Day 15 – Art History
It’s the final day of Week 3 and you are feeling more and more comfortable in the country. You decide that you would now like to learn a bit more about the people and the history of your country so you spend the day exploring the art galleries and museums. There are so many different options to choose from! You decide to start with the local art gallery before moving on to see the national history museum.
Activity 1
When you walk into the local gallery, the first piece of artwork that you see is a painting by Wassily Kandinsky called ‘Swinging.’
http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-251.php
While you are looking at it, a staff member at the gallery comes up to you and asks you for your opinion of the painting. What do you think of it?
On your blog please tell us:
- What do you think of this painting? Do you like it?
I love this painting and I love abstract art. I think that it’s quite hard to figure out what the painter is disguising. The shapes and colours are magnificent.
- If you could buy it and give it to someone, who would you choose?
I would keep it. A great piece of art like this would look amazing on my bedroom wall ;).
If it was me, I would give it to my sister because she really likes bright, bold colours and abstract pictures.
Activity 2
After exploring the gallery you decide to walk across the street to the national museum. It is an amazing place! There is so much information about the history of the country in this museum. It’s hard to know where to start!
After walking for a little while you come across a display with pictures of children that were taken in 1901 (over 100 years ago)! In this picture, the children are working on a local farm, milking cows. They are not going to school. Back in those days, children usually went to school until they reached the age of 12 or 13. They then left school and went to work. Imagine that you were alive 100 years ago. How would you feel if you had to leave school at the age of 12? Would you be happy or sad? On your blog, tell us how you would feel.
I would feel quite happy but empty. I wouldn’t have as much stress on my shoulders than usual. But I would miss the encouraging vibes from my peers and teachers. But if I stopped going school I wouldn’t be as energetic, happy and full of life. Though 100 years ago, there was a low amount of people working.
Bonus Activity
In New Zealand we have many museum and galleries. One of the largest is called the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa or ‘Te Papa’ for short. Inside Te Papa there is a huge exhibition called ‘Gallipoli - The Scale of our War.’ It has information about a special battle, the Battle of Gallipoli, that took place during World War I. Many New Zealanders took part and many lost their lives.
The battle started on 25 April 1915. We commemorate this battle every year by celebrating Anzac Day on 25 April. Visit the Gallipoli website. It will give you lots of information about this famous battle. On your blog, tell us three things that you learned about the battle.
- White flags were used to divide the No man's land. They dried to bury their dead men on the side of it but the decomposing bodies fell apart
- There were protests like Barrism and the Great Depression
- More than 850 men died in the battle for Chanuk Bair, and only eight bodies were identified
