Educator Resources: The Arts of Asia and Africa

Transcription

1 Educatr Resurces: The Arts f Asia and Africa The fllwing resurces are designed t prepare fr and extend a classrm visit t the Ackland Art Museum. The experiences are intended t supprt classrm curriculum and learning standards, while allwing fr students t express their ideas thrugh a variety f frmats writing, discussin, research, and art making. Activities and cnversatin starters can be mdified per grade level and discipline. Intrductin: The vast cntinents f Africa and Asia are hme t peples whse artistic prductin stretches back in time fr thusands f years. The art created by these peple was a significant part f their lives, ften cnnecting their belief systems with the way they view and live in the wrld. Many f the masks, sculptures, ceramics, and wrks n paper that we enjy tday express their links t nature, their beliefs abut the wrld, and the rituals they practiced. Pre-Visit Experiences Lking Clsely As a class, lk clsely at the Sande Sciety Mask, Hill Jar, Fertility Child Dll (Umndwana), r The Offering f the Fur Bwls t Buddha. (See images and artwrk infrmatin). Have students describe the wrk f art and cnsider the fllwing questins: Lk clsely at this image and describe what yu see. Based upn what yu see, what d yu think this wrk f art is abut? What infrmatin might this wrk f art tell yu abut the culture that made it? Where wuld yu find mre infrmatin abut this wrk f art using the visual clues that yu see? Explring Asian and African cuntries: Culture, Beliefs, Gegraphy, and Current Events Have students research basic infrmatin abut African (i.e. Nigeria, Sierra Lene, Egypt) and Asian cuntries (i.e. China, Japan, India, Thailand), including their gegraphic features, climate, lcatin t ther cuntries/ bdies f water, ecnmic industries, plitical and scial systems, belief systems, and culture (fd, music, literature, art). Encurage students t share their findings thrugh a variety f frmats research papers, travel psters, display bards, image and wrd cllages, etc. As a class, cntinue the discussin abut specific African and Asian cuntries thrugh cultural materials such as clthing, music, art, literature, and film. Encurage students t cmpare and cntrast these cultural materials by categries: ancient/cntemprary, regins, belief systems, etc. Explre cntemprary African and Asian cuntries thrugh the eyes f wrld news and current events. Fr ne r tw weeks, have students pay attentin t the plitical, scial, ecnmic, and cultural news related t an individual cuntry and its relatinships with ther cuntries. Encurage students t cllect newspaper r news website articles and images have them share their findings, and, as a class, discuss their cntent. Cmplete a K-W-L chart (see attached) t help students cnfirm what they knw abut art frm Asian and African cuntries. The prmpts include: What I already knw abut African and Asian art., What I want t knw abut African and Asian art., and What I learned abut African and Asian art.

2 Pst Visit experiences After yur Museum Visit Have students share ne thing they remembered frm the Museum and hw it relates t their life. (Nte: This activity can be dne n the bus back t schl and allws fr students t be accuntable fr their learning and arts experience.) Back in the classrm, have students think abut their Museum experiences and respnd thrugh writing r drawing. What did yu see at the Ackland and what did yu d in the Museum galleries? Review the pre-visit experience K-W-L chart t see which predictins were true and what new ideas students learned. Create a class mural abut the trip by passing arund a large sheet f paper s students can write r sketch their impressins f the trip. Have students research any issues r questins that came up during their tur. Many wrks f art frm Africa and Asia were inspired by the natural wrld. G utside and be inspired by nature t! Lk fr things that yu like and that have a special meaning t yu. Make drawings r rubbings f what yu see. Using yur five senses, describe what is arund yu and hw yu feel. When yu have finished, share yur wrk with the class. Additinal Web Resurces: Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill: Metrplitan Museum, New Yrk: r Freer Sackler, The Smithsnian s Museums f Asian Art: Asian Art Museum f San Francisc : Asia Sciety Museum, New Yrk City: Natinal Museum f African Art, Smithsnian Museum: University f Iwa Museum f Art, Iwa City:

3 Nrth Carlina Essential Standards: Scial Studies 6.H G.1 6.C H C.1.2 WH.H.1 Understand the plitical, ecnmic and/r scial significance f histrical events, issues, individuals, and cultural grups. Understand gegraphic factrs that influenced the emergence, expansin and decline f civilizatins, scieties, and regins ver time. Explain hw the behavirs and practices f individuals and grups influenced scieties, civilizatins, and regins. Use histrical thinking t analyze varius mdern scieties. Understand hw cultural values influence relatinships between individuals, grups, and plitical entities in mdern scieties and regins. Apply the fur intercnnected dimensins f histrical thinking t the Essential Standards fr Wrld Histry in rder t understand the creatin and develpment f scieties/civilizatins/natins ver time. Cmmn Cre Curriculum: English Language Arts 4.W.1 5.W.1 Text Types and Purpse (Opinin) 4.W.2 5.W.2 Text Types and Purpse (Infrmative/Explanatry) 4.W.7 5.W.7 Research t Build and Present Knwledge (Cnduct research and writing) 4.W.8 5.W.8 Research t Build and Present Knwledge (Recall r gather infrmatin) 9-10.R.7 Integratin f Knwledge and Ideas (Analyzing Written and Visual Infrmatin) Nrth Carlina Essential Standards: Visual Art 4.V.1 8.V.1 Use the language f visual arts t cmmunicate effectively. 4.V.2 8.V.1 Apply creative and critical thinking skills t artistic expressin. 4.CX.1. 8.V.1 Understand the glbal, histrical, scietal, and cultural cntexts f the visual arts. 4.CX.2 8.CX.2 Understand the interdisciplinary cnnectins and life applicatins f the visual arts.

4 NAME KWL Chart Befre Yur Trip After Yur Trip What I knw abut African and Asian Art What I want t knw abut African and Asian Art What I learned abut African and Asian Art

5 Unidentified Artist, Mende peple, Sande sciety; Sande Sciety Mask, 20th century; Wd 16 3/8 x 9 1/4 x 9 3/4 in. ; Ackland Art Museum, The University f Nrth Carlina at Chapel Hill Gift f Miriam E. Dixn, Judith D. Gding and Susan R. Dixn in memry f Jhn W. Dixn, Jr. and Vivian S. Dixn,

6 Unidentified Artist (Suth African, Nguni, Ndebele); Fertility Child Dll (Umndwana), after 1940; Beads and fiber; 8 3/8 x 6 in.; Ackland Art Museum, The University f Nrth Carlina at Chapel Hill, Ackland Fund and Gift f Nrma Canelas Rth and William Rth,

7 Unidentified Artist (Chinese); Green-Glazed Pttery 'Hill Jar', Han Dynasty (206 BCE-CE 220); Red pttery; Jar: 2 1/2 x 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. base: 5 5/8 x 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in.; Ackland Art Museum, The University f Nrth Carlina at Chapel Hill, Gift f Smith Freeman,

8 Unidentified Artist, Indian, Gandhara; The Offering f the Fur Bwls t Buddha, 2nd century; Gray schist; 16 3/4 x 18 7/16 x 3 5/8 in. ; Ackland Art Museum, The University f Nrth Carlina at Chapel Hill, Gift f Clara T. and Gilbert J. Yager and Ackland Fund, 90.35

9 Unidentified Artist (Mende peple, Sande sciety) Sande Sciety Mask, 20th century Wd 16 3/8 x 9 1/4 x 9 3/4 in. Ackland Art Museum, The University f Nrth Carlina at Chapel Hill Gift f Miriam E. Dixn, Judith D. Gding and Susan R. Dixn in memry f Jhn W. Dixn, Jr. and Vivian S. Dixn, Sande is a wmen s secret sciety amng the Mende peple and sme f their neighbrs in Liberia and Sierra Lene. At puberty all yung wmen are initiated int the sciety in ceremnies that include masked dancers. The dancer wh cmmissined and wre this mask wuld have been a wman f high status in the Sande sciety. Wearing it, she embdied the water spirit, Sande, that presides ver the sciety. The masks present characteristics f the ideal wman. The dwncast eyes and delicate, regular features are indicatins f physical beauty; the smth high frehead indicates bth beauty and wisdm. The elabrate hairstyles, which vary widely frm mask t mask, derive frm changing fashins and are a sign f wealth and status. Surce: Ackland Art Museum Curatrial files Unidentified Artist (Suth African, Nguni, Ndebele) Fertility Child Dll (Umndwana), after 1940 Beads and fiber 8 3/8 x 6 in. Ackland Art Museum, The University f Nrth Carlina at Chapel Hill, Ackland Fund and Gift f Nrma Canelas Rth and William Rth, This dll is made f beads wrapped arund a cre f straw. In a sign that these figures were used by multiple generatins, it is pssible that arms, armbands, headdress, necklace and aprn, etc. are later additins, perhaps sme three decades after initial manufacture. Beaded Ndebele dlls are made fr adlescent girls either by their mthers r by the girls themselves as beadwrk samplers. Such dlls are als given t girls wh are sn t marry. The girl cares fr the dll, and gives it a name which is then later als given t her first child. Surce: Ackland Art Museum Object Guide

10 Unidentified Artist (Chinese) Green-Glazed Pttery 'Hill Jar', Han Dynasty (206 BCE-CE 220) Red pttery Jar: 2 1/2 x 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. Base: 5 5/8 x 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. Ackland Art Museum, The University f Nrth Carlina at Chapel Hill Gift f Smith Freeman, The green f Han Dynasty glazes was prized fr its resemblance t xidized archaic brnzes and jades. During the Han Dynasty and after, Chinese tmbs were filled with bjects that the departed may need r desire in the afterlife, including servants, cmpanin animals, varius amusements, and vessels fr fd and wine. Jars like this may have been used fr alchemical ptins f varius medicines and life-prlnging herbs. The theme f immrtality is referenced in the design f the hill jar. The hills n tp represent Munt B a sacred Taist site t which the departed wuld ascend n their jurney t the afterlife. The varius figures n the side f the jar represent immrtal beings wh reside n r arund Munt B. Sme were said t subsist slely n the dew f cluds. Surce: Ackland Art Museum Object Guide Unidentified Artist (Indian, Gandhara) The Offering f the Fur Bwls t Buddha, 2nd century Gray schist 16 3/4 x 18 7/16 x 3 5/8 in. Ackland Art Museum, The University f Nrth Carlina at Chapel Hill Gift f Clara T. and Gilbert J. Yager and Ackland Fund, In the stry f Buddha's first meal after attaining enlightenment, the guardians f the fur quarters f the csms ffer him fd in cstly gld and silver bwls. He refuses the fd until the guardians ffer it in plain stne bwls. He then takes the fur bwls and miraculusly cmbines them int ne. By ding this, he refuses t privilege ne ffering ver anther and asserts the unity f the fur quarters f the universe. Fr Gandharan Buddhists in the secnd century, the cncept f the universe and its fur quarters was surely mre than a metaphr - their regin was an internatinal trade center. This sculpture and the ne next t it, Buddhist Wrshipers Adring the Wheel f the Law, demnstrate that the artists knew smething abut Rman art. Drapery flds in bth wrks recall cnventins f Rman sculpture, and in this ne, the garland-bearing figures at the lwer edge resemble Rman putti, r cupids. Surce: Ackland Art Museum Curatrial files