visual dialogues

36
Gender and Identity

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Teaching resource: Gender and Identity

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Visual Dialogues

Gender and

Identity

This resource will focus on gender and identity through some of the key concepts and processes used within keystage 3 and 4 subjects Art and Design Citizenship English History and Cross-Curriculum dimensions (identity and cultural diversity healthy lifestyles community participation enterprise global dimension and sustainable development technology and media and creativity and critical thinking)

GENDER AND IDENTITY

3

Intro 4

The Works 7

The Visual Dialogue 10

Visits and Trips 24

Classroom Activities 26

Teaching Materials 33

CoNTENTs

4

Intro

5

For centuries artists have used gender and identity as subjects to comment on cultures This resource will explore questions such as lsquoWhat is identityrsquo lsquoWhat identifies usrsquo lsquoDoes our gender have a specific role in todayrsquos societyrsquo

To encourage discussions and creative activity around the theme of gender and identity this pack will study and interpret a historical work by William Maw Egley and a contemporary piece by Hannah Starkey In both works each artist explores gender and identity in relation to the social and historical context specific to the time which the work was made

PRojECT ovERvIEw

6

Creating A Visual Dialogue

To study gender and identity in todayrsquos society it is important for students to understand a little about how identities and gender roles have altered overtime

Students may find it difficult to relate to historical works (or characters) and understand what the artist is portraying

This can be overcome by studying a historical work alongside a contemporary work ie William Maw Egleyrsquos historical piece The Lady of Shalott (1858) and Hannah Starkeyrsquos contemporary work Butterfly Catchers (1999) By displaying and studying these two artworks simultaneously a unique juxtaposition is created enhancing the worksrsquo (and periodsrsquo) similarities and differences themes which run through both the historical and contemporary pieces appear clearer Through this process a visual dialogue is created allowing young people to explore and relate to contemporary and historical cultures at ease (see Visual Dialogues contextual page for more info)

INTRoDuCTIoN

How To Use The Resource

It is possible to use any contemporary and historic artwork in addressing issues of gender and identity You may prefer to study alternative works for example a visual interpretation of an era you are specifically studying or a piece which students have seen previously

7

The works

8

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999

Hannah Starkey born in 1968 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is a photographer recognised for her images that explore ldquoeveryday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiverdquo She studied Photography and Film at the Napier University Edinburgh and Photography at the Royal College of Art London

Starkey uses a documentarycinematic style to suggest that she has taken photos of personal moments between the characters while they are unaware This creates awkwardness for the viewer as the perspective makes us feel that we are intruding - often witnessing some sort of silent drama that Her static images imply there is a narrative as they suggest to the audience that the photographed is just a freeze frame and the scene continued These narratives are built through her characters and situations implying issues of class race gender and identity through the physical appearance of her models or places Much of Starkeyrsquos works are untitled encouraging the viewer to project their own thoughts onto the works

Interested in creating a social commentary for the viewer her pieces are often based on political issues from a personal perspective Both of these elements feature in Starkeyrsquos photo Butterfly Catchers (1999) Taken on Falls Road in Belfast the piece focuses on her strong matriarchal upbringing in the area This piece shares Starkeyrsquos observation of her motherrsquos identity and her relationship with the community especially other women

ThE woRks

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 2: Visual Dialogues

This resource will focus on gender and identity through some of the key concepts and processes used within keystage 3 and 4 subjects Art and Design Citizenship English History and Cross-Curriculum dimensions (identity and cultural diversity healthy lifestyles community participation enterprise global dimension and sustainable development technology and media and creativity and critical thinking)

GENDER AND IDENTITY

3

Intro 4

The Works 7

The Visual Dialogue 10

Visits and Trips 24

Classroom Activities 26

Teaching Materials 33

CoNTENTs

4

Intro

5

For centuries artists have used gender and identity as subjects to comment on cultures This resource will explore questions such as lsquoWhat is identityrsquo lsquoWhat identifies usrsquo lsquoDoes our gender have a specific role in todayrsquos societyrsquo

To encourage discussions and creative activity around the theme of gender and identity this pack will study and interpret a historical work by William Maw Egley and a contemporary piece by Hannah Starkey In both works each artist explores gender and identity in relation to the social and historical context specific to the time which the work was made

PRojECT ovERvIEw

6

Creating A Visual Dialogue

To study gender and identity in todayrsquos society it is important for students to understand a little about how identities and gender roles have altered overtime

Students may find it difficult to relate to historical works (or characters) and understand what the artist is portraying

This can be overcome by studying a historical work alongside a contemporary work ie William Maw Egleyrsquos historical piece The Lady of Shalott (1858) and Hannah Starkeyrsquos contemporary work Butterfly Catchers (1999) By displaying and studying these two artworks simultaneously a unique juxtaposition is created enhancing the worksrsquo (and periodsrsquo) similarities and differences themes which run through both the historical and contemporary pieces appear clearer Through this process a visual dialogue is created allowing young people to explore and relate to contemporary and historical cultures at ease (see Visual Dialogues contextual page for more info)

INTRoDuCTIoN

How To Use The Resource

It is possible to use any contemporary and historic artwork in addressing issues of gender and identity You may prefer to study alternative works for example a visual interpretation of an era you are specifically studying or a piece which students have seen previously

7

The works

8

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999

Hannah Starkey born in 1968 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is a photographer recognised for her images that explore ldquoeveryday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiverdquo She studied Photography and Film at the Napier University Edinburgh and Photography at the Royal College of Art London

Starkey uses a documentarycinematic style to suggest that she has taken photos of personal moments between the characters while they are unaware This creates awkwardness for the viewer as the perspective makes us feel that we are intruding - often witnessing some sort of silent drama that Her static images imply there is a narrative as they suggest to the audience that the photographed is just a freeze frame and the scene continued These narratives are built through her characters and situations implying issues of class race gender and identity through the physical appearance of her models or places Much of Starkeyrsquos works are untitled encouraging the viewer to project their own thoughts onto the works

Interested in creating a social commentary for the viewer her pieces are often based on political issues from a personal perspective Both of these elements feature in Starkeyrsquos photo Butterfly Catchers (1999) Taken on Falls Road in Belfast the piece focuses on her strong matriarchal upbringing in the area This piece shares Starkeyrsquos observation of her motherrsquos identity and her relationship with the community especially other women

ThE woRks

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 3: Visual Dialogues

3

Intro 4

The Works 7

The Visual Dialogue 10

Visits and Trips 24

Classroom Activities 26

Teaching Materials 33

CoNTENTs

4

Intro

5

For centuries artists have used gender and identity as subjects to comment on cultures This resource will explore questions such as lsquoWhat is identityrsquo lsquoWhat identifies usrsquo lsquoDoes our gender have a specific role in todayrsquos societyrsquo

To encourage discussions and creative activity around the theme of gender and identity this pack will study and interpret a historical work by William Maw Egley and a contemporary piece by Hannah Starkey In both works each artist explores gender and identity in relation to the social and historical context specific to the time which the work was made

PRojECT ovERvIEw

6

Creating A Visual Dialogue

To study gender and identity in todayrsquos society it is important for students to understand a little about how identities and gender roles have altered overtime

Students may find it difficult to relate to historical works (or characters) and understand what the artist is portraying

This can be overcome by studying a historical work alongside a contemporary work ie William Maw Egleyrsquos historical piece The Lady of Shalott (1858) and Hannah Starkeyrsquos contemporary work Butterfly Catchers (1999) By displaying and studying these two artworks simultaneously a unique juxtaposition is created enhancing the worksrsquo (and periodsrsquo) similarities and differences themes which run through both the historical and contemporary pieces appear clearer Through this process a visual dialogue is created allowing young people to explore and relate to contemporary and historical cultures at ease (see Visual Dialogues contextual page for more info)

INTRoDuCTIoN

How To Use The Resource

It is possible to use any contemporary and historic artwork in addressing issues of gender and identity You may prefer to study alternative works for example a visual interpretation of an era you are specifically studying or a piece which students have seen previously

7

The works

8

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999

Hannah Starkey born in 1968 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is a photographer recognised for her images that explore ldquoeveryday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiverdquo She studied Photography and Film at the Napier University Edinburgh and Photography at the Royal College of Art London

Starkey uses a documentarycinematic style to suggest that she has taken photos of personal moments between the characters while they are unaware This creates awkwardness for the viewer as the perspective makes us feel that we are intruding - often witnessing some sort of silent drama that Her static images imply there is a narrative as they suggest to the audience that the photographed is just a freeze frame and the scene continued These narratives are built through her characters and situations implying issues of class race gender and identity through the physical appearance of her models or places Much of Starkeyrsquos works are untitled encouraging the viewer to project their own thoughts onto the works

Interested in creating a social commentary for the viewer her pieces are often based on political issues from a personal perspective Both of these elements feature in Starkeyrsquos photo Butterfly Catchers (1999) Taken on Falls Road in Belfast the piece focuses on her strong matriarchal upbringing in the area This piece shares Starkeyrsquos observation of her motherrsquos identity and her relationship with the community especially other women

ThE woRks

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 4: Visual Dialogues

4

Intro

5

For centuries artists have used gender and identity as subjects to comment on cultures This resource will explore questions such as lsquoWhat is identityrsquo lsquoWhat identifies usrsquo lsquoDoes our gender have a specific role in todayrsquos societyrsquo

To encourage discussions and creative activity around the theme of gender and identity this pack will study and interpret a historical work by William Maw Egley and a contemporary piece by Hannah Starkey In both works each artist explores gender and identity in relation to the social and historical context specific to the time which the work was made

PRojECT ovERvIEw

6

Creating A Visual Dialogue

To study gender and identity in todayrsquos society it is important for students to understand a little about how identities and gender roles have altered overtime

Students may find it difficult to relate to historical works (or characters) and understand what the artist is portraying

This can be overcome by studying a historical work alongside a contemporary work ie William Maw Egleyrsquos historical piece The Lady of Shalott (1858) and Hannah Starkeyrsquos contemporary work Butterfly Catchers (1999) By displaying and studying these two artworks simultaneously a unique juxtaposition is created enhancing the worksrsquo (and periodsrsquo) similarities and differences themes which run through both the historical and contemporary pieces appear clearer Through this process a visual dialogue is created allowing young people to explore and relate to contemporary and historical cultures at ease (see Visual Dialogues contextual page for more info)

INTRoDuCTIoN

How To Use The Resource

It is possible to use any contemporary and historic artwork in addressing issues of gender and identity You may prefer to study alternative works for example a visual interpretation of an era you are specifically studying or a piece which students have seen previously

7

The works

8

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999

Hannah Starkey born in 1968 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is a photographer recognised for her images that explore ldquoeveryday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiverdquo She studied Photography and Film at the Napier University Edinburgh and Photography at the Royal College of Art London

Starkey uses a documentarycinematic style to suggest that she has taken photos of personal moments between the characters while they are unaware This creates awkwardness for the viewer as the perspective makes us feel that we are intruding - often witnessing some sort of silent drama that Her static images imply there is a narrative as they suggest to the audience that the photographed is just a freeze frame and the scene continued These narratives are built through her characters and situations implying issues of class race gender and identity through the physical appearance of her models or places Much of Starkeyrsquos works are untitled encouraging the viewer to project their own thoughts onto the works

Interested in creating a social commentary for the viewer her pieces are often based on political issues from a personal perspective Both of these elements feature in Starkeyrsquos photo Butterfly Catchers (1999) Taken on Falls Road in Belfast the piece focuses on her strong matriarchal upbringing in the area This piece shares Starkeyrsquos observation of her motherrsquos identity and her relationship with the community especially other women

ThE woRks

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 5: Visual Dialogues

5

For centuries artists have used gender and identity as subjects to comment on cultures This resource will explore questions such as lsquoWhat is identityrsquo lsquoWhat identifies usrsquo lsquoDoes our gender have a specific role in todayrsquos societyrsquo

To encourage discussions and creative activity around the theme of gender and identity this pack will study and interpret a historical work by William Maw Egley and a contemporary piece by Hannah Starkey In both works each artist explores gender and identity in relation to the social and historical context specific to the time which the work was made

PRojECT ovERvIEw

6

Creating A Visual Dialogue

To study gender and identity in todayrsquos society it is important for students to understand a little about how identities and gender roles have altered overtime

Students may find it difficult to relate to historical works (or characters) and understand what the artist is portraying

This can be overcome by studying a historical work alongside a contemporary work ie William Maw Egleyrsquos historical piece The Lady of Shalott (1858) and Hannah Starkeyrsquos contemporary work Butterfly Catchers (1999) By displaying and studying these two artworks simultaneously a unique juxtaposition is created enhancing the worksrsquo (and periodsrsquo) similarities and differences themes which run through both the historical and contemporary pieces appear clearer Through this process a visual dialogue is created allowing young people to explore and relate to contemporary and historical cultures at ease (see Visual Dialogues contextual page for more info)

INTRoDuCTIoN

How To Use The Resource

It is possible to use any contemporary and historic artwork in addressing issues of gender and identity You may prefer to study alternative works for example a visual interpretation of an era you are specifically studying or a piece which students have seen previously

7

The works

8

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999

Hannah Starkey born in 1968 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is a photographer recognised for her images that explore ldquoeveryday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiverdquo She studied Photography and Film at the Napier University Edinburgh and Photography at the Royal College of Art London

Starkey uses a documentarycinematic style to suggest that she has taken photos of personal moments between the characters while they are unaware This creates awkwardness for the viewer as the perspective makes us feel that we are intruding - often witnessing some sort of silent drama that Her static images imply there is a narrative as they suggest to the audience that the photographed is just a freeze frame and the scene continued These narratives are built through her characters and situations implying issues of class race gender and identity through the physical appearance of her models or places Much of Starkeyrsquos works are untitled encouraging the viewer to project their own thoughts onto the works

Interested in creating a social commentary for the viewer her pieces are often based on political issues from a personal perspective Both of these elements feature in Starkeyrsquos photo Butterfly Catchers (1999) Taken on Falls Road in Belfast the piece focuses on her strong matriarchal upbringing in the area This piece shares Starkeyrsquos observation of her motherrsquos identity and her relationship with the community especially other women

ThE woRks

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 6: Visual Dialogues

6

Creating A Visual Dialogue

To study gender and identity in todayrsquos society it is important for students to understand a little about how identities and gender roles have altered overtime

Students may find it difficult to relate to historical works (or characters) and understand what the artist is portraying

This can be overcome by studying a historical work alongside a contemporary work ie William Maw Egleyrsquos historical piece The Lady of Shalott (1858) and Hannah Starkeyrsquos contemporary work Butterfly Catchers (1999) By displaying and studying these two artworks simultaneously a unique juxtaposition is created enhancing the worksrsquo (and periodsrsquo) similarities and differences themes which run through both the historical and contemporary pieces appear clearer Through this process a visual dialogue is created allowing young people to explore and relate to contemporary and historical cultures at ease (see Visual Dialogues contextual page for more info)

INTRoDuCTIoN

How To Use The Resource

It is possible to use any contemporary and historic artwork in addressing issues of gender and identity You may prefer to study alternative works for example a visual interpretation of an era you are specifically studying or a piece which students have seen previously

7

The works

8

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999

Hannah Starkey born in 1968 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is a photographer recognised for her images that explore ldquoeveryday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiverdquo She studied Photography and Film at the Napier University Edinburgh and Photography at the Royal College of Art London

Starkey uses a documentarycinematic style to suggest that she has taken photos of personal moments between the characters while they are unaware This creates awkwardness for the viewer as the perspective makes us feel that we are intruding - often witnessing some sort of silent drama that Her static images imply there is a narrative as they suggest to the audience that the photographed is just a freeze frame and the scene continued These narratives are built through her characters and situations implying issues of class race gender and identity through the physical appearance of her models or places Much of Starkeyrsquos works are untitled encouraging the viewer to project their own thoughts onto the works

Interested in creating a social commentary for the viewer her pieces are often based on political issues from a personal perspective Both of these elements feature in Starkeyrsquos photo Butterfly Catchers (1999) Taken on Falls Road in Belfast the piece focuses on her strong matriarchal upbringing in the area This piece shares Starkeyrsquos observation of her motherrsquos identity and her relationship with the community especially other women

ThE woRks

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 7: Visual Dialogues

7

The works

8

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999

Hannah Starkey born in 1968 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is a photographer recognised for her images that explore ldquoeveryday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiverdquo She studied Photography and Film at the Napier University Edinburgh and Photography at the Royal College of Art London

Starkey uses a documentarycinematic style to suggest that she has taken photos of personal moments between the characters while they are unaware This creates awkwardness for the viewer as the perspective makes us feel that we are intruding - often witnessing some sort of silent drama that Her static images imply there is a narrative as they suggest to the audience that the photographed is just a freeze frame and the scene continued These narratives are built through her characters and situations implying issues of class race gender and identity through the physical appearance of her models or places Much of Starkeyrsquos works are untitled encouraging the viewer to project their own thoughts onto the works

Interested in creating a social commentary for the viewer her pieces are often based on political issues from a personal perspective Both of these elements feature in Starkeyrsquos photo Butterfly Catchers (1999) Taken on Falls Road in Belfast the piece focuses on her strong matriarchal upbringing in the area This piece shares Starkeyrsquos observation of her motherrsquos identity and her relationship with the community especially other women

ThE woRks

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 8: Visual Dialogues

8

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999

Hannah Starkey born in 1968 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is a photographer recognised for her images that explore ldquoeveryday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiverdquo She studied Photography and Film at the Napier University Edinburgh and Photography at the Royal College of Art London

Starkey uses a documentarycinematic style to suggest that she has taken photos of personal moments between the characters while they are unaware This creates awkwardness for the viewer as the perspective makes us feel that we are intruding - often witnessing some sort of silent drama that Her static images imply there is a narrative as they suggest to the audience that the photographed is just a freeze frame and the scene continued These narratives are built through her characters and situations implying issues of class race gender and identity through the physical appearance of her models or places Much of Starkeyrsquos works are untitled encouraging the viewer to project their own thoughts onto the works

Interested in creating a social commentary for the viewer her pieces are often based on political issues from a personal perspective Both of these elements feature in Starkeyrsquos photo Butterfly Catchers (1999) Taken on Falls Road in Belfast the piece focuses on her strong matriarchal upbringing in the area This piece shares Starkeyrsquos observation of her motherrsquos identity and her relationship with the community especially other women

ThE woRks

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 9: Visual Dialogues

9

ThE woRks

William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

William Maw Egley born 1926 was the son of portrait painter and miniaturist William Egley (1798 ndash 1870) Trained by his father Egley began painting professionally when he was 14 years old He began his early carer by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens Influenced by his father and using these authorsrsquo texts as stimuli he became fascinated by painting costume detail

William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott (1858) is a painting of Alfred Lord Tennysonrsquos poem The Lady of Shalott based on the legend of King Arthur This poem tells the story tells of a cursed woman who was trapped in a tower only allowed to watch the world through reflections in a mirror ndash if she directly looked out the curse would take over and she will die Egleyrsquos work captures the moment when the knight Lancelot appears in order to rescue her The Lady of Shalott looks out of the window this initiates the curse and there for she is condemned to die Both Tennysonrsquos and Egleyrsquos sad text and scene reflect the Victorian love of romance and tragedy themes that were often played out within medieval settings

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 10: Visual Dialogues

10

The visual Dialogue

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 11: Visual Dialogues

11

What information can we gain about the artistrsquos comments on gender and identity just by looking at the painting

The following discussions works best if you display both Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott side by side (use the colour images provided in the Teaching Materials section)

INTERPRETING ThE vIsuAl DIAloGuE

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 12: Visual Dialogues

12

Hannah Starkey

Starkeyrsquos work Butterfly Catchers explores political issues in Belfast from a personal feminine perspective having grown up in the area Due to her strong matriarchal upbringing this piece focuses on the role of women in inner city life and addresses social issues from her motherrsquos era to the present day

Butterfly Catchers suggests that Starkey has taken a photo of a personal moment between the characters while they are unaware However she never lsquosnapsrsquo and always asks permission before she takes a photo ndash She achieves this affect by using actors (or strangers) to construct realistic scenes as if the characters are paused in monotonous moments of life Starkey describes this process as collaboration between her and the model as they lsquohellipwork out what we want the picture to create this allows them (the sitter) space to present themselveshelliprsquo These artificial but realistic images give the effect that Starkey has come across and captured a fleeting moment by chance and simultaneously elevating the importance of this seemingly everyday photo

Starkey uses constructive photography method (See Medium and Materials) not documentary as she feels this method gives her more responsibility to convey a story to the viewer Through this method Starkey creates layers of visual information This allows the viewer to work their way through the image each layer leading to ambiguous directions within the viewersrsquo personal psyche

PERsoNAl REsPoNsE

William Maw Egley

Inspired by many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Egleyrsquos work The Lady of Shallot combines a moral message with hard edged realism

The Lady of Shallot has been the inspiration for many artistsrsquo works each varied depending on the individual artist The individual artists decisions to depict specific narrative moments within the poem suggests their differing interpretations of the status of women The Victorian Webb

William Maw Egley has left the viewer space for them to decipher why he has selected this particular moment in the story Until this point The Lady of Shalott preserves her safety by staying within the confines of her tower and not participating in any sort of active pursuit This fits perfectly with the concept of the actual Victorian woman whom society expected to accept her role as protectress of the home The Victorian Webb

While Egleyrsquos section of the tale maybe interpreted as being a joyous moment (the Lady of Shallot has just rebelled against the curse finding her independence and taking the first steps by looking out of the window) it also conveys a woman on the edge of abandoning her social responsibility in her pursuit of love

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 13: Visual Dialogues

13

How do these pieces make you feel

Does it look like a nice place to be

How do you think the characters may feel

Do the women look happy

Why do these men (Egley and Tennyson) comment on womenrsquos identities

How do artists let their personal experience feed through to the images

How does this make the audience feel towards these characters

Both of the works show women from different eras in different environments which do you think look trapped

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 14: Visual Dialogues

14

MATERIAls AND MEDIuM

Photography

ldquoA photograph is an image created by the action of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processesrdquo

Hannah Starkey is a photographer and uses this medium to create Butterfly Catchers She uses photography as a tool to make herself and the viewer think about what theyrsquore looking at Starkey comments that using this medium lsquohellipTeaches you to look and observe your surroundingshelliprsquo (from Hannah Starkeyrsquos artist talk at Tate Britain)

Photography is usually perceived as a quick and spontaneous medium because of this photographers are able to generate large bodies of work It rsquos also a very accessible medium as everyone makes photorsquos and has albums at home or online However Starkey works in an unusual way for a photographer as she takes a long time to create her images and only makes approximately four pictures a year

Starkey takes a long time to create each image as she uses a method called constructive or staged photography This means that her images are of scenes that have been constructed (set up) This method allows Starkeyrsquos photos to be built up of layers designed in a way to reveal themselves gradually as the viewer spends time in front of the image As the viewer stands in front of Butterfly Catchers the beautiful high gloss image unravels into a social commentary which is unusual for a photograph

Oil Painting

ldquoA dispersion of pigments in a drying oil that forms a tough coloured film on exposure to air The drying oil is a vegetable oil often made by crushing nuts or seeds This medium has a slow drying process which is affected by film thickness and paint components oil paint continues to dry getting harder with age over many decades ldquo

Egley was trained by his farther (a portrait painter and miniaturist) to paint at an early age When he started his career aged 14 he began by creating fashionable literary illustrations of Shakespeare and Dickens and was fascinated by painting costume detail These traits can be seen in his piece The Lady of Shallot as he uses beautiful detail to tell Tennysonrsquos saddening tale The Lady of Shallot

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 15: Visual Dialogues

15

Just from looking at the images can you tell which is the contemporary and which is the historical piece Can you tell what medium the artist used

Do you think these images are natural or staged Do the women in these images know they are being photographed painted

Does the medium help us to understand the meaning the artist wanted to convey

How do these artists use their mediums to conceal saddening stories of the women Does this give a sinister feel to their works

How might the medium help us to place the work in a certain time frame

Do these artists use these media to create a specific style ie cinematic documentary illustration

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 16: Visual Dialogues

16

hannah starkey is known for commenting on the world around her through her work using constructive photography (see Materials and Medium) to convey her lsquopersonal experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspectiversquo This method of photography allows her to build up layers of subjects within one still shot to convey layers of meaning for the viewer to explore These layers are situated in landscapes which impact upon both characters and readers by conveying common experiences

The subject and meaning of starkeyrsquos work relates heavily to Gender and Identity as she illustrates how women observe each other in everyday life Through exploring this theme her work has became more autobiographical as her work focuses more closely on her story and experiences

This piece is shot in Belfast in Falls Road an area in Ireland thatrsquos full of political history but also (for starkey) personal history having grown up in the area

Linen Mills

The Linen Mill buildings (big white buildings with lots of windows) seen in Starkeyrsquos piece were apart of the industrial revolution in Belfast In 1852 there are said to have been about 28 of these huge mills People settled in this area because of the jobs provided by the mills and communities grew in the surrounding area Most of the people working in these mills were local women working so they could provide food for their family (see Art In Context)

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING Butterfly CatChers

Rubble

By the 1960s these linen mills had closed been vacated and fallen into disrepair The rubble in the foreground is from a flattened Mill factory flattened to make way for lsquoprogressrsquo ndash new shopping centres This rubble may also represent the destruction of this community as with no jobs in the area communities broke up and people moved away to find new work

Surrounding landscape and hills

The industrial site is surrounded by what appears to be natural rolling hills however the landscape has been quarried so much the hills are hollow There are many mythological haunting stories surrounding the hills its said that the women who worked in the mills and died on the same day as the Titanic sank haunt the hills Women who worked in the linen mills were referred to as Millies so the hills are said to be haunted by Millie ghosts

Women ndash butterfly catchers

Through Starkeyrsquos still the viewer can observe the two young adolescent women walking over the rubble of the flattered mill The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt it is unlikely that the girls will be successful - not through their lack of trying

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 17: Visual Dialogues

17

william Maw Egley is known for creating images of famous literary texts This piece as suggested by the title relates to Alfred lord Tennysonrsquos poem The lady of shalott (Full poem in Teaching Materials)

Both the subject and meaning of Egleyrsquos artwork and Tennysonrsquos poem relate heavily to the theme Gender and Identity while these pieces tell the lady of shallotrsquos tale they also reflect the identity of females of this class and period

What section of the poem is depicted

As stated in the introduction to this work Egley captures the moment which the Lady of Shallot looks out of the window triggering the curse and is therefore condemned to death

hellipAs he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelothellip

The viewer can tell that this is the point which Egley painted as we can see Sir Lancelot in the crystal mirror and the Lady of Shallot has left her loom and is looking out of the window towards Camelot

ThE suBjECT AND MEANING the lady of shalott

Similarly to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers Egley also builds the Lady of Shallotrsquos tale out of layers using details in the painting to reflect and refer to Tennysonrsquos poem The loom the room beautiful views mirror and Sir Lancelot are all details from the text which also feature in Egleyrsquos painting

Out of the window

Beautiful views can be seen out of the window of Egleyrsquos painting Tennyson describes the view in his poem as

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And throrsquo the field the road runs by

Egleyrsquos beautiful views of rolling hills are a shocking contrast to Starkeyrsquos piece Butterfly Catchers The contrast in landscapes also emphasise how the land was used to make work for local people Art in Context

The room

Egley depicts the walls of this room in a dark grey tone This causes the room to appear very dark although there are many windows By reading Tennysonrsquos poem the viewer discovers that this room is actually the Lady of Shallotrsquos prison and apart of the tower which she is trapped in Tennyson describes the space as having lsquoFour grey walls and four grey towersrsquo The oppressive room sets the scene for the tale of the Lady of Shallotrsquos curse lsquoA curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelotrsquo

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 18: Visual Dialogues

18

The environments in both Starkeyrsquos and Egleyrsquos pieces set the scenes for the charactersrsquo tales From these scenes the viewer can gain the following background information about the characters the Lady of Shallot imprisoned in the tower while the young women in Starkeyrsquos piece clamber over rubble from the flattened mills still hopeful in their search

The loom

The loom featured in Egleyrsquos piece references hobbies that women of this period would have taken up to pass the time lsquoThere she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gayrsquo Looking at the painting one of the brightest things in the image is the fabric in the room Unlike in Starkeyrsquos piece where fabrics were mostly made cheaply in factories fabrics from Egleyrsquos era would have been produced by hand Bright colours metallics and intricate embroidery were a sign of wealth (see Art in Context)

The mirror

As the curse placed upon the Lady of Shallot forbids her to look out of the window she can only view the outside world through the mirror

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear

The mirror is the Lady of Shallotrsquos connection to the outside world however it is also the connection between the viewer and the Lady of Shallotrsquos view -

Egley has positioned this mirror on the wall to reflect what the Lady of Shallot is looking out of the window at

Sir Lancelot can be seen clearly in the reflection as Tennyson described

The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 19: Visual Dialogues

19

What can we see in these images What relevance does it have to the theme of gender and identity

What elements of Tennysonrsquos poem can be spotted in Egleyrsquos painting of The Lady of Shalott How does Starkeyrsquos image Butterfly Catchers relate to her upbringing

How do both pieces convey historical mythological tales What can we see depicted in the images that hint to these womenrsquos tales

How are the characters tales gender and identity issues told through their environments

How does the landscape of the images effect how we read the characters

How was the land used in both images How does this influence gender and identity

How do fabrics symbolise the wealth of characters

Could the tower which the Lady of Shalott is trapped in and the butterflies which the women in Starkeyrsquos piece are trying to catch be metaphors for some other aspect of the womenrsquos lives

What do the surroundings tell us about these womenrsquos identities and gender role in the era

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 20: Visual Dialogues

20

History of Falls road

Butterfly Catchers (1999) features two adolescent girls walking over rubble on the Falls Road in Belfast The Falls Road has a strong political significance in the history of Northern Ireland originally a country lane that leads into the city centre the industrial revolution transformed the area

Industrial revolution

The industrial revolution changed how goods were produced instead of unique handmade pieces factories were built to mass produce products This cut the cost of goods such as fabric down by reducing labour time therefore making a wide variety of goods accessible for more households Linen Mills where built along Falls Road causing the population quickly grow because of the newly generated jobs This in turn created change in the surrounding area fields were transformed into rows of back-to-back terraced housing for the working class

The identity of women during the revolution

During the industrial revolution most of the local women worked at the Linen Mills so they could provide food for their family Although the wages and conditions were poor (many going deaf because of the loud machinery) there was a strong sense of community between mothers daughters and neighbours This created a new identity for the women all working together at the factory before returning home to look after their families The womenrsquos duties as working mums define their identities and building a community Starkey composition make makes subtle references identity especially class through her use of characters and environments

ART IN CoNTExT Butterfly CatChers

Mills closing

By the 1960s the linen mills had closed and fallen into disrepair without work in the area the communities fell apart and people moved away There is a strong sense of sadness in Starkeyrsquos piece as she addresses the destruction of this community The piece illustrates this destruction at four stages the vacant and derelict mills can be seen in the background the rubble the girls are treading over is one of the flattered mills the Black Mountains in the distance are said to be haunted with female ghosts from the mills and finally the two young adolescent girls in an apparently futile search for butterflies

lsquoProgressrsquo

In 1999 many of the mills were knocked down to make way for new shopping malls The two characters appear to be alone in this deserted waste land but their nets and title of the piece suggests that they still have hope and are trying to pursue their dreams As Starkey grew up in the area and was close to the girls in age this might represent how she felt growing up as a teenager in the area The harsh city environment in Starkeyrsquos composition makes the viewer be realistic about their metaphorical butterfly hunt

The female image

In todayrsquos society images of women used to sell things such as cars perfumes aftershaves music etc Starkeyrsquos work reclaims the focus of the image making the focus and the story of these women not their appearance This in tern encourages the viewer to question what images are used for

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 21: Visual Dialogues

21

The identity of women in the 19th Century

In the 19th century British women were expected to get married and have children British laws of the time were based around the idea and that husbands would take care of their wives Laws stated that any wealth that the woman inherited would be passed to the husband The idea was that women would have to stay dependent on a man first as a daughter and later as a wife

In 1857 one year before Egleyrsquos painting the Matriminial Causes Act was passed giving men the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery However married women were not granted the same rights Once divorced the children became the manrsquos property and the mother could be prevented from seeing the children This contextual information emphasises how trapped the women of this period might have felt

Painting of the period

Egleyrsquos subject-matter and technique was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites who incorporated generalised themes such as tragic love or religious subjects Due to this interest in tragic love and literature Tennysonrsquos poem was often was often illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite as the text related to Victorian society - by depicting the Lady of Shallot the artist comments on the role and conditions of women in their contemporary culture

As women in society became more important in the domestic realm the Lady of Shallot was used to symbolise the tension between their private desires and the reality of their social responsibilities

Contemporary

Coincidently the year that Egley painted this piece will now be remembered as the year that Emily Pankhurst was born She was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote - she shaped an idea of women for our time she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back

ART IN CoNTExT the lady of shalott

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 22: Visual Dialogues

22

Do you think these women have good lives

Why were the artists inspired by these women

Why did they decide to make these works and show these women in this particular way

How do the loom and linen mills emphasise how gender and identity roles and issues have changed over time

How are images of women used in todayrsquos society

Do we have gender specific roles in todayrsquos society

Is our identity governed by our gender

How was the land used

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 23: Visual Dialogues

23

ExTRA CoNNECTIoNs

Similarities

Consider how both pieces relate to fabric - The Lady of Shallot weaving to pass her time waiting for her rescue while Butterfly Catchers relates to the Linen Mill workers and the fabric industry

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

Differences

Consider how the women deal with their distress in different ways - The Lady of Shalott waiting for her knight to save her and the Mill women desperately trying to catch their dreams

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 24: Visual Dialogues

24

visits And Trips

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 25: Visual Dialogues

25

See The Works In Person

Organise a trip for the class to see Starkeyrsquos or Egleyrsquos works in person Seeing the works in person compared to on a screen or a photocopy makes so much difference to the audiencesrsquo reaction This will also give the young people further understanding of the work as they will have personally experienced them

Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers is a part of Tatersquos collection William Maw Egleyrsquos The Lady of Shalott is part of Museum Sheffieldrsquos collection Check online or by phone to see whatrsquos currently on show at the gallery Galleries occasionally organise trips to their stores or talks if works arenrsquot on view at the time This can be a unique experience for the young people to see the British Art Collection in a new way

If this is not possible Tate and Museum Sheffield also have numerous other works on the theme gender and identity ndash search the Tate collection Gender and Identity to see the Tatersquos collection

vIsITs AND TRIPs

Other Project Related Tripshellip

A Local Gallery Contact your local gallery to find out what local exhibitionsartists works are on show to inspire young people on the theme of gender and identity

Specialist museumsgalleries Works maybe explored from a specific perspective for example fashion and textiles In this case a trip could be made to the Fashion and Textile Museum (London) or Sir Richard Arkwrightrsquos Masson Mills (Derbyshire) - where young people can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 26: Visual Dialogues

26

Classroom Activities

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 27: Visual Dialogues

27

The following activities have been designed to use in a classroom to encourage young people to creatively interpret historic works and relate them to todays society

These activities can all be used in any curriculum subject (although divided into subjects for convenience)

ClAssRooM ACTIvITIEs

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 28: Visual Dialogues

28

CoNsEquENCE IDENTITIEs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage students to think about identity and cultural diversity in a creative way Allowing the diverse range of characters to interact together will encourage students to participate in an imaginary community

Activity Description

1 Ask the class to sketch one of the characters from either of the works on a large sheet of paper and name their character

2 Pass this onto the next player As the sheets are passed around each participant should write down additional information about the character in turn considering the image and previous information they have been given ie Age What job do they do Where are they going What line would this character say

3 Ask the students who wrote the line to read them out in a voice which suits the character

4 Encourage the students to move around the class and talk to each other in character

5 Set them a target of finding three facts out about three different characters

6 As a class discuss the different characters they created and what facts they found out about each other

CLASS ACTIVITY

Cross-Curriculum

This activity can be used in any subject - we suggest that this is used to cover elements of the Cross-Curriculum role alongside another of the following activities or while a general classroom activity is taking place

Key Concepts

- Creative and Critical Thinking - Identity and cultural diversity - Community and Participation

Key Processes

- Successful learners who enjoy learning make progress and achieve

- Confident individuals who are able to live safe healthy and fulfilling lives

- Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 29: Visual Dialogues

29

DEAR AGoNY AuNT hellipPlEAsE hElP ME

Benefits Of This Exercise

Each artist uses their work to portray an gender and identity issues of the period This exercise will encourage students to relate to each character and consider the social and historical context of each piece in a personal and memorable way It will also encourage the students to creatively work in teams practise public speaking and creative writing

Activity Description

The women in these works have all got some kind of problem in their lives

1 Assign each group either the Egley or Starkey piece

2 Ask the class to step back in time to the date of their assigned work and become one of the characters

3 In groups discuss how the character is feeling and what they would ask an agony aunt help for

4 Encourage the students to stay in character and focus on the era of the work discuss all aspects of their characterrsquos identity their ideas beliefs and attitudes ofand to men women and children and how this has shaped this characterrsquos life

5 Ask the groups focussing on the historical work to exchange letters with the contemporary groups and write advice back

History

Key concepts- Cultural ethnic and religious diversity- Understanding the diverse experiences and ideas

beliefs and attitudes of men women and children in past societies and how these have shaped the world

Key processes- Historical enquiry- Identify and investigate individually and as part of a

team specific historical questions or issues making and testing hypotheses reflect critically on historical questions or issues

- Using evidence- Identify select and use a range of historical sources

including textual visual and oral sources artefacts and the historic environment to evaluate the sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

GROUP ACTIVITY

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 30: Visual Dialogues

30

REPREsENTING woMEN

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to produce imaginative artworks while exploring how identity can be portrayed through Visual Art This is a positive way for young people to express themselves and consider how they may be perceived in society

Activity Description

Both artists use these pieces as a way of conveying their ideas on gender and identity that wereare relevant to the time

1 Using ideas from Egleyrsquos and Starkeyrsquos pieces ask the students how they would represent a woman from todayrsquos society

2 While creating this interpretive work ask the students to consider the lsquofour ways of lookingrsquo and reflect on the class discussions about the pieces

Art

Key concepts- Creativity- Producing imaginative images artefacts and other

outcomes that are both original and of value- Critical understanding- Engaging with ideas images and artefacts and

identifying how values and meanings are conveyed- Analysing and reflecting on work from diverse

contexts

Key processes- Explore and create- Develop ideas and intentions by working from

first-hand observation experience inspiration imagination and other sources

- Investigate how to express and realise ideas using formal elements and the qualities of a range of media

- Draw to express perception and invention to communicate feelings experiences and ideas and for pleasure

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 31: Visual Dialogues

31

INTERPRETIvE sIGNs

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to think about communicating and making fresh connections between ideas and experiences By being imaginative students should be able to surprise and engage audiences creating new access points into the Visual Art

Activity Description

How can meaning be suggested in the smallest possible sentence

1 Looking at the example below ask the young people to write and design signs for Butterfly Catchers and The Lady of Shalott

2 The signs should specifically relate to the theme of gender and identity

3 How could signs be used to encourage an audience to consider the theme and elements of the subject meaning or context

English

Key concepts- Creativity - Making fresh connections between ideas

experiences texts and words drawing on a rich experience of language and literature

- Experimenting with language manipulating form challenging conventions and reinterpreting ideas

- Using imagination to create effects to surprise and engage the audience

- Using creative approaches to answering questions solving problems and developing ideas

Key processes- Writing- write imaginatively creatively and thoughtfully

producing texts that interest engage and challenge the reader

- present information and ideas on complex subjects concisely logically and persuasively

- draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic and literary forms when composing their writing

GROUP ACTIVITY

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 32: Visual Dialogues

32

DoNrsquoT juDGE A Book BY ITs CovER

Benefits Of This Exercise

This activity will encourage the young people to thinks about how different people live in the UK and how the role of being a woman in society has changed over time Through interpreting and analysing the two works students can identify different values ideas and viewpoints while recognising bias in todayrsquos society

Activity Description

In many industrial towns and cities such as around the Falls Road in Belfast there are many areas of terraced houses All of these houses look more or less identical from the outside but on the inside are full of the occupantsrsquo gender and identity If the Lady of Shalott and the women from Hannah Starkeyrsquos Butterfly Catchers both lived in identical terraced houses how would their identities and gender be represented on the interior

1 Ask the students to design and make the interior of each womanrsquos home and list what the character would do on a daily basis

2 While students are carrying out this activity encourage groups to discuss the differences between the homes and the womenrsquos roles Ask them to question why these changes have taken place over time

3 This activity can be used as an access point to discuss how people are often judged by the clothes they wear or where they live

Citizenship

Key concepts- Identities and diversity living together in the UK - Appreciating that identities are complex can

change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK

- Exploring the diverse national regional ethnic and religious cultures groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them

- Exploring community cohesion and the different forces that bring about change in communities over time

Key processes- Critical thinking and enquiry- Interpret and analyse critically sources used

identifying different values ideas and viewpoints and recognising bias

- Evaluate different viewpoints exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

GROUP ACTIVITY

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 33: Visual Dialogues

33

Teaching Materials

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 34: Visual Dialogues

Hannah Starkey Butterfly Catchers 1999 William Maw Egley The Lady of Shalott 1858

ThE woRks

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 35: Visual Dialogues

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye That clothe the world and meet the sky And thro the field the road runs by To many-towerd Camelot And up and down the people go Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below The island of Shalott

Willows whiten aspens quiver Little breezes dusk and shiver Through the wave that runs for ever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot Four grey walls and four grey towers Overlook a space of flowers And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott

By the margin willow veild Slide the heavy barges traild By slow horses and unhaild The shallop flitteth silken-saild Skimming down to Camelot But who hath seen her wave her hand Or at the casement seen her stand Or is she known in all the land The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers reaping early In among the bearded barley Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly Down to towerd Camelot And by the moon the reaper weary

Piling sheaves in uplands airy Listening whispers Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot She knows not what the curse may be And so she weaveth steadily And little other care hath she The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year Shadows of the world appear There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot There the river eddy whirls And there the surly village churls And the red cloaks of market girls Pass onward from Shalott

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad An abbot on an ambling pad Sometimes a curly shepherd lad Or long-haird page in crimson clad Goes by to towerd Camelot And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two She hath no loyal Knight and true The Lady of Shalott

But in her web she still delights To weave the mirrors magic sights For often through the silent nights

TENNYsoNrsquos the lady of shallot

A funeral with plumes and lights And music went to Camelot Or when the Moon was overhead Came two young lovers lately wed I am half sick of shadows said The Lady of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves He rode between the barley sheaves The sun came dazzling thro the leaves And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot A red-cross knight for ever kneeld To a lady in his shield That sparkled on the yellow field Beside remote Shalott

The gemmy bridle glitterd free Like to some branch of stars we see Hung in the golden Galaxy The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot And from his blazond baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung And as he rode his armor rung Beside remote Shalott

All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewelld shone the saddle-leather The helmet and the helmet-feather Burnd like one burning flame together As he rode down to Camelot As often thro the purple night Below the starry clusters bright Some bearded meteor burning bright Moves over still Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott

Page 36: Visual Dialogues

His broad clear brow in sunlight glowd On burnishd hooves his war-horse trode From underneath his helmet flowd His coal-black curls as on he rode As he rode down to Camelot From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror Tirra lirra by the river Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web she left the loom She made three paces through the room She saw the water-lily bloom She saw the helmet and the plume She lookd down to Camelot Out flew the web and floated wide The mirror crackd from side to side The curse is come upon me cried The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining The pale yellow woods were waning The broad stream in his banks complaining Heavily the low sky raining Over towerd Camelot Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat And around about the prow she wrote The Lady of Shalott

And down the rivers dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance -- With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay

The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott

Lying robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right -- The leaves upon her falling light -- Thro the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among They heard her singing her last song The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol mournful holy Chanted loudly chanted lowly Till her blood was frozen slowly And her eyes were darkened wholly Turnd to towerd Camelot For ere she reachd upon the tide The first house by the water-side Singing in her song she died The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony By garden-wall and gallery A gleaming shape she floated by Dead-pale between the houses high Silent into Camelot Out upon the wharfs they came Knight and Burgher Lord and Dame And around the prow they read her name The Lady of Shalott

Who is this And what is here And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer And they crossed themselves for fear

All the Knights at Camelot But Lancelot mused a little space He said She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace The Lady of Shalott