Developing a new bridge of knowledge towards Cultural Heritage with Earth Sciences
1 Subject of the Teaching Unit
This learning unit will show how a Natural Cultural Heritage Site encompasses more than meets the eyes. It being a starting point of a unique global process, where one natural phenomenon materialized in human's Art in different Cultural Heritages around the world.
2 Analysis of the topic
The Ujung Kulon National Park, listed as UNESCO World Heritage, is the home of the Krakatoa volcano, which its cataclysmic eruption in 1883 influenced mundane natural phenomenons, people perceptions of landscapes and their Arts thousands of kilometers away. The Krakatoa volcano in August 27th 1883 had a cataclysmic explosion; 5000 times stronger than Hiroshima's atomic bomb, projecting 20 cubic km of ashes and rocks up to 27 km skyward in the Ozone interval of the atmosphere. (S.Marshak 2015) This permitted the ashes to travel around the globe within weeks, turning landscapes around the world gloomy, the winter that year in the northern hemisphere was the coldest in its decade, global temperatures dipped and sunset were of striking colors due to the ashes in the Ozone interval. (S.Marshak 2015 p.291)
The influence of Krakatoa eruption brought to life an amazing amount of paintings which encompass this natural phenomenon at a global level. To this extend we naturally reckon Art is the expression of one single mind, a practice which push the initiator to show, represent and immortalize life, experiences and sensations she or he encounters. In that regards many painters such as J.M.W Turner and Edvard Munch would create landscapes and natures of a specific time and place representing natural disasters influences.(S.Marshak 2015 p.305) Given the extend of Krakatoa explosion's aftermath, the representations in paintings around the world were infused with it, influencing worldwide many Cultural Heritages. (S. Zielinsky 2014) When natural disasters and Cultural Heritage meet; what humans perceive in nature and tend to encompass in their Art.
3 Learning Objectives
3.1 Long-term objectives
-Understanding the natural phenomenon's influence in human history and human perceptions of nature.
-Comprehend the natural phenomenon's influence on Art and thus Cultural Heritage locally and globally.
-Understand the possible bridge between geological science and Cultural Heritage.
-Critically identify the presence of past (or present) natural disaster's cues in divers Cultural Heritages.
3.2 Objectives of the Less
- Identify a group of 19th century artists and their paintings, from different countries.
-Learning the science behind volcanism and this particular event.
- Observe and identify natural disaster's influences in paintings, in this case volcanism.
- Correlate the influences of one natural disaster's influence at a given time on the Cultural Heritage of one country or more.
4 Didactical-Methodical Considerations
It is a 3 hours activity for 12 teenagers( 6 ♂, 6 ♀ ). The age of the group is between 14 to 17 years old, this is a wednesday afternoon activity organised by the high-school. The people in charge of the group are one highschool teacher known by the students and another person; the guide from the museum which never met the student before.
The concept of the activity is to appeal to teenagers via the combination of Earth Sciences and Art to understand Cultural Heritage. Showing the possibility to research and join both topics in the field of Cultural Heritage at a global level.
As the group of students forms on its own a conglomerate of Cultural Heritages, as many have different nationalities or origins; the different perceptions on Art and Cultural Heritage will blend, help support and represent the center point of the activity as well as its meaning.
Also students with dyslexia will be able to seek help from their group-mate during researching archives, implying cooperation from the start, but later on they will not have the pressure inflicted by their condition as Art and different forms of it do not encompass reading but analysing forms and colors. Their confidence shall grow at that time, to be able to take part more actively in the activity, compare to a classical class setting.
4.1 General Learning Conditions
At the museum the group will have access first to a seminar room where they will be presented to the topic by both persons in charge and have access to computers in the same room to research on their own further after introduction's presentation. This simulating a formal academic research experience. Later on moving to the gallery where they will have a tour with the possibility to analyse and discuss about paintings in smaller groups, experiencing a more informal learning.
4.2 Specific Learning Conditions
2 children have dyslexia. (1 ♀15 years old, 1 ♂17 years old)
5 students are not Swedish in origins. (2 ♀14 years old, 3 ♂16 years old)
5 Structural Pedagogical Decisions
The starting point of this unit is the association of two different fields to comprehend better Cultural Heritage. It is a way to open up the dialogue, but as well create a framework in which students can envision Cultural Heritage on the grounds of Earth Sciences. In that regard the praxis of education should not be limited to teach Art History but rather use Earth Science such as Geology to develop a new bridge of knowledge towards Art and Cultural Heritage in mixing formal and informal learning at the Museum. Such a practice is very much in line with Dragana Stojanovi's Educational turn in Art. Where sciences, new methods and knowledges are approached and used to analyse Art in another manner; this to appeal, nurture and encourage the learners, present artists, future artists and institutions to have extensive and meaningful dialogues. (D.Stojanović 2017)
Students will meet a new guide which will make them discover, but as well dialogue with them, about a new topic. Also they will have the possibility to turn to their habitual teacher for questions and reinsurance. Further, students will be able to comprehend the natural phenomenon's influence such as volcanism on Art and thus Cultural Heritage locally and globally, having both ”little and grand narratives” linked. The students then will be driving the dialogue forward themselves.
The new bridge of knowledge developed during this learning unit is to show that Cultural Heritages around the world can be linked together and explained. This has as well a Cultural Anthropology founding inspired by the work of J.George Frazer which researches focused on similarities in human's history and diverse cultures around the world rather than differences. Human's and nature's patterns in this sense have similarities which determine specific habits and attitudes towards Art and Cultural Heritage. (J.G Frazer 1994) This view on the topic is not to undermine the singularity of one Cultural Heritage but rather make it easier for students to understand, respect and relate to another or multiple Cultural Heritages because of the uniqueness of living on the same Earth. Finally, informal learning as a humanist learning approach is an aspect of the group conversation, it is a way for the students to develop their critical skills but as well self-knowledge. (R.V Arcilla 2017) As the group have students from different nationalities and origins, one student to another's perception will not be the same, this can be shared with the others. Each student will be able to reflect, putting in perspective their former and new knowledge.
6 Time Schedule
1st Phase Initiation
The museum guide will first introduce Ujung Kulon National Park and Krakatoa volcano's explosion. Appealing to the students with Earth Sciences wonders such as volcanic ashes travelling thousands of kilometers in a short period of time and the consequences on landscapes globally.
2nd Phase Exploration
Small groups of 3 will research on computers; the museum's archives of the 1800's. Looking for natural disasters, details of 19th century's artists and paintings.
3rd Phase Objectivation
The guide will take the students around the museum and show them 19th century paintings from different countries. Relating them to Krakatoa's explosion. Students will see in front of them the materialization of nature's phenomenon perception by humans.
4th Phase Integration
In small group students will free to move from paintings to paintings and discuss between them the cues of natural disasters. Later on, students will head to the Contemporary Art section where they will find paintings and installations which encompass modern natural disasters. Using the new knowledge they learned, they will be able to speak freely between themselves and the teachers, about their own analysis of the influences of natural disasters on human's Art and Cultural Heritage globally or locally.
7 Appendix
References:
Arcilla, R. (2017). Bildung and Humanist Learning. In: Laros, Anna Fuhr, Thomas;
Taylor, Edward W (eds.). Transformative Learning Meets Bildung: An
International Exchange. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.(p.119-126)
Fraser, J.G (1994) The Golden Bough, A new Abridgement. Oxford University Press.
Stojanović, Dragana (2017). Educational Turn in Art: Turning art into the production
of a new knowledge. In: Theory and History of Arts (p.56-64)
Marshak, S (2015) Earth, Portrait of a planet. Fifth Edition, W.W. Norton
Company Inc.
Zielinsky. S (2014) How Paintings of Sunsets Immortalize Past Volcanic Eruptions, retrieved
immortalize-past-volcanic-eruptions-180950254/
Material:
Zeferos. C (2014) Further evidence of important environmental information content in
red-to-green ratios as depicted in paintings by great masters , retrieved from :
UNESCO, Ujung National Parkhttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/608