Pangaea: New Art from Africa and South America Activity Pack Introduction Imagine you have travelled from the future, Year 2154. You have been specially selected and sent to Saatchi Gallery to learn about African and Latin American art made between 2004‐
2014. Greetings child of 2154, Your mission is to learn about the art work of Latin America and Africa. You have time travelled back to 2014 to visit Saatchi Gallery, London. From our previous time travelling adventures, we have learnt about Pangaea: the supercontinent which formed 300 million years ago and broke apart roughly 200 million years ago. Look at the data we collected below: http://eatrio.net/pangea‐maps Definitions for Time Travellers Pangaea: A supercontinent formed of all the present day continents. Supercontinent: Large land masses that existed in the past which were made up from all the continents. Continent: One of the earth's seven major areas of land. The continents are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Your task today is to gather data about African and Latin American art made between 2004‐2014. So check your 2014 disguise costume (no invisible cloaks allowed), sharpen your ancient writing tool known as a pencil and dive into the world of 2014. Hope you’re ready to go exploring Saatchi Gallery! Starter activity Can you fill in the missing letters of the countries on the map? C_ _ _
http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art‐150942/Latin‐America#cite Moro_ _ _ A _geria E_ _ _ _ K_ _ya M_d_gas_ __
http://www.ngoabroad.com/Articles/Africa.html
Gallery 1 Rafael Gómezbarros Gallery 1 has been overtaken by giant ants! Quick, we must investigate this strange epidemic! What materials do you think the artist used? Look closely at the bodies of the ants, does it remind of anything? Circle the materials you think the Rafael Gomezbarros used to create the bodies Cast of human skull Cast of football Leaves Mud Coal Cast of a fruit ball Sewing thread Plastic Twigs Rope Spiders legs Turn the page to find out... Cotton Rafael Gomezbarros used casts of human skulls to make the bodies of the ants. He also used rope, twigs and cotton to construct the ants. Did you guess correctly? Well done time traveller! Good investigation skills! We must now investigate why he used human skulls. Fact for time travellers: Rafael Gómezbarros uses the installation to address the issue of refugees crossing the planet in search of safety and shelter. Ants work together as a community to build their own shelters. Can you draw a shelter created by ants to protect their families? Ants would use leaves, twigs and mud to create shelters. Gallery 2 Aboudia Strange creatures are living within the world of Aboudia’s paintings. Find the painting below in the gallery. Count all the faces, look closely, there’s more than expected. How many faces can you see? ................................................................. Fact for time travellers: Aboudia grew up in the war torn country of Republic of the Ivory Coast. In 2011, he took refuge in his studio whilst fighting broke out in the streets. Which painting in this room reminds you of war?.................................................... All of the characters look very vibrant and have large eyes. Can you draw an imaginary character to fit into the world of Aboudia’s paintings? When you get home, you could colour it in, try holding 2 colouring pencils at the same time. Gallery 3 Antonio Malta Campos Detective work is needed in this gallery! There are people hiding within the patterns and colours of Antonio Malta Campos’ paintings. Which painting shows people in hats? Find the title of the painting and write it below: .............................................................................................................................. You will need to record observations of these paintings to show your friends when you return to 2154. Draw: Use the space below to copy one of the faces made out of patterns. Look at the use of unusual shapes to create a human face. Gallery 3 Jose Carlos Martinat Circle where you think the materials in this piece come from? Buildings another artist’s studio a gallery street a city building windows Fact for time travellers: Jose Carlos Martinat uses found materials within his work. The glass sheets covered in graffiti were found in the street. Your opinion The graffiti was made by another artist, is it fair to view this piece as the work of Jose Carlos Martinat? ............................................................................................................................. Would this sculpture be ‘fine art’ if you saw it in the street? ............................................................................................................................ These are questions the artist wants you to think about. In an interview, Jose Carlos Martinat said his work was in constant development. In the space below, imagine how you could develop this sculpture. Draw what you could add to the piece. It could be more materials from the street, maybe bricks, concrete and a lamppost? Gallery 4 Boris Nzebo Boris Nzebo has been inspired by the people and buildings in his home town, Douala in Cameroon, West Africa. The multi‐layered paintings appear to tell many stories. Find the painting called ‘Habitats à Loyer Modérés’. It is made of 3 canvases, this is called a triptych. Can you imagine a story within these 3 paintings? Characters: How many people are in the painting? Is there a main character? How old are they? Do they have a job or at school? Are they happy or sad? Where are they going? Environment: What is the building within the painting? Is it a home, a school or a workplace? Write your description of the people below : Canvas 1 . Canvas 2. Canvas 3. Write your description of the environment below: Canvas 1. Canvas 2. Canvas 3. Use the space below to write a short story about the people and environment. A story always has a beginning, middle and end. Canvas 1 ‐ Beginning Canvas 2 ‐ Middle Canvas 3 ‐ End Gallery 6 Oscar Murillo Look ‐ List the found objects used in Oscar Murillo’s work? Look at all the artworks in the room. 1. 2. 3. 4. What object could you play with? ................................................................................................................................... (Remember don’t touch the artwork) The worn and battered footballs placed on the shelf look like important valuable objects; maybe these footballs hold important memories of childhood for the artist. What object or toy would you choose to display on the shelf below? Gallery 7 Vincent Michea Welcome to the place to learn about the culture of Dakar in Senegal, West Africa. Find and circle Senegal on the map below. Fact for Time Travellers: Vincent Michea is inspired by popular culture; album covers and portraits of ordinary and famous Dakarois (people from Dakar) are displayed by using art techniques borrowed from Pop Art. Michaea is influenced by Roy Lichtenstein use of Ben‐Day dots. Ben‐Day Dots
The Ben‐Day Dots printing process was named after illustrator and printer Benjamin Day. Dots are arranged closely‐spaces, widely‐spaced or overlapping to create different effects of colour, depth and form. Create our own album cover for yourself or your favourite singer. Try to use the Ben‐Day dot technique. Use the template below. Ben Day Dots Gallery 8 Dillon Marsh Time Traveller Investigations... Draw a line from the artwork to the tools and materials used to create the sculptures. Did you guess that birds made these sculptures? Dillon Marsh photographed weaver bird nests. Weaver birds work in social groups to create impressive nests, which look like sculptures. Imagine What do these birds’ nests look like to you? Maybe costumes or spaceships? Fill in the blanks below. Literacy Link ‐ Adjectives and similes The beautiful bird nests are like dresses dancing in the sky. The ........................ bird nests are like................................................. The .................. bird nests are like.............................................
The .................. bird nests are like............................................
Gallery 10 Ibrahim Mahama How would you describe this gallery? Circle the words below Mysterious Magical Dark Scary Foreign Theatrical Dirty Colourful Light Clean How do you feel? Trapped Adventurous Uncomfortable Overwhelmed Far from home Excited Transported into another land Afraid Intrigued
Small Awe‐inspired Time Traveller Investigations... Get out your inspector glasses and look closely at the writing on the material. Where has the material travelled from? ............................................................................................................................ Fact for time travellers: Ibrahim Mahama’s spectacular installation of sewn coal sacks are the result of his research into African markets. On the map (on the next page) can you draw the journey of the sacks before they arrived at Saatchi Gallery, London? Well done Time Travellers! You have completed your journey through the Saatchi Gallery. We hope you have gathered enough data to travel back to 2154 and tell all your friends!