Asia

Lesson 20: Arts for Spiritual Intervention: To Seek Divine Assistance: Emas, Japan

Summary and Objectives

Activities in this lesson provide opportunities for students to explore the importance of animal symbolism in Japanese art. Students interpret the meanings of selected images and engage in artmaking activities that focus on animals in art. Their study of emas extends to an exploration of a Japanese form of poetry known as a lune, which students use to express feelings of thanks or good wishes. Students will:

  • Study and interpret the symbolism of animals in Japanese art through writing and artmaking.
  • Create their own ema-like wish and engage in creative writing about their wishes and dreams.  
THIS LESSON IS PART OF:
Curriculum Resource for Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives.
Unit 4: Art and Transformation

Lesson 18: Harnessing Spirits: The Hornbill: Bird of Prophecy, Malaysia

Summary and Objectives

Study of a hornbill mask from Borneo introduces students to the natural history of the bird and to cultural practices related to it. Students’ study leads to visual and performing arts activities and to their understanding of and respect for omens and other beliefs that are centered on observations of the natural world. Students will

  • Explore the natural history and the symbolism of the hornbill in Borneo through research and artmaking activities.
  • Engage in performing arts activities centered on an understanding of indigenous beliefs concerning the hornbill.
  • Contextualize their study of the hornbill in other learning activities related to the study of the art and ritual of rice in Asia.  

 

THIS LESSON IS PART OF:
Curriculum Resource for Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives.
Unit 3: Art and Power

Lesson 16: Status and Prestige: A Wall of Status and Prestige, Africa, Asia and the Americas

Summary and Objectives

Through a study of twelve works on display, students investigate how works of art can convey status and prestige. Provided with short commentaries on the objects, they should determine how the works confer status and then add to the list prestige objects of their own choosing, justifying their selections with short written discussions on the objects. Students will

  • Study twelve works of art to investigate how art can convey an individual’s status and importance.
  • Explore objects of power in their own lives through a creative writing activity.
  • Make judgments about works of art that express notions of power and status.

 

THIS LESSON IS PART OF:
Curriculum Resource for Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives.
Unit 3: Art and Power

Lesson 11: Performing Knowledge: Education as Entertainment: Asian Puppetry, Burma

Summary and Objectives

Students explore Burmese puppetry and as they do so they will make puppets and create and perform puppet plays. Their studies extend to Burmese poetry traditions and to Jataka Tales, around which much of the puppet theater in Burma is based. Students will

  • Experiment with the art of puppetry as they write scripts, create puppets, and perform plays of their own making.
  • Extend their exploration of Burmese arts by creating poetry in the style of Burmese climbing rhymes.
  • Analyze the literary structure of Jataka tales, retell selected tales, and create stories inspired by the tradition.

 

THIS LESSON IS PART OF:
Curriculum Resource for Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives.
Unit 2: Art and Knowledge

Lesson 9: Proclaiming Heritage: Canoes, Carvings, and the Austronesian World

Summary and Objectives

Students’ study of selected objects from Austronesia (Philippines, Indonesia, Polynesia and beyond) provides opportunities to examine the roles that art plays in communicating peoples’ heritage and history. Activities encompass object study to investigate visual symbolism, work with maps and migration patterns to understand how geography and movement shapes family and community traditions, and creative writing to explore the importance of ancestry in communities’ values and belief systems. Students will

  • Gain a deeper understanding of the communicative role of the arts through a study of Austronesian arts.
  • Use maps to discuss reasons for immigration and its impact on the cultural traditions of Austronesian peoples.
  • Explore their own and Austronesian origin stories and belief systems through poetry writing.
  • Analyze visual symbolism to understand the importance of ancestry in Austronesian culture.

 

THIS LESSON IS PART OF:
Curriculum Resource for Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives.
Unit 2: Art and Knowledge

Lesson One: China, Cradle of Tea Culture

Lesson Summary

As students commence their study of tea in the place of its origin, they investigate its various forms, appearances, and the naming systems that serve to define each variety. They explore the dynastic history of China, with special attention paid to the role of tea in each period. With samples brought by members of the class, students experience tea through the five senses—sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Finally they compare the differences between real teas from the tea plant and “teas” that are actually herbal infusions.

 

Lesson 4: Encounters of Ideas, Time, and Place. Textiles of Southeast Asia

Summary and Objectives

A study of Southeast Asian textiles affords students opportunities to examine Pacific migration, the effects such movements have on family and community traditions, and the roles played by certain norms and beliefs. Activities encourage students’ exploration of simple weaving techniques and patterning and design options. This lesson introduces the notion that works of art themselves can reflect cultural dynamism, transaction, interaction, and change. Forms are constantly updated and reinvented to meet changing social circumstances, accommodate new media and technologies, and reflect the vitality of arts and cultures throughout the world. Students will

  • Understand through discussion that works of art reflect a multitude of influences and encounters.
  • Explore fabrics—both familiar and unfamiliar—and research the materials, their sources, and new uses for textiles in contemporary industrial or scientific contexts.
  • Consider “objects of encounter” that reveal the interplay of external influences and tradition-based artistic practice.
  • Analyze patterning in the material culture around them and experiment with creating patterns by simple weaving techniques.
  • Weave with words in a word-search game.

Lesson 3: Beauty and Purpose. Capturing Beauty: Ikebana Baskets, Japan

Summary and Objectives

Students investigate a number of aspects related to ikebana baskets—the uses and meanings of bamboo, construction methodologies, and the elevated status given basket makers in Japan. This lesson introduces students to the important concept of beauty and purpose—that is, that the humblest of objects may be embellished and enhanced in ways that elevate everyday work and imbue it with special significance and value. Activities stress research, discussion, writing, and artmaking. Students will

  • Explore the uses of bamboo by finding bamboo items in their own surroundings.
  • Create their own basket after they study some of the formal principles of ikebana design.
  • Express their understanding of the art of ikebana flower arrangement through painting, writing, and poetry writing.

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Curriculum Resource for Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives.

Summary

This curriculum resource unit is conceived as a paradigm for approaching world arts and cultures in K-12 classrooms. In keeping with the conceptual framework of Intersections, this study presents a curricular approach based on how art works for individuals rather than one based on geography or historical chronology.