| What Makes a Culture?
Center for Arts Education
Memphis Art Council
John Toth
http://www.InnerEye.Net
ARTWORKS From The Family
Language, literacy and learning grew out of the early image making of
every culture. The narrative aspects of Egyptian art can say much about the
differences and similarities of people. The beauty that we find in each culture may
require nurturing and tolerance for differences. The stories and ideas we explore will
come out of deep looking and paying close attention to details. We will explore and
experiment with visual elements that make up ancient Egyptian culture and compare it to
our own. We will look at images of Egytian art and discuss the elements of their culture
and find relationships between these ancient people and our own lives. I propose that we
use the visual tools, methods and practices of our aesthetic experience with Egyptian art
to develop our own folk tales.
B ody
Language
Artworks:
The Institute of Egyptian Art & Archeology
http://www.memst.edu/egypt/main.html
Objectives:
Explore the communicative elements of body language and its use in
Egyptian and Nubian art.
Questions:
Is there body language specific to a country or a place?
How does body language communicate rank, status, occupation?
Who is the ruler of Memphis and what was his occupation?
How does body language communicate concepts, ideals, aspirations, beliefs,?
Activity:
Ask students to create tableaus that communicate simply house activity, office, school,
etc.
Present tableaus in teams of three.
Group draws the tableaus using stick figures.
Trade places.
Reflection:
Ask students to comment on drawings.
What does body language express in relation to verbal language?
What is unique and similar in the comparison?
What does this suggest about understanding artworks from another place or country and
time that is not your own?
How does this relate to the way we teach multi culturalism in our schools?
Materials:
Slide projector, screen, SLIDES of artworks, 11x18 white manila
drawing paper, ebony drawing pencils (sharpened)
Speaking in Symbols
Artworks:
Objectives:
Explore the communicative elements of symbols in Egyptian and Nubian
art.
Questions:
Describe objects that you use in ceremonies?
Describe objects that you use every day?
Describe objects that symbolize your belief systems?
What gives these objects their symbolic powers? Describe?
Activity:
What kind of shapes and patterns do you see in nature? At home?
In the city?
Draw objects in a simplified way using circle , square, triangle.
How can these images be combined to express something unique.
Use the above visual symbols to tell a story about some interesting moment in your
life.
Or use the elements of your design to create a ceremonial mask.
Materials:
Slide projector, screen, SLIDES of artworks, 11x18 white manila
drawing paper, ebony drawing pencils (sharpened), oil pastels, color construction paper,
scissors
Reflection:
Ask students to comment on art works.
How did the use of color effect the meaning of your interpretation?
What did you learn by exploring the language of symbols?
How is one language enhanced by knowing a second language?
Transformations
Artworks:
Objectives:
Explore the communicative elements of transformation and its use in
Egyptian and Nubian art
Questions:
Why did the Egyptians mix elements of animals with representations of
people?
Describe things that transform?
Why do things transform?
Describe transformed objects that symbolize belief systems?
What powers are gained through transformation? Describe?
Activity:
What kind of needs do you have in your life?
What part of your self woulWhat part of yourself would be improved if you had the
attributes of an animal.
Make clay sculptures that combine attributes of human and animals
Or transform an every day object into a ceremonial object.
Materials:
Slide projector, screen, SLIDES of artworks, 11x18 white manila
drawing paper, ebony drawing pencils (sharpened), clay
Ask students to comment on art works.
Describe objects that symbolize your belief systems?
What powers are gained through transformation? Describe?
What did you learn by exploring the language of transformation?
What are the themes or lessons of their transformations.
Mythology & Folk Tales
Artworks:
Objectives:
Explore all of the visual elements that we discussed so far; body
language, transformation and symbols and use these elements to create a folk tale or
mythology..
Questions:
What are the elements that make up a culture.? Make a list
What are the elements that make up a mythology?
What is the relationship between history and mythology? What relationships do you see
between mythologies of different peoples.?
Activity:
What kind of mythologies do we create in our daily life?
Use all of the elements from the activities that we have created thus far to be used as
the raw material that makes up the vocabulary of a folk tale or myth about your life.Use
the elements from all of the above activities that we have explored as
An example might be to make a folk tale about the community that you live.
Who is the hero , who is the villain, what are the people of the community like?
Make a story board that includes images that tell a story that may include text, sounds
and movement and those things that you explored during our visual arts unit of study.
| a specific place… |
people and their attributes |
a hero with transformitive powers |
a ceremonial object with special abilities |
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| art |
habits and practices |
Shapes, patterns and colors |
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Storyboards can be assembled into book, mural painting, video collage or a performance
based presentation.
Make sketches that fill the required elements of "what makes up a culture".
(people, place and things, etc)
Materials:
Slide projector, screen, SLIDES of artworks, 11x18 white manila
drawing paper, ebony drawing pencils (sharpened), clay, construction paper, scissors,
paint, brushes, video, tape, monitor, tripod
Reflection:
Ask students to comment on art works.
Describe your process in creating a mythology to a team member.
What does the mythology say about your belief systems?
What did you learn about yourself?
How does this work connect to the way you teach in your
classroom?
John Toth, April 14, 1999
Toth Links to Internet Sources on Egyptian Culture
John Toth lesson plans
http://www.InnerEye.Net
The Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology
http://www.memst.edu/egypt/main.html
The University of Memphis Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology home
page
Nok, Egypt, and Arts
http://www.stockton.edu/~gilmorew/consorti/1lafric.htm
Classics and Mediterranean Archaeology
This document collects links to internet resources of
interest to classicists and Mediterranean archaeologists
http://rome.classics.lsa.umich.edu/welcome.html
Egyptology
featuring Frequently Asked Questions about Egyptian Mythology with
Summaries of notable Egyptian Gods
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shawn/egypt//
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/Egypt.html
Egyptology & Hittitology Sites
http://www.dnai.com/~junko/egypt.html
http://www.sis.gov.eg/front.htm
http://www.sis.gov.eg/egyptinf/culture/html/cultfrm.htm
summaries of notable Egyptian Gods
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shawn/egypt//gods.html
Ancient Nubia - Bronze Age Nubia
http://library.advanced.org/22845/bronze_age/index.shtml
Nubia: The Land Upriver
http://www.library.nwu.edu/class/history/B94/nubgeog.html
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