iSTART ——Small Nature · Big Families
Initiated and curated by A4 Art Museum in 2014, the iSTART Children’s Art Festival is a pioneering children’s creativity and social art education project in China, with child participation, empowerment, and co-creation at the heart of its mission. The 10th iSTART Children’s Art Festival will open at A4 Art Museum on June 1, 2024, International Children’s Day. This year’s theme, “Small Nature, Big Families,” explores children’s experiences of nature and the importance of growing up within a supportive social environment. By reactivating and reconnecting the elements of “Small Nature” and “Big Families,” the festival seeks to support children’s growth in an environment that is both more natural and more supportive.
“Small Nature” focuses on children’s direct, close-up interactions with the natural world. Children have an innate desire and need to connect with nature, yet modern social structures and patterns of development have created challenges such as diminishing opportunities for contact with nature and a weakening of sensory awareness. “Small Nature” refers to the natural elements children can encounter in everyday life—sand, water, leaves, and other forms of nature close at hand. Spontaneous and exploratory interactions with these elements can stimulate children’s curiosity and creativity. Such ordinary, seemingly minor experiences form the foundation of children’s intuitive understanding of and emotional connection with nature.
“Big Families” extends beyond the immediate family to the wider community and society, emphasizing the importance of a supportive social environment for children’s development. This is particularly significant as children today face a range of challenges, including insufficient social support systems, disrupted family and community relationships, and educational pressure. Beyond a child’s own “small family,” the people around them—friends, teachers, and community members—as well as the environments they inhabit—schools, parks, and natural surroundings—are all essential parts of their growth. Together, this “Big Families” forms a diverse ecosystem in which interaction and mutual support enable children to grow and develop more fully.
Driven by the iSTART co-creation team, the “Small Nature, Big Families” exhibition brings together research and practice across education, public welfare, medicine, and game studies. It draws on the knowledge and creativity of scholars, teachers, and artists from different fields, presenting a series of interdisciplinary collaborations. Within “Small Nature,” visitors will encounter the “Panda Thousand Bridges Project,” initiated in collaboration with the Yunhe Center and focused on children’s engagement with panda habitat conservation. The “Warrior Cats Assembly,” developed through close collaboration with the Luxelakes Community, uses stop-motion animation to express children’s care for stray cats in their neighbourhoods.
Within “Big Families,” visitors can explore the “Mei Wan Mei Liao Bookstore,” co-curated with Bai Xue; the “T+ Aesthetic Education Development Support Program for Rural Educators,” co-curated with Gong Yu and featuring projects by more than one hundred teachers and organisations; and “My Day,” co-curated with the Dream Building Service Association, which presents cross-cultural exchanges between children in China and Africa through picture books. The “Art Therapy and Children in Distress” project, developed with the Mental Health Center of West China Hospital, highlights the important role of art in supporting young people’s mental health. Visitors can also revisit signature iSTART projects, including “Gaga Nation,” co-created with ZM Art Education, and the “Family Museum Project,” co-created with Deng Dafei.
In collaboration with the Homo Ludens Archive, the entire exhibition has been designed as a gamified experience, allowing visitors to explore it through play. Throughout the exhibition period, education forums and public programmes for children, parents, and teachers will also be held, providing platforms for in-depth exchange and learning.
— Li Jie
