Innovate Today

At CIS, we believe that art education is more than just skill training — it's a journey of exploration, thought, and expression. This week, our Grade 9 students took part in a unique hands-on art experience as they stepped out of the classroom and into He Art Museum. Immersed in a real-world art setting, they kicked off the IGCSE Art & Design Materials Exploration unit with fresh inspiration.

The exhibition visit featured "Fan Bo: Fables of the Prophecy." Through his use of cylindrical sculptures and collaged classical imagery, the artist invites viewers to reflect on the re-creation of art within space.

As Ms. Sisel noted:

“I hope students go beyond observing the form of the works. They should learn to analyze how the artist uses composition, materials, and color to express ideas. This is a key step in developing their visual language and critical thinking skills.”

The exhibited works included spatial installations that wrapped and reconfigured the museum’s pillars, as well as two-dimensional paintings inspired by classical sculptures.

Guided by their teachers, students closely observed the artworks, engaged in thoughtful discussion, and recorded their inspirations — planting the seeds for their upcoming creative projects.

After the exhibition visit, students moved into the Art Lab Classroom at He Art Museum to begin their own hands-on creative experiments. This project simulated Component 3: Experiment of the IGCSE Art & Design syllabus, challenging students to explore and express original ideas based on self-chosen themes using a variety of materials.

Clay, feathers, pom-poms, mesh fabric, cotton thread, paint…

From visuals to texture, students experimented boldly — layering materials to create tactile surfaces, or deconstructing and reassembling them into new forms. Through these explorations, they began shaping their own unique artistic language.

"I am appreciate that they totally soak up the artists' knowledge like sponges, then turn those method into things with their hands." said lead teacher Jade.
" I was pleasantly surprised by what they made."

The significance of this art practice goes far beyond the completion of a single artwork. In the teachers’ instructional design, art serves as a gateway to developing students’ observation skills, critical thinking, and self-expression.

As Ms. Sisel explained,

“Even though these exhibits are created by professional artists, students are encouraged to ask themselves, ‘Are there other ways to express this? How would I approach this theme?’ — this is exactly the kind of critical thinking we want to foster.”

The students’ experimental works will also be officially exhibited this July at a joint showcase hosted by He Art Museum and Longxi Art Space.

The CIS middle school art curriculum closely follows the IGCSE framework, viewing “experimentation” as a crucial pathway for students to explore themselves and the world. In the “Materials Experimentation” module, students not only develop hands-on skills but also cultivate artistic expression and critical thinking through observation, conceptualization, and creation.

This practice also broke the boundaries between classroom and reality. By visiting the art museum, creating on-site, and expressing thematic ideas, students truly internalized their learning into personalized expression, showcasing the multidimensional integration of skills × thinking × creativity emphasized in the IGCSE curriculum.

Looking ahead, CIS will continue to expand more challenging and creative practical opportunities, enabling students to steadily advance in deep learning within authentic contexts of international curricula.