Who can play?

An approach to the work with childhoods by/from the National Museum of Colombia

Abstract

This text aims to show and discuss, from an ethnographic perspective, the way in which children and adults participate, interact and relate in processes such as the design and development of educational experiences at the National Museum of Colombia and, at the same time, how these processes that start from an adult-centric place, are opening up so that childhoods can participate actively. In this way, three situations will be reviewed: the first case is a contextualization of the traditional educational experiences, in which children only participate in dialogues proposed by adults. The second case is about the description of some of the activities of the Explorando Patrimonios project, which are designed taking into account the sensitivities, interests, experiences and life stories of children, caregivers and teachers; all very important voices in the assessment processes. And the last case explores recent works, such as the elaboration of the videos My World, my Museum in which, based on horizontal work, children and adults agreed on versions of the world, the museum and its social function.