Look and Discuss

Present and discuss with your class a selection of the 7 featured artworks in the Artwork & Artists slideshow

(Tabs will provide you with information on the theme, composition, interpretation and the artist.)

A downloadable Presentation that you can add to or manipulate will also help you share these images in your classroom.

Use the suggested artworks as the basis for a discussion. What design elements and design principles can we find in these works? Discuss the different techniques and effects used to create shapes, lines, space, texture and colours, as well as contrast, balance, rhythm, proportion and harmony. Why do Aboriginal artists represent their personal or cultural history? What is cultural identity?

Ask your students to bring in components that represent their family history and cultural history: photos, press clippings, scraps of cloth, small flat objects, etc. Using these components, they will create a personal work that will be a kind of mirror of their cultural identity. Discuss the importance of identity with them and ask them to question parents and friends about their family?s past and their cultural past. When they have brought in their materials, ask them to analyze them before using them. Ask them to think about the following questions. Why have they chosen to bring in one component rather than another? How will they relate to one another? Will they need to include all of them, or are they instead going to choose the most significant or most striking ones? Next, ask them to create a visual composition with images and words that tell their family and cultural history.