Next stop was the monasteries of Tibet with a study of the art of Tibetan Sand Mandalas. Buddhist sand painting art has been preserved in the monasteries of India and Tibet for more than 2000 years. Each mandala is a meditation exercise, representing rich symbols of the Buddhist faith and requiring extreme calm and patience by its practitioners. Once created, the sand mandala is briefly enjoyed and then the sand is released from its worldliness and is cast to the winds.
The second graders' mandala project began with a math lesson in symmetry - in groups of four, they produced baseline drawings on large graph paper connoting Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and ROOFTOP SCHOOL. Each student took turns designing an image, and the other three repeated the image into the same space within their own quadrant.
The next day, the students hit the patio and, to the best of their 7 and 8 year old abilities, mimicked the monks’ process and poured sand into their designs. Our materials and approach were less, shall we say, refined, but the results were really really fun. Everyone emerged with a deeper respect for the practice of sand mandala creation, and appreciation for the many, many years of their lives that monks dedicate to learning the ritual. Like the monks, we too acknowledged the creative journey, swept up the results, and sang a song and everyone enjoyed themselves!
The final study of traditional Asian arts was shadow puppet plays, known as wayang kulit which are popular throughout Indonesia. They are an important cultural vehicle, one of the oldest continuous traditions of storytelling in the world. The performances are of Hindu epics, combined with Buddhist and Muslim folklore (and often embellished with local village gossip)!
Plays are still performed in villages and towns on public holidays, for festivals, or for family celebrations. They are usually performed at night in the open air, using cloth screens and a light source. A typical performance can last six hours or more, often ending at dawn. The audience of all ages (even little children) sits on the ground, enthralled the entire time!
Shadow puppets are flat, leather figures of kings, princes, teachers, giants, gods, demons, and regular people. Characters are carved and chiseled into lacy patterns from the hide of buffalo, ox or goat, and elaborately decorated.
There are at least a hundred puppets in a basic wayang kulit set — they are brought to life by special ceremonies performed by the “dalang”, the puppetmaster and storyteller. The dalang is a man of many talents: he must have a repertoire of hundreds of stories, say and sing each character’s lines, and direct the galang orchestra — a large array of bronze and percussion instruments.
Room 103 students watched portions of wayang kulit performances online, explored how lace, gauze, and other textiles can create wild shadow patterns, chose either the Bali or Java version of the heroic character Bima and began to embellish their own shadow puppet figures. Using brass brads and sticks to connect their parts, the students tried their hand at shadow puppetry in a makeshift puppet theatre.
A special thank you goes to Art Parent Kelly Costa for the fantastic art projects that double as hands-on sociology lessons! Next stop . . . AFRICA!
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