On Thursday, 18 June 2026, as part of the PollenAct project, the partnership delivered an experiential workshop during art lessons for 6th-grade students at OŠ I MS under the title “Wild Pollinators, Colours and Matisse Collages”. The activity was designed as an interdisciplinary link between visual arts and natural sciences, with a focus on understanding the importance of pollinators and expressing nature through artistic creation.

The workshop first introduced students to the role of pollinators in the ecosystem. They learned that wild pollinators – such as bees, hoverflies, butterflies, moths, and beetles – play a key role in maintaining biodiversity. Special attention was given to the role of colour in nature, as flowers communicate with pollinators through different colours that attract them according to their visual perception.

This was followed by an introduction to the artist Henri Matisse and his collage technique (gouaches découpées), through which students were introduced to the idea that colour itself carries expressive power. They became familiar with the key characteristics of Matisse’s style: vivid contrasts, simplified organic forms, flat composition, and a strong emphasis on colour as a carrier of emotion and meaning.

Through guided discussion, students drew interesting parallels between nature and art: just as a flower attracts a pollinator with colour, an artist attracts the viewer’s eye; and just as the shape of a flower guides a pollinator to nectar, the composition of a collage guides the viewer through the artwork.

The main part of the workshop was dedicated to creative work. Students selected a pollinator, defined a colour palette that attracts it, and created their own collages from coloured paper inspired by Matisse’s style. By cutting organic shapes and composing visual arrangements, they produced abstract interpretations of plants and flowers expressing the connection between colour, form, and the natural world.

The workshop enabled students to explore natural science content in a creative way and connect it with visual artistic expression. The concluding message emphasised that just as a flower uses colour to attract a pollinator, an artist uses colour to tell a story and create a dialogue with the viewer.

Through this activity, the partnership contributed to raising awareness of the importance of pollinators while also encouraging creative thinking and understanding the connections between nature and art.

Photos by Razvojni center Murska Sobota