learn about the piu piu project

"The Piu Piu or "dancing skirt" are Maori Textiles worn at traditional Maori religious and cultural events like Kapa Haka and Matariki. They are worn by both men and women and have been used in Maori life for hundreds of years.

This amazing Piu Piu maker, Weaver, and Artisan featured in the film is Leilani Rickard. She is one of the few Maori weavers left who has the knowledge and skill to make the Piu Piu in the ancient and traditional ways with raw materials like the Harakeke plant, swamp mud dyes, and geothermal processes only found in New Zealand. She is a true Maori Artisan."

NOTE: This Documentary Short Subject was made entirely with CLoMoSo technology including an HTC EVO 3D Cell Phone and an Apple MacBook Air Laptop.

Featuring:
Piu Piu Artist: Leilani Rickard
Piu Piu Assistant: Christopher Grant
Produced and Directed by James Obenshain, The CLoMoSo Organization
jobenshain@clomoso.com
www.clomoso.com

maori design lesson plan

(Teacher’s sample design copyrighted 2011 Grimm)

Title: Maori Design

Topic: indigenous cultural design

Goals and Objectives:

• Students will demonstrate how to use designs from alternative cultures to inspire an original artwork assigned to them in class.
• Students will use pattern and a color scheme to create a rhythmic design.

GLEs:

STRAND I: Product/Performance

3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and themes in artworks created for various purposes

A. High School Level I

•      Create original artworks using non-objective, architecture and anatomy subject matters.

STRAND IV: Interdisciplinary Connections (IC)

1. Explain connections between visual art and performing arts

A. High School Level I

·      Connect meanings of elements in art with terms in music, theatre, or dance

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

2. Select and use principles of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

D. Rhythm/Repetition: High School Level I

·      Identify and use elements to create regular rhythm

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

2. Select and use principles of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

A. Balance: High School Level I

·      Differentiate among and use symmetrical (formal), asymmetrical (informal), and radial balance

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

E. Color: High School Level I

·      Identify and use color theory including color value, and color schemes (analogous, monochromatic, and complementary)

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

B. Shapes: High School Level I

·      Differentiate between and use geometric and organic (freeform) shapes

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

A. Line: High School Level I

·      Identify and use weighted contour, parallel, and perpendicular lines

STRAND III: Artistic Perceptions (AP)

2. Analyze and evaluate art using art vocabulary

A. Art Criticism: High School Level I: With one artwork:

·      describe artwork;

• analyze the use of elements and principles in the work;
• Interpret the meaning of the work (subject, theme, symbolism, message communicated);
• Judge the work from various perspectives:
• Showing a real or idealized image of life (Imitationalism)
• Expressing feelings (Emotionalism/ Expressionism)
• Emphasis on elements and principles (Formalism)
• Serving a purpose in the society or culture (Functionalism)

Grade: 9^th – 12^th

Length of Class Period: 55 minutes

Frequency of Class Period: five days a week

Time Needed: four class periods

Facility & Equipment Requirements:

• One computer lap top
• Room with good lighting
• Large tables, approximately ten, each seating four students
• Two sinks
• Dry erase board
• Drying racks
• Cabinets for storage
• Projector for viewing computer video, CDs and DVDs

Resources Needed:

• Power Point About Maori Design/Symbols
• Maori Symbols worksheet

Maori Symbols worksheet

Materials Per Student:

•      White drawing paper and markers

Vocabulary/Terminology:

1. Koru – peace, tranquility and personal growth
2. Toki –are objects worn by elder Maori that  symbolize power and wisdom
3. Kowhaiwhai – is the pattern that distinguishes the tribe a particular Maori is from
4.  Manaia – is a spiritual guardian
5. Tiki – a good luck charm and symbolic for fertility
6. Roimata – a teardrop that symbolizes comfort
7. Hei Matau – a fish hook
8. The Circle of Life – represents that life in general has no beginning or ending point that people can prevent from happening. Life and death are inevitable.
9. Maori – the indigenous peoples of New Zealand

Motivation- Looking and Talking Activity: Students will watch several youtube videos of the Maori chants used in modern day soccer tournaments and also performed by descendents of the Maori at their national culture center.

Step-by-Step Studio Activity Specifics:

• Students will first view the short films about Maori chants. These films stress the concept of using a cultural practice derivative of one specific group to influence the practices of another. These influences are based in design only and do not require students to produce exact images of that which they do not feel comfortable with or believe in personally.
• Students will then be handed a Maori symbols worksheet and view a Power Point presentation that goes along with it.
• Students will design their own original motif using design elements found in the Maori culture. These elements are spiral in nature and come from the plant life/sea life of their island home.
• Students will need to select one of the following color schemes to illustrate their design ideas: complimentary, split complimentary, neutral, monochromatic, secondary or primary.
• Students will create their final design version using colored felt tip ink pens.

Health & Safety Concerns: There are no health and safety concerns for this project.

Cleanup Time & Strategy: Students will be instructed to put away art materials neatly in their containers, clean off their tables, and recycle their trash two minutes prior to dismissal.

Assessment: A formal assessment/grading rubric sheet is included along with this lesson plan.

All photos and lesson plans copyrighted 2011 Grimm