Quilt of Belonging for ART
Hello Everyone,
Remember from our discussions last week that we will be doing our own Quilt of Belonging squares for art. We will begin designing them tomorrow during art.
If you were not here for my explanation of the Quilt of Belonging, please see their website.
On the website, you can find a documentary about the Quilt, pictures of the Quilt, and a description of the project.
The Quilt of Belonging is a project designed to create a work of art that represents each of the many cultures that make up the Peoples of Canada. Each culture is represented, even if there are only a few people from that culture. Each culture’s square on the quilt has symbols and artwork to represent the things that are important to the culture.
Please think about your own culture and have a discussion at home with your parents. How will you represent your culture on your own square for our class Quilt of Belonging? To get started, you might think about:
- What country’s culture does your family identify with most? Is it a mix of cultures? Does the culture come from great-great-great grandparents?
- What does the flag look like from that culture? What colours and symbols would you find on it?
- What is the country’s official flower?
- What landmarks or famous buildings are in that country?
- What religion or belief structure do you have at home? How is that a part of your life? What symbols might represent these beliefs?
- What kinds of foods does your family like to eat? What symbols might represent that?
- What activities do you like to do as a family? What symbols would represent that?
- What kinds of artwork do you find in your house? Does it come from any particular culture?
- Do you have any special traditions or holidays in your family? Do you have any traditional clothing you wear during celebrations? Do you do anything special during these traditions? What objects would represent the things you do with your family?
When you make your quilt square, please fill it with symbols and artistic representations. While a flag is okay, it would be more interesting to see interesting colours, patterns, objects of interest, and important symbols. If you have more than one culture you would like to represent because your family celebrates a mixture of backgrounds, that is great! Find a way to combine them on your square. Talk about this at home first and then we will make it in class. You may use a variety of cut paper materials, oil pastel, glued objects, sequins, etc. as long as all items added lie flat on the paper and will stay attached. We will also be paying attention to symmetry and composition as we create our squares, and to help with this, please think about what your border on your square will look like.
Thank you,
Ms. D