Present and Perform

"Explore different ways of displaying artworks to enhance their meaning for an audience."  (VCAVAP027)

Illustrate your life into a book!

Inspired by the work of Faith Ringgold this resource from MoMA inspires students to present some important events in their life through colourful illustrations and bind them into a book.

Faith Ringgold provides a fresh outlook on displaying art work by tapping into her African roots through quilt making as art and story telling, then combining the images into a book rather than hanging them on a gallery wall. 

Students at this level are very familiar with books and this also provides strong ties to the English Curriculum (VCELT298) and Intercultural understanding. (VCICCB006) 

I was personally very drawn to this resource as Faith Ringgold’s work has similarities to my own and excite my love of colour, fabric and bookmaking. I believe that thinking about the pictures in books as art helps students to understand that art is part of our everyday lives not just something that we see on gallery walls on an excursion. This kind of understanding helps the knowledge and skills that students learn in art class to translate to their other learnings. Most particularly in this instance to literacy as students in levels 3 & 4 have become familiar with the idea of publishing their writing and this work could aid in their visual literacy because of course we read the pictures in stories as well.

Students love to draw about their lived experiences and interpreting their own life into art gives them a true sense of ownership. The number of images created could be extended into a longer unit of work and for students with lower literacy skills it could be reduced.

Making a book is something that I have found to be always interesting to students, something they didn’t know was possible. The simple act of sewing pages together seems to be magic and transforms a few drawings into something far more cherished.

I would also add to the project by further incorporating the quilting components in Faith Ringgold’s work. A collage of fabric pieces as a book cover could be used to enhance the meaning of the work and introduce a further skill for the students.