Kids love to do printmaking...To see the transformation from their hand-drawn symbol design on foam sheets, to the print it makes using black tempura, it's just fun AND academic all in one project. We talked about symbols and how every culture around the world has symbols, or pictures which represent an idea or a story. In this case, we looked at the symbolism used in the Adinkra cloth tapestries made by the Asante people in Africa.
I gave them a handout that included pictures of real cloth designs, real Asante stamps, and a symbol chart for inspiration. We talked about how this culture makes their stamps - by carving their designs into calabashes and gourds, then using ink made from nature to make their prints.
We also glued colored rectangles onto our 6X18" paper, whose colors have symbolism in themselves. Red = fire, anger, violence, danger. Yellow = Gold, wealth, power. Green = growth, the earth, the land of Africa. Blue = courage, water. Black = old age and death. I told them that death and old age are not necessarily seen as a "negative" in some cultures around the world, as many cultures, like the Asante people, celebrate the deceased through masquerades and other rituals to bring the soul alive again.
Students were open to creating their own symbol, maybe thinking about their own culture and customs, or things they value. If you look closely, you will see prints of someone holding a book, skulls, and other designs. Some students did concentric circle and spiral designs, which they defined as galaxies, science and life, family members (each ring a different member of the family), time (hourglass shaped print), oxygen, the 4 cardinal directions...really just creative ideas that prove they are learning a lot about science and the earth in their curriculum. One student is expecting a new sister/brother soon, and her design exemplifies this importance to her. I was really pleased with the project and happy to learn more about the students!
