When we look at children’s drawings, we notice that every child has similar dreams about the future. Regardless of their cultural differences, they all long for the protection of a warm family, a roof above their head and a safe environment to play. Their works reflect differences in tradition, religion and environment, as well as a strong connection in their basic desires.
Also, children remark details that grown-ups have taken for granted. Through these colorful artworks we can be stimulated in our creativity and activated by the open-mindedness and richness in the imagination of a child. As grown-ups we might get in touch again with a pure perception that some of us have lost.
In 1980 Annefie van Itterzon started to collect children’s drawings from all over the world. She approached teachers, friends, artists and developmental workers who were travelling to or working in remote places and were willing to contribute to our project. These contacts handed the children materials such as paint, chalk and paper and asked them to draw about their daily life and their dreams.
By now the children’s art collection contains more than three thousand painted drawings from 37 different countries. They are a selection of the most expressive, colorful and culturally informative works that have been collected.
We have chosen to focus on children between the age of 4 and 12. In this age category children are not yet occupied with matters like perspective and form. As a result the children’s are often direct, original and pure. It is no surprise that artists like Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Karel Appel looked at children’s drawings as a source of inspiration.
The intense, mostly colorful scenes offer the viewer an insight into the daily life, the cultural background and the traditions of the country. Children as well as adults from different places in the world can communicate with each other through images, regardless of the language they speak. It is our wish to unite people from different cultural backgrounds.
For this purpose, the AMICA (Amsterdam Museum of International Children’s Art) foundation has been established. This foundation aims to create a (travelling) museum for children’s drawings and to extend, conserve and promote the collection as a unique image of time for current and future generations.
