Transcript document
2009 Global Village
Student Art Exhibition
Life Along the Silk Road
Pertinent Details
Saturday, March 13, 2010
AM Collaborative teacher/student
workshop
PM Opening reception: student gallery
(student docents), interactive program
GV classes select pieces for display
Teachers, students (neighbor islands: 1
teacher/1 student), family friends, school
administrators invited
Student artwork
2-D or 3-D pieces; Create simulation of traveling
along the Silk Road. Backdrops (artistic renderings
of Silk Roads); stations along Silk Road with
artifact from this station (Chang’an; Dunhuang;
Khotan, Kashgar; Samarkand, Merv, Antioch)
No size limitation on art piece
(within reason)
Beginnings of Silk Road (200 BCE, height of Silk
Road 700 – 900, Mongols/Marco Polo, modern
times)
Due: GV PD workshop Saturday, February 13,
2010 with required DOE forms (on GV weblog)
Theme: Life Along the Silk Road
Broad, overarching theme to encompass
art, architecture, music, animals, people,
dance, any aspect of way of life, e.g.,
currency, trade, religion.
Based upon the book of Susan Whitfield,
Life Along the Silk Road -- tales of the
merchant, soldier, horseman, princess,
monk, courtesan, nun, widow, official, and
artist
Other ideas: Central Asian dancers,
storyteller, musicians
Benchmarks: 6th Grade
6.3.1 Examine written and physical evidence from
ancient societies in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the
Indus River Valley and the Yellow River Valley
6.1.1 Define causal relationships in historical
chronologies
6.3.4 Describe key figures and major beliefs of
the major religious and philosophical traditions of
ancient and classical times including Judaism,
Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Buddhism,
Greek philosophy, Christianity and Islam
6.8.1 Describe trade networks, including the Silk
Road and Saharan caravan trade . . . etc.
Benchmarks: 10th/11th Grade
11.3.1: examine the relationship
between cultural traditions and the
larger societies . . . Etc.
11.3.2 Examine the effects of global
interactions in pre-modern times . . .
11.3.4 Explain the effects of global
exchanges in the Americas, Europe,
Asia and Africa . . .
Theme: Life Along the Silk Road
Interesting, fascinating historical figures
Princess of the
Han Dynasty –
http://history.cult
uralchina.com/en/48
History5989.html
http://www.home
townchina.com/h
an1.htm
Zhang Qian – Chinese diplomat
Imperial envoy in
2nd Century during
Han Dynasty
Brought back
reliable information
about Central Asia
Made China aware
of kingdoms and
products outside of
China
Zhang Qian
Interesting sites
http://monkeytree.org/silkroad/zhangqian.ht
ml
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_7018
43471/zhang_qian.html
http://earlychinesedynasties.suite101.com/
article.cfm/zhang_qian_the_chinese_marc
o_polo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Qian
Xuanzang: Chinese monk
7th Century monk
sought out to study
the great Buddhist
masters
Visited important
sites
Gathered Buddhist
texts, artifacts
Xuanzang
Insight into life along Silk Road
Buddhist principles
Buddhist art and ritual objects
http://sites.asiasociety.org/arts/monks
andmerchants/silk.htm
http://sites.asiasociety.org/arts/monksandm
erchants/temples.htm
http://www.silkroad.com/artl/buddhism.shtml
Persian Merchant and Central Asian Dancers
Where did they originate and why did they travel
along the Silk Road?
What kind of topography or environment did they
see along the road?
Why did they make this journey?
Describe goods/dances and their origins,
influences. Who would buy the goods?
Merchant’s Tale: Nanaivandak, Sogdian
merchant from Samarkand
Description of himself, origins, family
Birthplace (detailed description)
Travels . . . How long has he traveled?
Caravanserai (stopping places for itinerant merchants;
warehouse for goods, courtyard for animals, bazaar bustling
with people and animals);
10 or more languages heard, haggling over silks, spices
which dazzled the senses with colors and smells
Wore distinctive Sogdian clothes: Phyrygian hat, kneelength, belted overjacket of deep blue brocade with
decorative roundrel enclosing two deer facing each other;
narrow trousers;
His cargo of wool, jade and gems
His trips to the jeweller, the tailor, evening of dining and
entertainment
Make up a character
Muslim silk merchant who travels by boat
to the Red Sea and then joins a camel
caravan to Cairo
A Turkish calligrapher and book-binder who
needs leather for repairing manuscripts
and heads for Samarkand for the leather
A Buddhist scholar seeking to learn more
about Islam because more Muslims are
moving into his part of the world
Make up a character
Write a travel journal with illustrations.
Name your character, your gender,
date and place of birth, information
about your hometown, important sites
in your hometown, name rivers,
desserts or mountain ranges, your
religion, why you are traveling, what
cities you wish to go to, how you plan
to get there and the obstacles you
encounter.
Role of animals along the Silk Road
Horses and Camels –
Essential part of the
Silk Road story – key
to international
relations and trade
http://depts.washin
gton.edu/silkroad/c
ulture/animals/ani
mals.html
http://depts.washin
gton.edu/silkroad/e
xhibit/trade/horcam
ae.html
Animals Along the Silk Road
Why were the animals important?
What roles did they play?
What were the conditions of the
environment that made these animals
suitable for daily life along the Silk Road?
How do you know they were important
commodities?
What are the characteristics of the animal
which made them valuable to the daily lives
of people along the Silk Road?
Art ideas
2-D and 3-D pieces
Travel journals
Maps, collages (find photos of art,
architecture, mosques, etc), make up a
song as a musician traveling from
Chang’an to Central Asia, Buddhist chants,
build a model of mosques or city along Silk
Road, posters about lives of characters,
write poetry about long journeys, chart of
chants from various religions along the Silk
Road, make costumes
Dioramas, drawings, models, illustrated
chants/poems, sculptures
Resources
The Silk Road: trade, travel, war and faith by
Susan Whitfield, Ursula Sims-Williams, British
Library (entire book online)
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579956/
Silk_Road.html
Lesson plans (for different learning styles) from
Council of Islamic Education
http://www.cie.org/ContentsDetail.aspx?id=N&m_i
d=28&cat_id=28&item_id=135&con_id=2848&cord
er=10&src=
Global Village weblog:
iws.punahou.edu/department/wocenter/ib/gv/2009/