On 22 March 2018, the Winter Palace was the setting for the “Scroll of Memories”, a graduation ceremony for participants in the special museum educational project “We hear the world! Learning about the world and people through art”.
The project is intended to last six years and aimed at pupils in school years 6-11 with hearing and speech impairments. Each year the children have eight special lessons. On those “Hermitage Days” they are introduced to the museum display and learn about human culture from remote antiquity to the present day. Their new knowledge is reinforced through play and they participate in master classes. The end result of the lessons is traditionally a theatricalized interactive event held in the Hermitage halls.
This year, as well as 30 pupils from Boarding School №33, young ballerinas from School №210 and musicians from the Rostropovich School were invited to the event.
In the White Hall, following performances by a cellist and a violinist, the children and their teachers were welcomed by Irina Diubanova, the head of the Hermitage’s School Centre.
After completing the tasks of a quest around the tapestries entitled “History in Threads”, the participants moved on to the Moorish Hall for the “Scroll of Memories”, a costumed theatrical performance that reflected the children’s strongest impressions from their six years of studies in the Hermitage.
The pupils of the dance class of School №210 presented their gift – a grand polonaise and an entertaining master class in ballroom dancing.
The celebration ended with the graduates being awarded commemorative medals and gifts. In response they performed a song in sign language.
The event was organized by methodologists from the School Centre and Yelena Logacheva of the Department for Scientific and Educational Work, who is the creator and head of this special programme for children with impaired hearing.
