CELEBRATING SUCCESS IN THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS FACULTY

Twenty four AS/A level students all got to school on time, despite the

4:15 am start. Arriving in Milan, we were taken to our B&B Hotel Milano

- Sesto, a clean and friendly hotel that was in walking distance from

Sesto Marelli metro. We bought a carnet of 10 tickets each and went to

the Duomo area in order to familiarize ourselves with the centre of

Milan. We walked through the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the

world’s oldest active shopping mall and discovered the famous

boutiques such as Versace, Prada, D&G and Armani. We all took part in

the tradition of spinning three times on the mosaic of the bull, in order

to bring us luck and some of us got selfies with the Milanese police. Despite the cold, we all had ice-cream and

agreed that the Italians know how to do this best. We walked to the Castello (castle), where Cobby bought a single

rose for himself. The students took photos of crests and gargoyles around the castle area, which fitted the theme

of ‘Symbolic Creatures’ that the majority of the AS Art students had chosen for their exam question. Walking

through the streets, the girls discovered shop after shop of make-up and so they were in heaven. In the evening

we visited our local Pizzeria, which can only be described as an experience akin to Fawlty Towers. We had to visit

here each night and it was the only negative of the whole trip.

On the second day we went to see San Siro Stadium, one of the

largest stadiums in Europe, and had an informative guided tour

around the stadium and both dressing rooms for AC Milan and

Inter Milan. In the small exhibition there was a table football,

where a lively game ensued amongst the boys – Ferhat was able

to show off his skills here.

CELEBRATING SUCCESS IN THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS FACULTY

We then visited the Fondazione Prada, an exciting and huge contemporary art space that

had one building painted on the outside in gold. This gallery held some pieces that were

really thought provoking and questioned what constitutes tasteful art. Outside, we

witnessed a fashion shoot (as we were in Milan during Milan Fashion Week) and saw a

scantily clad and very frozen model. Then we had a guided tour around a residential house

that was famously used in the film ‘I am Love’ that was made in 2010 by the director Luca

Guadagnino and featured the actress Tilda Swinton. The Villa Necchi Campiglio is an

example of Art Deco/Modern Milanese architecture by Piero Portaluppi. The house held

famous painting by Lucio Fontana and Modigliani.

On the third day we

went to the Museo

del Novecento, a

large gallery of 20th

century art off the

Piazza del Duomo.

The majority of the A Level Art students were searching out

images that fitted their themes of ‘Nature Transformed’,

‘Mother and Child’, ‘Lighting’ or ‘Dance’. We narrowly missed a

political demonstration in the area, in the lead up to Italy’s

presidential election. For lunch students, who were now familiar

with the area went shopping, ate pasta or visited McDonald’s again! We then visited

Casa Museo Bosschi-di Stefano, a small 1930s salon-style apartment

designed by Piero Portaluppi. On the walls were paintings from floor to

ceiling of 20th Century Italian Futurist and Expressionist painters by De

Chirico, Fontana and Boccioni. At the meal we celebrated Resit’s and

Sevgi’s 18th birthday with small tokens from Milan and large cards signed

by the whole group and teachers.

The final day we spent the morning shopping around the Duomo area and

then visited the grand Milan Cathedral itself, the largest in Italy which

took six centuries to build and is Gothic in style. Students who had a head

for heights went up the stairs to see the views of Milan from the roof of the cathedral.

Thank you so much to Mr D Woolf for all your support on this trip and for the excellent banter. Also a big thank

you goes to Miss C Lipparelli for her dealings with the mad restaurant lady, in broken Italian, and for excellent map

reading. It was a fun-filled trip and we just missed the snow. The students were focused and a pleasure to take.

NST really got everything right with the hotel and bookings – so a big thank you to them.

Thank you to Miss K Savage, in the finance department, for all your help with the trip. Thank

you to Miss J Eden, Expressive Arts Technician, for your help with the passport bookings.

Mrs S Jimenez - Head of Art

Expressive Arts Faculty

CELEBRATING SUCCESS IN THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS FACULTY

Student comments:

‘I want to say a huge thank you for everything you have done for us and me. Thank you for organizing the school

trip and taking care of us.’ – Sevgi Kelesoglu - Year 13 A Level Art and Photography student

‘Milan was a sensational experience! I got to see the Italian culture through visiting museums and other tourist

attractions. It was an experience that I will remember forever.’ – Resit Altun - Year 13 A level Art student

‘The culture and vibrancy of Milan made the trip very enjoyable. The galleries and exhibitions were interesting and

helped to inspire me within my photography exam project’ - Lara Mckenzie - Year 13 A Level Photography student

‘The team were brilliant and organised’ - Hodan Mohamed - Year 13 A Level Art student

‘A great opportunity to experience another country’s culture and art with our friends and teachers’ – Zachary Mills -

Year 12 A Level Art and AS Photography student