We had many amazing experiences during the 10-day trip. In Milan, we scaled the Duomo, one of the world's largest Gothic churches. By Venice's waterways, we saw ceiling murals made of gold in St Mark's Cathedral and visited the Venice Biennale, a bi-annual event showcasing artists from all around the world. At the Singapore Pavilion at the Biennale, we saw that a wide range of media was used - ceramics, sculpture and even sound - which changed our view of art and exposed us to contemporary trends.

Probably the most memorable and eye-opening artwork for us at the Venice Biennale was Take Care of Yourself by French artist Sophie Calle. She used photos and videos to capture the personal reactions of 107 women reading an actual email breakup letter. The letter was also translated into Braille and Morse code. The media she used and her unique approach to the subject matter made me look deeper into human relationships and emotions.

Taking notes and learning from artworks at the Venice Biennale.

In Florence, we saw for ourselves the genius of the great Renaissance artists, especially Michelangelo as well as Botticelli and Da Vinci. We were awestruck by the evident beauty and accuracy of Michelangelo's David. Taking inspiration from the masterpieces surrounding us, we sketched the many statues scattered about the Piazza de Signoria, a refreshing change from all the worksheets that we had been doing on the trip so far!

We marvelled at the architectural accuracy and size of the Colosseum in Rome. And at the Vatican, we were awed by the massive statues such as the Pietà and huge wall inscriptions, but these in turn were dwarfed by the sheer size of St Peter's Basilica. Then, at last, we were in the Sistine Chapel, where I could not help but feel deeply inspired by Michelangelo's and Botticelli's realistic frescoes.

The combined cohort of secondary school and JC "Saints" in Venice.

On our last night in Italy, our teacher Ms Chua Xin Yuan got us to write down our impressions of the trip in less than 5 words. What I wrote was: "growth", "discovery" and "the Renaissance".

We had grown in faith, knowledge and friendship. Throughout the trip, knowledge was gained, knowledge was shared, and friendships were forged. Some members fell ill and we faced bad weather. But we pulled through.

Our JC seniors shared their opinions of some of the artworks with us, which taught me to evaluate artwork from different people's points of view and to consider their emotions. We learnt how the Renaissance artists, before the invention of acrylic paint, used media such as tempera (a mix of powdered pigments and egg yolk), pen and ink, and woodcuts. This widened our knowledge of various media and techniques.

I believe this experience will benefit us greatly in our 'O' level projects, but beyond that, the experience has reinforced in me the idea that art is an international language, a form of self-expression that comes in many forms. In our art classes, we learnt about installation art and sculpture, but have not had much hands-on experience with other art forms like sound and video.

"Renaissance" literally means "rebirth" and this trip was in a way a rebirth for us. We discovered many new things, and we built upon and renewed what we had already learnt. The teachers were very friendly and approachable, and did their best to help us with problems, whether on art, history or otherwise. We learnt to handle our emotions better and to show consideration for those around us, thus making this learning trip also a lesson in life.

Contributed by:
Jack Teo Wei Jie
Sec 3SB
St Andrew's Secondary School