As a child I found museums to be boring. There would be beautiful paintings and sculptures but with the silence and restricted regime in terms of no talking, laughing, skipping or in general being a child without disapproving looks from other adults, it really wasn’t for me. Or for any other child that wasn’t born as a grown up.
Kids in Museums is an organisation that has for more than 10 years actively been working with museums to help them welcome families, teenagers and children. The result is not only greater expectance but also a range of interesting and fun activities in the museums, especially targeted towards the younger audience. The result of welcoming and include children and families in museums is a new generation with art as a natural element and a vital part of growing up.
My girls love art and they love going to the museums. They walk around freely, use available audio guides, children’s activity trail and all other offers for children that may be available. With now being age 9 and 12, and no strangers to museums, they are perfectly fine with enjoying exhibitions on its own. Most recently we went to the Frans Widerberg jubilee exhibition at King’s Place in London.
Frans Widerberg is one of the most important Norwegian artists, with more than 50 years producing fine art, paintings in strong colours such as yellow, blue and red. The motifs are dreamy; horses, people and Nordic nature as well as the universe. Frans Widerberg celebrated his 80th this year with a jubilee exhibition in both Oslo and London, and we were invited to the opening night in London, last Friday.
We had the pleasure of meeting Mr Widerberg himself on the opening night, who was there with his wife and son. And without doubt, the artist seemed overjoyed to meet Little A and Little B, who were of the youngest audience on the night. He introduced himself to the girls as only a great artist would do, kissing their hand, and for a brief moment they had the unexpected pleasure of discussing the art on display with the artist! He did say he was delighted to see the younger generation at his exhibition and he seemed genuinely interested in what they thought about his paintings. Already hugely impressed by his work, meeting the charming artist in person made this night truly special and memorable. For myself and especially the girls.
The exhibition, situated on the basement level at King’s Place is free and open to all. It’s spacious, there’s benches for resting, sketching, or simply to allow Widerbergs magical world sink in. There’s also a cafe by the entrance if you fancy a sandwich, cake and coffee.
Kings Cross has seen an exciting development over the last few years and is a place worth visiting to see urban architecture at its finest. Buildings with history are preserved, new developments reflects light, there’s the canal floating by the buildings, green spaces and fountains for the children to play in on a balmy September day while the parents chill in a nearby deck chair.
Highly recommended! Pop in to King’s Place Gallery to enjoy some fantastic work by Frans Widerberg at Kings Place, 90 York Way, N1 9AG, 3 minutes walk from Kings Cross station.
