Human displacement often refers to the shifting of people from their original place of origin. It is a social change brought on by numerous push factors, such as war and conflict, natural disasters, economic strife, repression, or food shortages. Oftentimes populations leave a place of cultural heritage because of things that are widely considered pull factors, things such as a nicer climate or more job opportunities, among other things. Factors that push people from their homes or homeland or pull them to a new area or situation can leave a complex shift on one's personal and deeply rooted identity and cultural boundaries.
Because of these push/pull factors today's world is an intertwined network of divergent cultures and various diverse cultural displays and traditions, each with it's own power to change local communities and have a profound affect on personal identity. Like building blocks or a complex geometric pattern or design we depend on each other and fit together in an intricate and delicate balance. Personal heritage is a source for identity, community connection, and stability. It is traditions and living communication passed down from our ancestors and passed on to our heirs. It is our rituals, our knowledge, customs, and skills. To encourage respect for other ways of life in our interconnected world we must form an understanding of the personally abstract cultural heritages that surrounds us.
As we look to the Middle East and the artists that embody its soul we realize it as one of the oldest civilizations with deeply held convictions and traditions, strife and conflict. It is a place of rich aesthetic history and culture that leaves its exiled artists intensely torn between what was and what is. Their art is a form of shifting personal historical values, an expression of the pieces of individual identity held together in a delicate balance.
Grade Level: High School Subject: Visual Art
Enduring Ideas:
Artists tell us something about themselves in their work.
Art creates meaning.
Art often reflects personal history.
People develop ideas and understandings of society, culture, and history through their interactions with and analysis of art.
Individual aesthetic and empathetic awareness developed through engagement with art can lead to understanding and appreciation of self and others.
Essential Questions:
What are ways in which people express their identity?
How does family, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and cultural influences contribute to the development of a sense of self?
Do we define a place of memory and cultural value or does it define us?
How does art help us understand the lives of people of different times, places, and cultures?
Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of:
How cultural influences help shape our sense of self.
How cultural differences create perceived boundaries.
How to respectfully, creatively, and artistically collaborate with people of divergent ideas.
Art Education Diversity Lesson by Shanna Tellez, 2015