Virtual masterclasses for students

This is an innovative educational resource that uses the advantages of digital technology to provide a streaming educational experience in the classroom. Thanks to different tools and digital support materials like videos, photos, music or 3D reconstructions, these innovative virtual sessions are 100% interactive and tailored and offer a lively, profound and attractive narration.

They are designed both for private connections of students at home in a non-classroom educational model, and for connections with the classroom if the class has the infrastructure for screen projections in a hybrid educational model.

All these pedagogical masterclasses have been programmed so that they can be integrated into the school curriculum of the secondary and high school education cycles.

We propose a broad, comprehensive and flexible itinerary that can be adapted to the level of each group, thus being a perfect complementary activity to the ordinary classes.

• “Life of Federico García Lorca” virtual tour

The virtual tour is divided into several blocks that address his childhood, adolescence, maturity, experience abroad, his death and his legacy.

It is a wonderful journey through time that, taking us from his hometown to New York and Buenos Aires, reveals the most universal Andalusian poet, the people who marked and inspired him the most. We will see how he lived his life, how he developed as an artist and the importance of his work and himself today.

We will virtually visit places such as the family home in Valderrubio, the Artistic, Literary and Scientific Centre in Granada, the Student Residence in Madrid, Cadaqués, Havana, the place where he was arrested and, of course, the Federico García Lorca Centre, among others.

This virtual pedagogical tour for students turns Federico García Lorca into an educational resource to pass on the value of the artist and his importance in the Spanish literature of the 21st century, to understand the social context of his historical moment and to interpret his most relevant works.

Teaching goals of the “Life of Federico García Lorca” virtual session

• To discover more deeply the figure of Federico García Lorca and his life, in order to understand his works.
• To bring students closer to the historical and social context of the early 20th century.
• To strengthen reading habits among students.
• To expand the knowledge previously acquired about the so-called “Generation of 27”.
• To comment on some aspects of the avant-garde movements.
• To recognise the importance of Federico García Lorca and Manuel de Falla in the transmission of traditional music.
• To encourage respect, creativity and participation.
• To promote empathy and assertiveness through knowledge of the life and work of Federico García Lorca.
• To provide tools and resources to organise their own learning and their own work.

• “Michelangelo’s David” virtual masterclass

In this virtual session, students will be able to delve into the work and life of the Italian sculptor and painter, and into the history and importance of one of the major sculptures in the history of art, alongside an expert.

Why was Michelangelo a genius? Thanks to this virtual masterclass, students will understand much better why. They will discover the secrets and the occasional anecdote that they will not forget about “David”, the biblical character that Michelangelo made the symbol of the city of Florence, and which still remains so today.

Through a selection of images, it will be possible to appreciate the details sculpted by the artist and the symbolism he sought to represent.

The work will be analysed from a range of perspectives, presenting its artistic features, together with the historical and artistic origins that gave rise to it, as well as important aspects of Michelangelo’s life that will help to better understand it, so that students complete their learning in a broad and relational context.

Teaching goals of “Michelangelo’s David” virtual session

• To learn to look at a work of art, as some of the things we will explain could be discovered simply by looking at the works carefully
• Discovering that behind an image there is much more than what it looks like at first glance. The great artists are those who know how to tell a story and make it move us, intrigue us, make us laugh or even cry… using all the resources they have at their disposal.
• To awaken the curiosity and desire of students to visit an art museum for their own interest.
• To recognise the age and the personal and artistic environment of the Italian artist Michelangelo.
• To discover in detail the important, iconic and relevant work “David”.

• “Discovering the Maya” virtual masterclass

In this virtual session, students will be accompanied by a restorer who has lived inside the archaeological sites because of her work. In this masterclass, she will share with them her experiences within the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, one of the most relevant cities of the 8th-13th century in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.

Archaeology is a scientific specialisation that usually involves several years of research and investigation. In the case of pre-Columbian archaeology, the research proposes many models and interpretations of the urban development and social organisation of the cultures studied, specifically in the case at hand, that of the Maya Civilisation.

The Maya civilization was one of the richest and most important civilisations of the American continent. From earlier than 2000 BC to the 17th century the Maya occupied a huge territory, including virtually all of Central America from the Yucatán Peninsula to Honduras and El Salvador. Here, flourishing Maya city-states were erected, housing more than 120,000 people.

Although many of them are still hidden in the jungle, technology and virtual resources will facilitate the possibility of visiting incredible Maya treasures and enjoying and learning from this huge piece of Mesoamerican history.

Teaching goals of the “Discovering the Maya” virtual session

• To bring the student closer to the history and culture of the Maya Civilisation through research at the Chichen Itza Archaeological Site.
• To learn the basic specific vocabulary.
• To awaken the interest of students in training in professions and specialisations related to History, Art and Restoration.
• To awaken the curiosity and desire of students to explore and visit, for their own interest, places and heritage sites of world importance.

• “Picasso and El Guernica” virtual masterclass

In this virtual session, students will be able to delve into the work and life of the Spanish painter and into the history and importance of one of the most iconic paintings of the 20th century, alongside an expert.

Firstly, we will explain Picasso’s personal and artistic situation in the years before the painting was produced, as well as the historical circumstances that led the Spanish Government to commission this work from Picasso. Next, we will look into the creative process of the work and, finally, the evolution of the painting throughout the 20th century and the reason for its final transfer to the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.

The work will be analysed from different perspectives, presenting its artistic features, together with the historical and artistic origins that gave rise to its creation, as well as important aspects of Picasso’s life that will help to understand it better, so that students can complete their learning in a broad, relational context.

Teaching goals of the “Picasso and El Guernica” virtual session

• To learn to look at a work of art, as some of the things we will explain could be discovered simply by looking at the works carefully.
• Discovering that behind an image there is much more than what it looks like at first glance. The great artists are those who know how to tell a story with images and make it move us, intrigue us or even make us cry… using all the resources they have at their disposal.
• To awaken the curiosity and desire of students to visit an art museum for their own interest.
• To recognise the era and the personal and artistic environment of Pablo Ruiz Picasso.
• To discover in detail the important, iconic and relevant work “Guernica”.

• “Getting to know Joaquín Sorolla” virtual masterclass

With this virtual tour we invite you to connect to learn about the life and work of the illustrious artist, Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, born in Valencia and an internationally acknowledged painter, in a somewhat special way.

The tour will be introduced with the life of the painter from his childhood and youth until he undertakes Fine Arts. It is worth mentioning his initial forays in the field of photography and a special mention to the prizes and medals he has achieved throughout his professional life.

Since his personal life will be a determining factor in his work, we will get to know some of his paintings that are notably influenced by his life; marriage, father-in-law, the rest of his family and numerous friends.

We will end this virtual session with a round of comments and questions that will help attendees learn more about the techniques and works of the famous painter.

Goals of the “Getting to know Joaquín Sorolla” virtual session

• To bring the student closer to the reality of an artist’s life by framing him in his time.
• To learn to value the plastic arts as a cultural contribution.
• To recognise the social transformations reflected in art.
• To discover the economic contribution of artistic heritage.
• To get to know the life and work of one of the most important painters on an international level.

• “The Iberians, Who Were They?” virtual masterclass

Although we have solid archaeological evidence that the Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited for thousands of years, the first native cultures are very much unknown to us, especially because later invasions left an indelible mark that has erased the Iberian traces.

Discovering the way of life and aspects of the ancient Spaniards can be a fascinating quest under the Roman bulldozer. The different ethnic groups, the relations between them and with foreign merchants and cultures and their influence, their religion, their dress, their way of life, their writing, their language, their art, their cities and curiosities of such vast proportion that they survived between Greeks and Romans and they even appropriated or copied them.

Objectives of the “The Iberians, Who Were They?” virtual session

• To bring the student closer to the reality of the different cultures that live and coexist in their environment.
• To learn the basic specific vocabulary.
• To recognise the transformations throughout history and the changes in the use and function of different spaces.
• To awaken the interest of students in training in professions and specialisations related to History, Art and Restoration.
• To awaken students’ curiosity for culture and art and to motivate them to visit museums, exhibitions and monuments for their own interest.

• Masterclass virtual “La Sombra del Viento. Carlos Ruiz Zafón”

A unique masterclass to take a virtual tour of the magical Barcelona portrayed by Carlos Ruiz Zafón in the best-selling novel of the 20th century in Spanish, a work that has captivated millions of readers of all ages around the world.

This is a work with ingredients of historical and folk novels, set in post-war Barcelona, in which a boy is led by his father to a mysterious place hidden in the heart of the old city: the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

As the new stars of the novel, students will enter -just like Daniel Sempere, Julián Cárax, Fermín Romero de Torres, or the other characters in the novel- a labyrinth of intrigue and surprises along a charm-filled route which has a magical Barcelona as its setting.

Combining intrigue and suspenseful storytelling techniques. The Shadow of the Wind contains a great narrative force with plots and enigmas whose intrigue and interest remain to the last page. It will be a unique opportunity to awaken students’ interest in reading, turning fiction into reality, with the help of technology and digital resources.

Teaching goals of “The Shadow of the Wind” virtual session

• To bring students closer to the historical and social context of post-Civil War Spain.
• To strengthen reading habits among students.
• To encourage the use of digital tools.
• To recreate with the student the scenarios and characters of the novel “The Shadow of the Wind”.
• To learn the basic specific vocabulary.
• To study of writing style of the novel.
• To recognise the literary style of Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

To bring the content even closer to the students we will use the following digital resources:

• Videoconferencing. The platform may be the one proposed by the Educational Centre or, failing that, it will be Zoom.
• The Google Earth application shared from our screen.
• Videos and photos that help contextualise the contents.
• Interactive Quiz through which the student can self-evaluate.