At the Val Stagnon Nature Reserve, International Biodiversity Day (22 May) and Nature Parks Week in Slovenia (24 May) were celebrated on Tuesday, 21 May 2024.
The Elvira Vatovec Prade Primary School, the Koper Regional Development Centre and DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia organised an art workshop entitled ‘Naturalistic Conception - Interweaving Past and Present’.
During the event, organised within the framework of the POSEIDONE project (Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme 2021-2027), 17 pupils (aged 12 to 14) from the Elvira Vatovec Primary School, guided by their mentor Ksenija Pfeifer, an art teacher, and Gašper Teran, a biology and chemistry teacher, undertook a creative process with techniques that naturalists used before the appearance of modern technologies (cameras...).
The subjects observed were immortalised through drawing, allowing experts to compare them both during scientific controversies and with information published in books.
During the workshop, nature drawings of animals and plants were created by observing photographs, images in books and on the internet. After careful observation, the subject was drawn on watercolour paper, first with a pencil sketch and later painted in watercolour.
Art allows pupils to express themselves in a more creative way and at the same time to discover the diversity of nature, learning to distinguish different species based on different characteristics; shapes, colours, patterns.
The search for common names (in Slovene) and scientific names (in Latin) stimulates pupils to further exploration and makes them realise the importance of correct species identification. Through the creative process of creating a work of art, pupils develop both their graphic and manual skills and deepen their knowledge of nature.
