An Artful dissident

Aims of the lesson

By the end of the lesson, students will have become familiar with and learned about

- the role of Engaged and Protest art in culture and society

- non-democratic regimes of totalitarian states that suppress the fundamental rights of their citizens

-political and cultural synopsis between China and the Czech Republic

- searching for information on the internet to find more global connections between art and real-life situations in connection with disrespecting human rights and the rights of

individuals and groups around the world

Language points: Content and Language Integrated Learning, Use of RWTC methods, Cross-curricular learning, Life skills- Perspective-Taking. Communication, Making Connections, Critical Thinking. Taking on Challenges, Engaged learning, Learning realia in English, Learning vocabulary in context, Reading - scanning, and skimming, Analyzing the artwork (what's going on in this picture)=> Taking action

- watching the documentary at home, discussing the lesson outcomes with peers, family, and teachers, preparing a school campaign

Level of English: A2, B1 Age: 14+. Time: 60 mins (setting watching the film as homework),

School, Class Campaign- 2-4 weeks

Keywords

Engaged art

Irreverent and satirical art

Political cartoons

artist-activist

graphic, pictorial, or multimedia works

the whitewashing of the history of the Tiananmen Square massacre

human rights abuses

fight for Hong Kong's freedom

dissidents

exile

remain incognito

Great Firewall of China

the erosion of freedom in Hong Kong

Charter 08, Charter 77

reinterpretation of the Prague Lennon Wall

Quizlet vocabulary set

Lead-in

What can you see in the picture?

Can you recognize the place? Where in the Czech Republic can you visit it?

​An ARTful Dissident

Who does the woman in the picture remind you of?

Why Is Art important in our cultural and social lives?

Consider the question, and compare your thoughts with the cited text in the next slide.

"In our modern society, art is a universal way for people to express themselves and share their feelings with the world. Art is an important avenue to connect with others, especially in times of crisis.

Art is a platform for people to express themselves and live out their dreams. It helps them deal with tough times and create something beautiful. 

Art allows you to express your feelings and thoughts in impossible ways through words or actions. It helps you understand how you feel about certain things.

What can you see in the images? Can you read the message hidden in pictures?

​

link to the original article

Ask a volunteer to read the text aloud.

Open Ended

Why are there art and music lessons in schools? Write "your three reasons" why, please.

Discuss the answers with your classmates.

Possible answers:

Art is vital in our cultural and social lives because it is the medium through which we process our emotions and ideas. It is also an essential tool for learning, teaching, and communicating. Art plays a role in recording history, and many artworks help us paint a picture (literally) of what life was like in previous generations. 

Art is also critical as a signifier of culture worldwide. Research has shown that art can affect one's fundamental sense of self. Art is a way to express oneself and helps develop cognitive skills. It also helps students build creativity and problem-solving skills.

source

In the next slide, you will be asked to write a short poem about ART and Music. Let us learn about it -how to.

Didactic Cinquain Poem Form

This is a very popular form of cinquain because of its simplicity. Instead of incorporating stress and syllables, it uses word counts.

• The first line is one word which is the title of the poem.

• The second line contains two words which are adjectives that describe the title.

• The third line has three words that tell the reader more about the subject of the poem or show action. Many times these words are gerunds that end with -ing.

• The fourth line has four words that show emotions about the subject of the poem and may be individual words or phrases.

• The fifth line is one word that is a synonym of the title or is very similar to the title.

Open Ended

Create a short Cinquain /ˈsɪŋkeɪn/ poem. 

Use the words Art and Music. 

 

Create a Cinquain poem on your own or

use a DCP generator on the internet.

Read your poems aloud, and discuss them, please.

​In this lesson, we will watch a documentary trailer about an artist who believes his artwork raises awareness of China's human rights record.

He was presenting his artwork incognito. In 2020, he visited Prague.

Use the QR code to see the photo from his visit to PRG.

You may need Google Lens to reveal the hidden message.

What is his name?

Why did he visit Prague?

Why was he working incognito?

​Please work in groups of four people.

Discuss what you found out.

Reveal the hidden message.

You can read a short article about Badiucao's visit in Prague here.

Work in pairs and try to find the links between Chinese dissidents and Czech dissidents. Search for the information online to find more global connections between art and real-life situations. I highly recommend following this link. You can also choose from the links below to find information about:

The Lennon Wall Prague – history

Lennon Walls Hong Kong

Lennon Wall flag

Strawberry Fields Memorial.

1, Story of the John Lennon Wall in Prague, Czech Republic

2, Lennon and the Leninists: Prague's Lennon Wall was repurposed to celebrate the founding of the PRC

3, Chinese Activist Art Has Reached Prague

4, Political cartoonist Badiucao unveils the new 'Lennon Wall flag' for the Hong Kong democracy movement

5, STRAWBERRY FIELDS

​Engaged Art chases a vision where the power of the arts transforms our world.

Each pair presents their findings in a few short sentences

​After the presentations, students can sing a song by John Lennon "Imagine". The KARAOKE version is in the following slide.

​Imagine what happiness is...

Now we are going to watch the trailer for the documentary about China's Artful Dissident Badiucao.

Open Ended

How do you feel after watching the trailer?

Express your feelings. (one-word method )

Draw

Draw the image you are having in your mind right now.

Watch the documentary at home if you want to know more about Badiucao.

Link to the Flier

I will share the access code with you.

After watching the documentary, please write a short reflection on it. Use the keywords from the lesson and study the Quizlet vocabulary set.  

You can follow the outline: Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?

Reflect on what you have learned from the documentary, and try to mention the overall takeaway from our lesson together. TIA

Discuss your reflection with your peers, parents, art, history, and social study teachers.

Taking action -introduction

Try to analyze the artwork in the picture.

Follow-up instructions: What's going on in the picture?

1. Look closely at the image.

2. After looking closely at the image, think about these three questions:

• What is going on in this picture?

• What do you see that makes you say that?

• What more can you find?

• Find the image on the internet and check your answers

• Discuss it!

 

Taking action:

Please read the article on the following slide. Then, consider taking action in the Global Call for Joining in the Art Campaign #WhoIsLiuxia.

Let's support Liu Xia, a poet, artist, and the long-time house-arrested widow of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese dissident who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and died under police guard on July 13, 2017. Liu Xia has been living in exile in Germany since 2018.

​

Who is Liu Xia?  "She is the widow of Liu Xiaobo and she can also be you, me, or anyone in this world."

Liu Xia, wife of late China dissident, left for Berlin: Report | Al Jazeera English

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Create your School, Class Campaign 

TIA 4 PASSING THE TORCH 🙏 🙏 🙏

You don't have to follow all the steps. Choose what you find the most efficient.

STEP 1: Follow Badiucao on Instagram

STEP 2: Share his photos or videos on your social media with the hashtag #WhoIsLiuxia.

STEP 3: Print the works of Badiucao you like the most. You can also make them into postcards, scarves, T-shirts, or any other printed material to circulate the images!

Prepare a classroom mini-exhibition. Invite students from other classes to your mini-exhibition and give them information about China's Artful Dissident, which we discussed together.

STEP 4: Create your classroom "Lennon Wall"

Ask every visitor to write and place a sticky note on "The Wall" for people living in nondemocratic regimes.

Ask visitors to write a sticky note about their feelings to free their minds. (they can place a note on the wall too)

During your art lessons, you can ask your art teacher for advice and work on the campaign together.

STEP 5: Let more people know about this campaign and pass the torch.