What do the tongues of angels sound like? How does a “hell’s roast” (German for “troublemaker”) taste? Are what are guardian angels, actually? This year’s children’s festival at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin explored these questions. On October 12, the museum offered a diverse program called “Heaven and Hell.” The many young visitors took part in guided tours, theater and music, magic tricks, games, and a big street for building things. The Deutsche Guggenheim Club also got involved and invited twenty kids from the Jona Foundation—a private initiative in Berlin-Staaken that provides homework assistance, lunch, and counseling—for a stimulating day at the Gemäldegalerie. Accompanied by four club ambassadors, the boys and girls first paid a visit to the Deutsche Guggenheim info stand decorated with white balloons. Here, the children received individual name tags and helped themselves to a big jar filled with candy. Thus fortified, they embarked on an exciting excursion through the beautifully decorated Gemäldegalerie. The hall was adorned with white cotton clouds and colorful walls, and huge gates were erected that were particularly spectacular: one was painted with floating angels, with the other a hell’s gate sporting a dragon and a violet-colored devil.

Luca Giordano’s depiction of the struggle between the archangel Michael and the devil made a particularly strong impression on the children. But they also paid close attention to the other paintings Beate Zimmermann introduced them to—such as Caravaggio’s victorious Amor or a painting of the Annunciation. They followed the art historian’s words with interest as she acquainted them with the stories depicted in the various paintings. On their tour throughout the museum, the kids repeatedly encountered museum staff dressed as angels and devils for the well-booked event. After lunch, the kids were then invited to become active in constructing figures of angels, houses, and party horns and painting their own pictures. Inspired by the paintings they saw during the tour—but also, of course, by the popular Halloween holiday—some of the most popular motifs were devils, bats, and vampires. And when a magician amazed them with his magic tricks in the end, it was a great conclusion for the young visitors of a day in the Gemäldegalerie that was as instructive as it was exciting.

First it’s off to the see-saws! When the 20 girls and boys get off the bus at Tilla Durieux Park, they immediately spot the mammoth metal rods. Then, the 21-meter-long see-saws are put to the test—which they easily pass, to the kids’ great joy. Soon afterwards, the children learn that art can be every bit as fun. The Deutsche Guggenheim Ambassador Club has invited them to an art expedition around Potsdamer Platz. And so, today it’s art instead of store windows: led by Beate Zimmermann, the children are introduced to six sculptures by contemporary artists—ranging from Nam June Paik’s Nam Sat with its colorful, heart-shaped fluorescent tubes to Jeff Koons’ highly polished Balloon Flower.

The first stop on this discovery tour is a work that only very few passers-by even notice. “It looks like a flying robot,” exclaims one of the children when the art historian points to the roof of a high-rise: poised on top of the building, Auke de Vries’ metal sculpture Landed does every bit of justice to its name. The next stop is the DaimlerAtrium and Jean Tinguely’s large assemblage Méta-Maxi, which is made of junk metal. “I want to create something funny, something for children,” the Frenchman said concerning his Méta-Maxi sculptures. And Tinguely certainly succeeded at this: it’s especially the boys that grow excited by his wild constructions. Afterwards, the kids are taken around the block to the artificial lake where Mark di Suvero’s 14-meter-high steel Galileo stands. But of course the fish swimming around in the water attract a lot of interest, too.

And then it’s time for a break after looking at so much art. Happily, the kids are allowed to eat the lunches they’ve brought with them on the outside benches of the café Wellness Food Weiland. After lunch, it’s the kids’ turn to be creative: they’re instructed to draw the Suvero sculpture—which isn’t all that easy, as it turns out. Yet the kids go about it with great fun and then proudly present their works. Robert Rauschenberg’s The Riding Bikes is the last work of art that Beate Zimmermann wants to acquaint the boys and girls with in a way that appeals to their age. Finally, the ambassadors of the Deutsche Guggenheim Club pass out a few small gifts to the children before saying goodbye—it’s the end of an eventful afternoon brimming with new and exciting impressions.

The Deutsche Guggenheim Club organizes city expeditions for children from social organizations. The walk described here took place on August 8, 2008 with children from the Jona Foundation in Staaken and on August 27, 2008 with children from the SOS Children’s Village in Berlin-Moabit.

“Look, a seal. Just like in the picture.” The children eagerly flip through their books on the Polar Regions and recognize the animals they encountered moments before in the exhibition True North. For the group of girls and boys from the ages of six to twelve, it’s a day full of activity. For the first time, the Deutsche Guggenheim Ambassador Club invited children to the building at Unter den Linden to introduce and explain the exhibited works.
The February exhibition marked the beginning of a new area of commitment for the Deutsche Guggenheim Club, which aims to bring children from various different social facilities into contact with art. A premiere for both sides: for many of the children, it’s their very first visit to a museum. They come from the social project “Jona Foundation” in Staaken, which was founded as a private initiative and which offers daily help with homework, lunch, and daycare there.
The expedition to the Deutsche Guggenheim brings excitement into the group; the bus picks them up in the morning and brings them to Berlin Mitte. During their tour through True North, which they listen to with rapt attention, the children are particularly impressed by the animals depicted in some of the exhibited works, such as the seal in the photograph by Roni Horn and the coyote in Orit Raff’s video. Fascinated, they listen to art historian Beate Zimmermann’s explanations. The many questions the young visitors ask prove that art can also be exciting for children when it’s conveyed on their own age level. Following a lunch break, the children become creative themselves. Individually guided by the “art ambassadors” of the Deutsche Guggenheim Club, they can paint their own pictures of the high North, which they present to the entire group on a large bulletin board. In the end, a book present is a happy surprise for them. In any case, one of the young guest is highly impressed by his first visit to a museum: “It was so nice that it couldn’t have been any nicer.”