appropriate to the child's stage of development; working with compulsory subjects: Polish language, geography, cultural studies/art.

Recommended classes for secondary school pupils

• The art of attentive viewing

Can an artist influence how the viewer perceives their work? Brâncuși proved that they can. Not only did he sculpt, but he also photographed his works, carefully arranged the space of his studio and treated it as a stage set. Thanks to this, he himself decided how his work was seen and interpreted. This is how he found a way to ‘speak with his own voice’ and consciously build his image.

During the class, we will look at how careful observation of a sculpture and its photographic documentation allows us to notice details that often escape us at first glance. We will consider how shape and texture influence the perception of a work of art. We will also talk about what control over one's own narrative is and why conscious planning is important not only in art but also in everyday life. In the second part of the class, we will use the method of philosophical inquiry, select elements of the exhibition and, through questions, discussion and joint reflection, develop our critical thinking skills. Instead of looking for one answer, we will try to see many possible interpretations. The result of the class will be not only a better understanding of Brâncuși's art, but also the experience that each of us can be a creator of meaning.

Core curriculum: shaping the attitude of the recipient of culture; discussion, argumentation, creative activity using various media; teamwork; developing personal interests; shaping a hierarchy of values based on works of culture; learning about national and world heritage; art and cultural history, periodisation of history, characteristics of an epoch; work with compulsory subjects: history, Polish language, cultural studies, geography, history, social studies.

Practical information

Duration: approx. 90 minutes

Cost: PLN 5 per person (groups of up to 25 people)

Lessons are held from Tuesday to Friday between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Reservations are required at: warsztaty@mck.krakow.pl

How to sign up for a gallery lesson?

Please include the following information in your message:

• preferred date and time of the lesson,

• age and number of participants,

• topic of the lesson (selected from the offer above),

• name of the institution,

• contact details of the group leader (name, surname, telephone number, e-mail address).

We accept the Large Family Card and the Krakow Family Card 3+. Each participant of an organised group with a KDR and KKR 3+ card will pay 50% less for participation in the tour and educational activities.

For more information, please contact: a.klejzerowicz@mck.krakow.pl or call: 12 42 42 860

Please be advised that during classes, workshops, meetings, gallery lessons and lectures, photographs may be taken for the purposes of the International Cultural Centre in Krakow (including for documentation and information on the ICC website and on the ICC profiles on Facebook and Instagram). If you do not consent to this, please let us know in advance. The photographs may contain images of people participating in the classes and images of works created during the classes. Failure to provide written information to the Exhibition Centre before the start of the classes is tantamount to consenting to the use of the above-mentioned photographs by the International Cultural Centre in Krakow.