Resources

In groups, students will discuss how artists communicate events and characters by observing and describing scenes in the scroll containing stories of Rama’s youth. Students will compare the context of this scroll’s use with those of scrolls illustrating other epics. Then they will create a biographical scroll from the perspective of a character in the Ramayana (The Life of Rama).

Asian Art Museum Curator, Joseph Chang, reads an excerpt from Eight Poems on Yellow Ridge in semicursive and cursive script, Xong Tingbi (1596–1625). Translation: It’s been called “Lotus Terrace” now for years innumerable; And round the terrace, fields upon fields of lotus leaves are seen. The slightest breeze wafts floating fragrance from the other shore, While setting sunlight in clear waters plays with emerald green. —Lotus Blossom Terrace. This work was on view at the Asian Art Museum as part of the exhibition, Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy (from October 5, 2012–January 13, 2013).

Create your own kimono doll finger puppet using this template.

Asian Art Museum Docent, Linda Lei, gives a talk to teachers on the symbols associated with Chinese Lunar New Year at the Asian Art Museum on May 15, 2014.

Watch Pak Wayan Sira carve a mask at his home in Gianyar, Bali. The Bali: Art, Ritual Performance exhibition is on view at the Asian Art Museum from February 25–September 11, 2011.

This background information will help you prepare your students for their visit to Yoga: The Art of Transformation (on view at the Asian Art Museum from February 21–May 25, 2014).

Leta Bushyhead, Asian Art Museum Storyteller, tells a Chinese folktale inspired by objects in the museum’s collection.

Students compare and contrast the different ways in which people commemorate the passing of a year by interviewing their families, creating a tablescape, and sharing their traditions with their classmates.

Rituals and traditions of the Chinese Lunar New Year.