Resources

Andrea Horbinski of the UC Berkeley History–Social Science Project, gives a talk to teachers at the Japan Teacher Institute at the Asian Art Museum on Japanese history, folktales, anime, and more.

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

Digitized from VHS, this video re-tells a popular Korean folktale using a painted Korean screen from the collection of the Asian Art Museum.

Asian Art Museum Storyteller Miriam Mills tells a story about a gecko from Bali.

Objective: Students gain an appreciation and understanding of art and culture, and build language skills by reading; developing scripts; making choices about gesture, voice, and expression; and performing traditional stories alongside art objects in the Asian Art Museum’s collection galleries.

Duration: One class period over the course of 1 week

Balinese stories are continually told and retold. Tales such as the Ramayana are mainly spread through storytelling, shadow plays, masked dance, chants, and other theatrical genres. Learn more.

Asian Art Museum Storyteller, Liz Nichols, tells a Japanese story about Amaterasu, the sun goddess, in the museum’s Japan galleries.

Students use visual evidence to convey character by constructing a visual identity for their shadow puppet, and demonstrate principles of shadow-casting and puppet-making by performing their shadow play.

Watch a Lunar New Year story about a beast named Nian.