Reading, play, and critical engagement with cultural heritage: associating children with Orientalist paintings through an interactive picturebook

Abstract

This study examines how an interactive picturebook prototype facilitates children's exposure to a museum collection of artworks presenting cultural heritage in Istanbul, Turkey. Picturebooks foster children's creative, cultural, and critical explorations in museums. Many Human-Computer Interaction studies support museum interaction with concerns on children's learning. Embodied re-enactment of the past supports criticality and plurality of difficult cultural heritages. In line with Critical Heritage studies, this research prototypes an interactive picturebook for the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation's Orientalist Painting Collection tested by seven children in Pera Museum. Our results challenged the status quo in how educational materials in museums can be tailored in more contextualised ways to inspire children to a deeper understanding of diverse heritages. Therefore, this study provides insights for practitioners on developing tools for children tailored for complex and challenging museum collections.