Heritage

Lesson 21: Arts for Spiritual Intervention: Honoring Patron Saints with Retablos, Mexico

Summary and Objectives

Students learn about the meanings of retablos and ex-votos in Mexico and discuss the significance of these to the individuals and families who use them in ritual practice. They create individual votive-inspired expressions of wishes and/or thanks. The lesson also includes a closer look at the representational imagery of Catholic saints and the impact such images may have in students’ lives. Students will

  • “Read” and interpret retablos and ex-votos from Mexico through discussion and writing.
  • Create retablo- and votive-like offerings.
  • Discuss individuals’ beliefs about ancestors and family patron saints as intercessors with the divine.

 

THIS LESSON IS PART OF:
Curriculum Resource for Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives.
Unit 4: Art and Transformation

Lesson 17: Harnessing Spirits: Pacific Northwest Arts, United States and Canada

Summary and Objectives

A study of selected works of art from the Pacific Northwest will introduce students to the symbolism, materials, and uses of masks, and serve as inspiration for artmaking. Another activity focuses on students’ discussion of the potlatch with its distribution of gifts. Students will

  • Explore the uses and visual forms of masks in the Pacific Northwest (United States and Canada) through visual analyses and artmaking activities.
  • Analyze the potlatch as a means of exchanging wealth and expressing status through discussion and oral language activities.
  • Express their interpretation of the concept of transformation through the making of masks.  

 

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

Lesson 10: Performing Knowledge: Teaching about the Spirit World: Katsina Traditions, Southwest U.S.

Summary and Objectives

As students study Katsina traditions of the Hopi of northern Arizona and New Mexico they will become more familiar with the general principles and details that serve to identify the spirits represented. They will consider the importance of corn among Hopi peoples and they will ponder notions of spiritual and environmental balance, as embodied in Hopi values and teachings. As part of this study students will 

  • Explore Katsina traditions through visual analysis, story telling, and research.
  • Deepen their knowledge of the educational roles of dolls through discussion and artmaking activities.
  • Broaden their understanding of the importance of foods to the lifestyles and rituals of different cultures through research, discussion, and artmaking.
  • Explore water conflicts and the need for environmental balance as valued and taught by the Hopi.


 

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 6: Memory and Cosmology: Mother of the Band: The Ntan Drum, Ghana

Summary and Objectives

Students study the iconography of a Ghanaian drum and investigate its meanings in terms of the history and cultural traditions of Ghana. As students “read” the drum, they come to understand the verbal/visual messages of the drum’s iconography. Activities also include creative writing and problem solving as students work with the imagery on the drum. Students will

  • Study the many images on a Ghanaian drum and investigate their multiple meanings.
  • Explore Akan oral literature and proverbs through creative writing activities.
  • Collect, document, and then use examples of proverbial language in conversation and creative writing.

  

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

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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