Learning Activities

These learning activities have been designed by NAE Associate Artists Shamila Chady and Elaine Winter; they can be adapted to suit any young people over the age of 6 years old, at home or at school. We are aiming to provide enjoyable ‘hands-on’ creative learning activities to help interpret the work of diverse artists who are showcased at NAE. We welcome feedback from teachers, parents and young people to help us develop and improve these resources over the coming years.

Please contact ruth@nae.org.uk with your comments - and photos of your creations!

Introduction

Contents

1. Flags with Meaning - John Akomfrah

2. Pattern Hunt at Home - Dawinder Bansal

3. Drawing People - Phoebe Boswell

4. Anarchy Architects - Shezad Dawood

5. Painting with Coffee - Alwy Fadhel

6. Portraits - Hassan Hajjaj

Flags with MeaningInspired by John Akomfrah’s exhibition, Mimesis: African Soldier

Introduction:

John Akomfrah is a Ghanaian British artist who focuses on Black British identity though film and media. His exhibition Mimesis: African Soldier, was commissioned by NAE with 14-18 NOW. It remembers the millions of African and colonial soldiers, labourers, and carriers who served in the First World War. The flags in the films represent the diverse nationalities of the people involved.

Materials needed:

Pencil, rubber, sharpener

Ruler

White paper

Bright felt tip pens, plus see below for alternative materials.

What to do:Flags show we belong to a community and that we share beliefs and goals and possibly rules too. Let’s make a flag for your household or your class.

Make a flag for your household or your class. Draw initial ideas with colours and symbols that mean something to the people your flag will represent.

Select your best design and draw it on a small scale (try a rectangle of 7cm X 5cm). Small means you have to keep your design bold and simple so it would be easy to recognize if it was a long way away.

Keep to these rules: Don’t use lettering, words, logos, numbers. Do use bold colours (perhaps just 2 or 3) clear symbols and shapes

and keep it simple enough so that anyone can draw it from memory. Use bright coloured felt-tip pens to add colour.

OR use collage (cutting and sticking) with bright coloured paper and a glue stick.

OR use fabrics/items like clothes, towels, bedding that can be folded and shaped into a design then take a photo. Mix it up with some card/foil from recycling for tricky shapes.

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Links: John Akomfrah – Lisson Gallery

Mimesis: African Soldier at NAE

14-18 NOW

Pattern Hunt at Home Inspired by Dawinder Bansal’s exhibition, Jambo Cinema

Introduction:

Dawinder Bansal is a British and Indian-Kenyan artist. As part of her Jambo Cinema exhibition, she recreated her old family living room complete with original furniture, pictures and ornaments from the eighties. Through this work she evoked a feeling of nostalgia in viewers, who connected to their own childhood memories through the shared experience of familiar objects and spaces.

Materials needed:

Pencil, paper

Glue, scissors

Recycled coloured papers

Explore your home, hunting for patterns in all the objects, such as cushions, carpets, curtains, duvets and crockery. When you look, patterns are everywhere.

Fill a piece of paper with your favourite or most special patterns. Ask others you live with if there are stories to any of the objects you have chosen. If so, add notes.

Now select your favourite pattern, does it have a history, a story, a memory? Sketch the basic outline onto a piece of paper. You may wish to enlarge and zoom into a detail of your pattern.

Now collect a selection of papers for collage. Look through old magazines, newspapers, flyers, packaging, etc. You could also cut up your old drawings, writing, paintings, etc. Arrange these into colour themes.

Next start to cut and assemble the papers, sticking things down only when you are sure where they fit. Start with the background.

Build up your design. For precise edges on the foreground lay your piece over the drawing and draw your outline so it matches up perfectly.

Add final details to really make it pop!

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What to do:Let’s notice the patterns in our homes and create some art to remind you of this time and space in your life.

Links: Dawinder Bansal website

Jambo Cinema at NAE

Jambo Cinema NAE video

Drawing PeopleInspired by Phoebe Boswell’s exhibition, Here

Introduction:

Phoebe Boswell was born in Nairobi in Kenya, grew up in Oman and Bahrain and studied art in London. Her work combines drawing with digital technology and also includes animation, interactivity and sound. She explores themes of identity and freedom through her art. One of her works, Transit Terminal is a sculptural drawing of twelve charcoal life size figures. Phoebe’s work shows us how drawing people can provide a way to connect to each other.

Materials needed:

Pencil, rubber, sharpener, ruler

White paper

What to do:Here we will imagine a person with their own story and draw their figure.

Quickly draw a standing adult, from memory. Look at the body proportions.

Check using this formula: use the length of the human head (from very top to bottom of chin) as a unit to measure the entire body length. Bodies di�er but an average adult is approximately 8 times the length of the head in total (head included). Children di�er. A toddler is about 4 times the length of its head, a six year old child is about 6 times the length of its head.

Take a new sheet of paper, fold in half across the width, then half again, and half again. Unfold flat for 8 sections marked by folds. Use the top section to draw the head. Start at the top edge of the paper with the chin resting on the bottom of the first fold. Draw other sections as follows: the second is for neck and shoulders; the third is for the torso; hips on middle fold line; knees on fold line halfway between hips and the bottom of the page; feet at the bottom edge.

Compare to your first drawing. The adult you drew may be a bit di�erent in proportion, some people are nearer to 7 head lengths in total and some are more than 8.

Keep practicing and try using the proportions formula for drawing a person from di�erent angles. Add details like folds in clothing, textures of hair and skin, shade and tone.

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Links: may contain images with nudity

Phoebe Boswell website

Phoebe Boswell Pinch UK Art Centre video

‘Dear Mister Shakespeare’ – Othello, Phoebe Boswell (ft. Ashley Thomas)

Here at NAE

Anarchy ArchitectsInspired by Shezad Dawood’s exhibition, Encroachments

Introduction:

‘Encroachment’ is a term given to illegal constructions in Pakistan. Seen as a nuisance to private property owners, for those who build them they are a lifeline providing much needed spaces such as homes, businesses and teashops.

Shezad Dawood is an artist who responded to this theme in his exhibition Encroachments, working with virtual reality, sculpture and painting. His multi-media works are inspired by his varied cultural heritage, having a Pakistani mother, an Indian father and an Irish stepmother.

Materials needed:

Wide masking tape, scissors

Cardboard boxes, tubes, etc

Fabrics & decorations

Have fun making use of your new space!

Decide on the space you wish to create. You could aim to solve a global, personal or a simple domestic problem with your design. Consider scale and materials available. Sketch your design with notes.

Cut card into the shapes you need. Take extra care if cutting thick cardboard. Cut card more easily by scoring your line using scissors first.

Play around with assembling arrangements of your items and shapes. Respond creatively to the nature of the materials. It’s amazing what you can achieve with card and tape!

Create strong joins by layering masking tape and pressing firmly.

Once you have a solid structure add details and features. Colourful, cosy interior fabrics contrast with the raw materials outside.

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What to do:Let’s be resourceful and use what we have around our home to find solutions and create new spaces in our lives.

Links:Shezad Dawood website

Encroachments at NAE

Encroachments NAE video

Painting with CoffeeInspired by Alwy Fadhel’s coffee art

Introduction:

Alwy Fadhel is one of a group of artists who have made art using coffee, as the only resource available to them whilst being held in an Australian Detention centre for people seeking asylum.

This artist uses the medium of coffee painting to communicate his feelings and translate, without spoken language, truths about the lives and experiences of people who are refugees: living in limbo, being detained, painful pasts and hopes for the future.

Begin by mixing a spoonful of co�ee with a small quantity of warm water. Create a thick paste and a thinner liquid. Also try using the instant co�ee a bit like a watercolour block for a thick dark line and thicker paint.

Test out the e�ects of di�erent mark making tools.

Experiment - see how many tones, gradients and textures you can make using this one monochrome pigment.

Fill a page: experiment with e�ects through alternating your application tool, layering washes of thin co�ee and adding details using thicker co�ee. Sprinkling salt on a wet patch has an interesting e�ect. Your ‘white’ is the paper beneath the co�ee –unpainted areas will pop out.

How many di�erent textures and surfaces can we create with just this one medium? Try including imagery from Fadhel’s work such as birds or sunsets.

Once you have discovered your style, work on a full page scene. Illustrate anything you wish to express through the medium of co�ee. Lightly sketch outlines, including parts you wish to remain white. Create a light wash of background colour and texture. Build up additional layers using a thick paste on thin brushes or sticks for darker precise details.

Materials needed:

A few teaspoons of cheap / old co�ee

Paint brush or alternative (see below), plain paper, pencil

Jam jar with lid to use as paint pot and pallet

A small amount of water

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What to do:Here we will celebrate the resourcefulness and techniques of Alwy Fadhel and others, by making co�ee paintings of our own.

Links:Refugee Arts Project

A Post-Apology Carceral Regime: Encountering Refugee Art in Australia

PortraitsInspired by Hassan Hajjaj’s exhibition, The Path.

Introduction:

Hassan Hajjaj is a Moroccan-Birtish photographer who works between London and Marrakech. His work is brilliantly colourful, plays with brand logos and is full of pattern. His My Rock Stars series of portraits displayed in his exhibition, The Path which was on show at NAE captures a range of inspirational creatives from different cultural backgrounds. He has made portraits of famous people including Billie Eilish, Cardi B and Madonna.

Make an interesting rectangular portrait background with one or two of the collage papers. Use di�erent paper to make a frame around the edge. Look for bright colours and repeating patterns.

On plain paper, draw a strong outline of either yourself or another person. Add any clothing style and props of your choice to get across the character.

Look at Hajjaj’s work. Try adding sunglasses, an instrument, a bike etc to your portrait. Use bright felt-tips to colour in this portrait.

Cut figure out carefully and assemble on top of the collaged background and frame. Glue to fix the pieces.

OR look for bright patterned textiles: curtains, bedding, towels etc to use as a backdrop, plus props like sunglasses, hats, clothes and put yourself in the picture and pose before capturing it in a photo!

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What to do:Look at his portraits and analyse by noting colours and patterns, what people are wearing and holding, how they are posing, camera angles etc.

Materials needed:

Pencil, rubber, sharpener, ruler useful but not essential

Glue Stick, white paper, scissors

Any collage paper you have, including wrapping paper, bright and / or patterned packaging from recycling

Bright coloured felt tip OR do it all on your phone with a photo:

Get some bright patterned fabrics and bright/distinctive props – see No. 4

Links:Hassan Hajjaj – Artsy Page

The Path at NAE

Hassan Hajjaj in conversation with Skinder Hundal

Hassan Hajjaj, Everyday Superstars

For more information about NAE’s schools programme please contact Ruth, ruth@nae.org.uk

NEW ART EXCHANGE39-41 GREGORY BOULEVARDNOTTINGHAMNG7 6BE, UK

www.nae.org.uk 0115 924 8630

Schools at NAE