Artistic Discoveries in European Schoolyards

The men on the horse

By Giuditta Mingucci

In the yard of a secondary school there is a statue: a man on a horse. A king, maybe, or more probably a general… who knows? The plaque
with information about the statue is illegible – it says – “and he doesn’t remember anymore who he represents.” Trying to discover it is his
favourite occupation, when the lively routine of the institute gives him the time to do it.
But he remembers a lot of other things, and he is surely able to introduce us to the life of that school, of which he has been an attentive and
passionate witness since some decades. Everybody loves him and his horse, and someone even opens his heart to the statue: for instance,
a teacher, who comes in and tells him there is something strange going on in IIIA. Unusual behaviour, whispered sentences among the
kids… what can be behind this? The lone hero is ready to help discovering it.
The story comes from a real fact happened in a school in Milan, where some kids created a role game, a sort of Monopoly based on the
image of feudalism and fiefs, but a teacher forced them to stop with it. The play speaks about the creativity of young people, the need we all
have to create, and about the difficulties that sometimes occur in the relationship between kids and teachers. But it’s also provides the
opportunity to think about the experience of going to school, which in a way is different for each generation, but in another way is always
the same.