The exhibition, which can be visited in the lobby of the Altabix building on the university campus, showcases the results of the work developed by children alongside their teachers throughout the academic year.
According to the organizers, the project aims to educate the gaze, hand, and thought through observation, conversation, exploration of materials and languages, and encounters with artworks and artists. The methodology positions childhood as an active subject, interpreting, questioning, experimenting, and constructing their own voice through artistic practice.
The project was created by professor and educator Juan Fernández Cursach, recognized with the Premi d’Innovació Educativa Ciutat d’Elx. Following his passing in December 2023, 'Viure la mirada' has continued thanks to the network of teachers linked to the initiative and the commitment of his family.
His wife, Carmen Ruiz, supported the project from its origins and developed pioneering initiatives in artistic pedagogy with him. Their son, Joan Cursach, an artist based in Brussels (Belgium), took over the coordination of the exhibition after his father's death and continues, along with Carmen Ruiz and the participating faculty, to promote a growing pedagogical legacy.
Throughout its history, 'Viure la mirada' has extended to numerous centers in the Valencian Community and other regions, including Málaga, Cabo de Gata, Cuenca, and Murcia. It has also continued in the Faculty of Education at the University of Valencia and various Valencian towns. In recent editions, the initiative has brought together about fifteen centers and forty teachers, and the UMH exhibition had surpassed a cumulative total of 12,000 visitors.
“"Art offers children the possibility to explore and understand the external world, but also their own inner world. Beyond mere production, children learn to discuss the nature of art."
This concept remains at the core of a project that, nineteen editions later, continues to address an essential question: how to make art a tool for looking at, understanding, and thinking about the world from childhood.
