Indonesian Shadow Puppet Making Project

Student made shadow puppets for Aesop's fable of the crow and the fox

Indonesia is the 4th most populated country in the world. There are 300 hundred ethnicities, 700 languages, and 120 volcanoes on the many islands that make up the country of Indonesia. And the animal species are varied, with Asian animals (such as tigers and elephants) on the western islands, and Australian animals (koalas and komodo dragons) on the eastern islands. Because my students are blind or visually impaired, I brought in the spices (such as cloves and nutmeg) for students to smell. These were important Indonesian spices that put them on the map in terms of trade. I brought in a model of the kind of boat people would have used to row from one island to another. And I made an Indonesian flag (red stripe and white stripe) to discuss the importance of symbolism in flags. 

The cow jumped over the moon!

Day 2 of the lesson was when I introduced my students to puppetry. Shadow puppets have been part of the culture of Indonesia for about 1,000 years. I knew that my students would have a chance to see and touch Indonesian shadow puppets at Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts, so I thought it would be a perfect way for us to tie in performing arts with cultural arts and prepare my students for our upcoming field trip.

Every student picked an animal or character. Some made characters from a nursery rhyme or fable, others just came up with their own animal or person to draw on a cheap piece of white paper. Then they cut out the the shape on black paper. Some body parts had paper clasps as hinges or joints for moving parts.

A few students  used cut holes as windows for stained glass by coloring laminating plastic with sharpies and than taping it to the puppet. 

Other students used paint pens to decorate their shadow puppets. Indonesian shadow puppets are all about the silhouette, with intricate holes cut to make a lacey shapes. But the puppets, often made of buffalo skin,  also had/have elaborate patterns painted onto them that will never been seen during a performance.

I used an old silk screen as a screen for the puppet theatre, for students to try their hand at puppetry.

 

Lots of Dots: Aboriginal Inspired Dot Paintings

Did you know that there are more kangaroos than there are people in Australia? It was fun to study Australian history and culture with my students before making Aboriginal-inspired dot paintings. These paintings use symbols to represent things such as bodies of water or gatherings of people. Often they include handprints or or animal shapes. 

Dark paper made for a nice value contrast with bright or light colors, which is helpful for my students with low vision, and the acrylic dots made from the backs of pencils dipped in paint became tactile bumps once the paint dried. This project can be done in a period or two of art class, which meant there was plenty of time for discussion of symbolism in art, and how important it is to appreciate cultures other than our own.

 

Cinco de Mayo Decorations

Cinco de Mayo is upon us. I celebrated by teaching my students to make two inexpensive and easy crafts: papel picado and sombrero decorations. For the sombreros I hot glued upside-down Styrofoam cups to plates. The students decorated these by spray painting, and gluing ribbon, and pompoms.  The bulk of the lesson came from my dramatic telling of France and Mexico's battle at Puebla on the 5th of May, 1862.

Older students cut rectangles of tissue paper, either by folding it like a snowflake (for a radial composition) or an accordion and in half again for a crystallographic balance. The word "papel" means paper in Spanish, and "picado" means cut or chopped. I hope when at least one of my children gets married, they will let me make them a bunch of white papel picado decorations because I can imagine a large room (or garden) transformed for $20 worth of tissue paper and a week's worth of evenings spent watching movies and cutting.  Until then, I'll continue to find little projects to honor Mexican culture and history. If you are going to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, why not do it with a taco and a craft?