Celebrate Asian Heritage Month with this art activity from AGA Educator Helen Zhang:
Today’s call to creativity is to design a photo collage exploring your identity. Through your own eyes and perspective, capture what your culture and heritage look like in your daily life. To get started, think about what your cultural markers look like. What things hold meaning to your family? What do care and love look like in your culture? For example, in my Chinese family, we ask each other “Have you eaten yet?” instead of saying I love you and I miss you. It is a way to show care and concern in a more subtle way.
Photovoice is a research method used for people to explain their lived experiences through their own eyes and through the technology and art of photography. This simple activity builds off that idea and encourages you to explore your heritage and identity.
- Brainstorm and look for objects in your house that remind you of your heritage or family. Take some time to reflect on what your identity means to you. Do you have any special items that hold meaning to you? How can you visually represent your family’s traditions?
- Get your camera and start photographing! Play around with angles, perspective and lighting. Think about what kind of mood you want your final artwork to have. Do you want it to be happy and playful or calm and meditative? What kind of photos do you need to achieve this?
- Upload your photos to your computer and pick out your favourite photos.
- Open an editing application, such as canva.com!
- Start re-arranging your photos in a way that achieves the mood you want. Does the order of your photos tell a story? Mix and match the size and orientation of the photos until you are happy with your collage.
- Download your finished artwork and share it with others!
