What is the purpose of our collaborative program?

5th Grade Celentano students, welcome to Swaziland! My name is Laura Macaluso and I am a teacher and museum professional who likes to travel and study culture, especially in the form of art and architecture. This fall I was awarded a grant from the Fulbright program to travel to Swaziland and work in their National Museum. Ms. Kiel and I have been friends since 4th grade, and together we have designed this great program for you, which I hope you will enjoy. We have so many good things to share with you -- including visits to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History and the Yale University Art Gallery, the opportunity to talk with Swazis over this blog, and plenty of time to read, write and create art inspired by the great continent of Africa!


Ms. Kiel will be working very hard to give you as many opportunities as possible to share in this adventure. In Swaziland, I will be working very hard to find interesting objects, places, animals and people to talk about. By looking at these objects together -- whether a rock painting, a wooden mask or a clay jar -- and asking lots of questions, we can find out why it was made, who used it, and what role the object played in Swazi society.

What is required of you is that you do your best to listen well and actively participate in this once-in-a-lifetime program. Ms. Kiel and I both hope that this program will inspire you to look outside of the familiar -- what you see everyday at school, at home, in New Haven. At the same time, with a new view of the world, you can look again at your familiar surroundings and see something different...something deeper.