The National Museum of African Art’s website is a great source to use to develop activities for your curious student, whether young or old. Browse the collection or the museum’s current and past exhibitions for inspiration.
I Am: Narrating the Voices in Africa’s Arts
This summer teenagers explored ways to put their thoughts into words and discover their unique voices. As participants in the Teen Writing Workshops, they had the opportunity to discuss social justice, identity, race, politics, and pop culture as they examined art, engaged in art analysis, and practiced their writing skills through monologue and descriptive writing, haiku, and dream journaling. Herewith, selected writings from the summer 2021 teen writing workshop.
Religion touches the lives of all of us, regardless of individual beliefs or practices. Yet, something as deeply personal as religion is often reduced to abstract theological tenets. The National Museum of African Art wants to become a place in which everyone can express their experience in a respectful setting, thereby building community and empathy through knowledge.
The museum is presenting a variety of programs—including scholarly discourse, film, and community reflection—centered on the global religions of Africa. These programs will not only increase awareness but model respectful dialogue as we engage with our communities and their spiritual landscape.
The Global Religions of Africa Initiative at the National Museum of African Art is generously supported by the Lilly Endowment Inc.
Sun of the Soil: The Story of Mansa Musa Q & A
Click on image to watch the video
Sun of the Soil: The Story of Mansa Musa documents Malian artist Abdou Ouologuem’s immersion into the historical legend of the 14th-century emperor Mansa Musa. Following the museum’s August 2021 screening, writer/producer Ladan Osman, director Joe Penney, and museum educator Pier Penic discussed the film and its presentation, which was geared toward middle and high school students and provided a wonderful introduction to the story of Mansa Musa, the art of filmmaking, and how the power of film helps us understand the past.
Using artworks from the exhibition Heroes: Principles of African Greatness, photographer Jyll Turner led a creative workshop on self-portrait photography. Teens ages 14 to 18 learned how to use comparative visual arts to achieve their best expressive headshot and master the art of being the photographer and the photographed.
Photograph by Miles Higgins, Kristen Higgins
Miles Higgins
Pathways School
Arlington, MA
15 years old
Heroism means serenity. The nature of my identity conveys that the hero within me is calm, peacefull, and untroubled like the object Hongera Barack Obama.—Miles Higgins
Undetermined artist
Undetermined artist
Tanzania
Factory-printed cloth (Hongera Barack Obama)
2008
Cotton, synthetic dye
Gift of Bryna Freyer, 2009-2-1
Along the eastern coast of Africa, particularly in Kenya and Tanzania, rectangular panels of brightly dyed cotton cloth, known as kanga, are worn by women as wrappers and serve a variety of household uses. Kanga typically include Swahili text that makes a political statement or a proverb that is applicable to the wearer’s personal life. The Swahili text on this Tanzanian kanga honoring President Barack Obama reads, “Hongera (Congratulations) Barack Obama” and “Upendo Na Amani Ametujalia Mungu” (God has blessed us with peace and love).
The winners of the Power of the Griot Poetry contest are Anselm Jesusemen (elementary school), Etianna Prophete (middle school), and Tay Jones (high school).
Msanii Kijana (“young artist”) is an independent study project for high school students who are interested in art history and the visual arts. Each participant tours the National Museum of African Art’s collection, selects three works of art to research, creates three original artworks inspired by the pieces selected from the museum’s collection, and writes brief narratives about his or her artworks.
Msanii Kijana offers students an opportunity to investigate works of art through specific questions or themes of their choosing, build their portfolios, and gain experience to highlight on college applications and scholarships. The young artists’ original artworks will also be featured on the National Museum of African Art’s website.
10 At-Home Activities for K–12
Research a particular region of Africa
Select an artwork from the museum’s collection and sketch it.
Create a superhero based on a work of African art on the museum website. Write the story behind the character or one from the point of view of that particular object.
Compose a story from the artist’s point of view describing the creation a particular African object. Include facts, personal thoughts, and feelings.
Explore African art through an African lens
Using the concept of a vision board and reflecting on trajectories of African cultural heritage from slavery to the present,
select several works of decorative art (textiles, pottery, furniture, metalwork, sculpture, masks) from the exhibition Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts,
create a timeline, concentrating on the evolution, change, and continuity of these objects during the transatlantic slave trade (16th–19th centuries).
Make a poster board focusing on the geography of Africa
Focusing on environmental resources (land, climate change, sustainability), include a first-person account from the point of view of an art historian, archeologist, anthropologist, conservationist, scientist, ritual expert, deceased ancestor, or ecologist.
Create a power point presentation
Using inspiration from the exhibition I Am: Contemporary Women Artists of Africa, explore the evolution of African fashion and design, and how it has influenced the world. The thematic approach should be on continuity, beauty, women, status, authority, and departure.
Read a book by an African author
Need some help finding a book? The Children’s Africana Book Awards (CABA) offers a list of award-winning books to choose from.
Write a book review.
Using text references from the literature as creative writing prompts, craft a short story.
Create a film about an African individual who you admire or who you could imagine. Queen of Katwe and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind are good examples for inspiration
Create a blog
Write and post images daily about art and culture of the African diaspora. Topics could include African fashion, graphic novels, music, poetry, literature, film, dance, and the like.
Research and read various historical descriptions expressing a diversity of attitudes towards Africa, Africans, and African art. Write a reaction to one of those viewpoints.
Compose a poem
Choose a work of art from one of the exhibitions on the museum’s website. Produce a monologue from the point of view of the object. Themes to explore could include duplicity and empowerment.
Create a virtual tour
Using Google tour creator or similar program, assemble images of African art from the DMV and around the world. Start with the objects on the museum website. Write brief narratives about the images you find.
You are now a Member of the National Museum of African Art. Thank you for supporting what we do! You can increase your giving at any point to gain increased access to the museum. Email NMAfAMembership@si.edu with any questions. Thank you!
Click on image to watch the video
