Maria Luisa Learns and Teaches: Despite the tremendous development of tourism over the past ten years, despite the experiences and impressions of millions of people who visit foreign countries and sometimes foreign continents every year as tourists, students, for business, scholars or journalists are our knowledge of everyday life of people living in distant countries is still poor. – Works

© Estate of Paul Almásy / Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.

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Artist/Maker Paul Almásy (French-Swiss, born Hungary, 1906 – 2003)

Date1961

MediumVintage ferrotyped gelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 9 3/16 × 11 1/2 in. (23.4 × 29.2 cm) Sheet: 9 3/16 × 11 1/2 in. (23.3 × 29.2 cm)

Credit LineGift of Thomas J. Wilson and Jill M. Garling, P2016

Object number2025.30.29

Not on view

DescriptionMaria Luisa Learns and Teaches: Despite the tremendous development of tourism over the past ten years, despite the experiences and impressions of millions of people who visit foreign countries and sometimes foreign continents every year as tourists, students, for business, scholars or journalists are our knowledge of everyday life of people living in distant countries is still poor. Could the traveler who sees the mountains of wonderful vegetables on the market of a large South American city imagine vegetable growers who do not know how to prepare carrots, peas or spinach; six-headed families who own a large house but only a drinking glass, because no one has ever drawn their attention to the harmful effects of health when six people drink from the same glass at meal time; women who don't know how to cook rice, etc... There are countless countries where you have to learn to wash your hands in school, because they never saw it in their parents' house. In many places, the consequences of poverty are still a question of ignorance. Millions of people who live in the country have never left their village and have never seen how other people live. Using a tablecloth while eating and arranging the dishes in a nice way, giving the food an appetizing appearance, storing the food supply in such a way that it is protected from insects and dust, these are all things the millions completely ignored by people. How can you teach them all this? The specialists in the fields of education, social sciences and healthcare, who have been dealing with this problem for years, unanimously believe that there is only one good practical solution: the teaching of parents by children. The children should teach their mother and father what they learn at school. In this spirit, courses for "better and healthier living" were introduced in several countries, especially in South America in primary and secondary schools. These courses are particularly important in rural areas. First, of course, the teachers themselves who lead these courses must be trained. Children are given a snack every day at school. They have learned that a small tablecloth is used when eating; Maria-Luisa has embroidered a very special doily for herself, Paraguay.

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