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Basic 1 · Creative Arts · Thinking and Exploring Ideas

Art in Our Community

In this topic you will look at the visual art made by people in your community. You will learn what it tells us about their culture.

By the end of these notes you should be able to:

  • Name visual artworks made in your community
  • Say what some Adinkra symbols mean
  • Explain how art shows our culture

What you already know

  • Drawing and colouring (KG)

Copy everything that has a blue line on its left into your notebook. The other parts are for reading.

Strand
Visual Arts
Sub-strand
Thinking and Exploring Ideas
Indicator
B1.1.1.1.1 – Think about the people who live in the local community and describe what you know about their history and culture or way of life

Introduction

Look at the kente cloth your teacher brought. It has bright colours and patterns. People in Ghana have woven kente for hundreds of years. Art tells the story of a people.

1. Visual Art

Visual art: Art that we look at, like drawings, cloth, pots and carvings.

Visual art in Ghana
ArtworkWhat it is
kentewoven cloth with bright patterns
adinkra clothcloth printed with symbols
clay potpot made from clay
wood carvingstools and figures carved from wood
Kente cloth, adinkra cloth, a clay pot and a carved stool
Figure 1: Visual art from Ghana Draw one piece of art from your community.Photos: Warmglow, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; photo of 2D work more than 100 years old, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Ibn Shiraz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2. Adinkra Symbols

Some Adinkra symbols
NameMeaning
Gye NyameExcept God (God is supreme)
SankofaGo back and take it (learn from the past)
DwennimmenRam's horns (strength and humility)
The Adinkra symbols Gye Nyame, Sankofa and Dwennimmen with their names
Figure 2: Three Adinkra symbols Draw the Gye Nyame symbol.Symbols: kasahorow from Openclipart, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Pablo Busatto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Pablo Busatto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Remember: Art shows the history and way of life of the people who made it.

New words

art
Something made to be beautiful or to show an idea.
culture
The way of life of a group of people.
kente
A colourful woven cloth from Ghana.
symbol
A sign that has a meaning.

Summary

  • Visual art is art we look at.
  • Kente, adinkra cloth, clay pots and carvings are Ghanaian art.
  • Adinkra symbols have meanings, like Gye Nyame.

Class activity: Art Detectives

  1. Look at the kente and adinkra samples.
  2. Describe the colours and patterns.
  3. Draw and colour one pattern on manila paper with crayons.

You need: Pencils, Crayons, Old cartons, Manila paper, Kente, Adinkra samples

Exercises

Answer in your exercise book first, then check your answers.

  1. 1. Which is a woven Ghanaian cloth?

    • A. Kente
    • B. Paper
    • C. Plastic
    • D. Glass
    Show answer
    Answer: KenteKente is woven by hand.

  2. 2. What does Gye Nyame mean?

    • A. Except God
    • B. Go back
    • C. Ram's horns
    • D. Good morning
    Show answer
    Answer: Except GodIt shows that God is supreme.

  3. 3. Clay pots are visual art.

    • A. True
    • B. False
    Show answer
    Answer: TrueWe can look at them.

  4. 4. Adinkra symbols have no meanings.

    • A. True
    • B. False
    Show answer
    Answer: FalseEach symbol has a meaning.

  5. 5. The way of life of a group of people is their ______.

    Show answer
    Answer: cultureThat is the meaning of culture.

  6. 6. Name two kinds of visual art made in Ghana.

    Show answer
    Answer: Any two: kente, adinkra cloth, clay pot, wood carving.These are Ghanaian visual arts.

Homework

  1. Find one adinkra symbol at home, in church or on a cloth. Draw it.