International Children’s Art

Presentation

Collection of children’s works, XXIInd INSEA World Congress, 1975, Sèvres, France

From the past, these works by children of the World testify to their culture, their pride, their hopes…
The discovery of all these works, perfectly preserved and found at the Sèvres’s high school, offers a moving testimony of the arts education in the world at that time. Both because of their quality and the diversity of their countries of origin, they offer a unique perspective on a historically complex period.

Inspired by the theme of the congress “Creative Education and Leisure Time”, they reflect the way young students look at their culture and their country, between dream and reality. Beyond the beauty of the works, the eyes of these children, authors and creators bear the mark of their cultural pride, their heritage and their desire to share.

In 1975 this World Congress of the International Society for Education through Art (INSEA)(*) was held at the International Centre for Pedagogical Studies in Sèvres. Aimée Humbert, then an arts teacher at Sèvres High School and also INSEA’s World President, had hoped that this international exhibition would enable art teachers from around the world to make known the richness of the work of their students. And it was a chance for many to take part in this exhibition offering an unexpected opportunity for these children and their teachers to testify at the world level. Sent from five continents, these creations offer a powerful testimony of history and the meaning of art in education.

With this collection, archived in England, we wished with Glen Coutts, current President of INSEA, to pay tribute to Aimée Humbert who had, with generosity and enthusiasm, allowed this international exhibition.
In designing this digital space of discovery, sharing and communication, it is a matter of making known, reliving and sharing these works, which bear witness to an artistic education that carries human hopes and values in favour of peace in those years.

(*) INSEA, an NGO in partnership with UNESCO, founded in 1954 to work for peace and understanding among peoples, promotes the idea that arts education and creation contribute to human understanding and the sharing of universal values.

Versailles, Mai 2023

Marie-Françoise Chavanne, INSEA’s past World President, 1985-1988, and Glen Coutts, current INSEA’s World President, 2019-2023