Cities and childhoods: the child goes to the museum

Abstract

The paper examines the mediation of expositive spaces in the formation of the child in the city. It problematizes the structure of these spaces with orientation towards the adult audience. It is based on the Vigotsky concept of semiotic mediation and establishes a dialogue with authors such as Agamben, Canevacci, Santos, among others, to determine the childhoods in the territorialities of the city. Two surveys mention the present paper and they were developed, in collaboration. The question that guides it is thus defined: how do museums welcome children and what senses do they give to museums when they visit them? In both cases analyzed, the children were conducted in groups for guided tours to exhibition spaces in the city of Vitória. The tours were planned with the children and recorded in photographs and videos, which were later analyzed. The results allow us to perceive that the places visited did not expect children. On the other hand, children assign new senses to the expositive spaces, resizing them from their interests.