Appropriation and Reclamation

In this resource, case studies on contemporary and historical artists will support students to:

• explore and respond to artworks and visual arts practices across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts; for example, through exploration of works in physical or virtual spaces or engagement with artists.

In this resource, themes of appropriation and reclamation will challenge students to:

• develop critical practices by taking opportunities to reflect on, evaluate or respond to their own work or the work of others; for example, developing intentions for artworks based on exploration, inquiry and research.

In this resource, provocations and prompts for creating and presenting artworks will encourage students to:

• build and extend creative practices and skills for visual arts practice, developing ideas and intentions, creating representations, and developing skills and techniques in specific visual arts processes
• create artworks to communicate ideas, perspectives and meaning in 2D, 3D and/or 4D (time-based forms) and/or multi-disciplinary forms to communicate ideas and intentions using visual arts practices and materials
• present artworks and practices to audiences; for example, curating exhibits of their work, as individual artists or by working collaboratively. This can include designing and preparing a space or developing supporting material such as artist statements.
  
  

• investigate ways that visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials are manipulated to represent ideas, perspectives and/or meaning in artworks created across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts AC9AVA8E01
• experiment with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials to develop skills AC9AVA8D01
• generate, document and develop ideas for artworks AC9AVA8C01
• select and manipulate visual conventions, visual arts processes and/or materials to create artworks that represent ideas, perspectives and/or meaning AC9AVA8C02
• curate and present examples of their visual arts practice to accompany exhibits of their artworks to communicate ideas, perspectives and/or meaning to audiences AC9AVA8P01

• investigate the ways that artists across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts develop personal expression in their visual arts practice to represent, communicate and/or challenge ideas, perspectives and/or meaning AC9AVA10E01
• experiment with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials to refine skills and develop personal expression AC9AVA10D01
• reflect on the way they and other visual artists respond to influences to inspire, develop and resolve choices they make in their own visual arts practice AC9AVA10D02
• select and manipulate visual conventions, visual arts processes and/or materials to create artworks that reflect personal expression, and represent and/or challenge, ideas, perspectives and/or meaning AC9AVA10C02
• evaluate art exhibits to inform the curation and exhibition of their own and/or others’ artworks and/or visual arts practice AC9AVA10P01

• Critical and creative thinking
  As artists, students develop questions, imagine, consider various options and alternatives and make decisions, acting on possibilities when interpreting and generating ideas. As audiences, students think critically and creatively about their work and the work of other artists. They reflect, analyse, critique and evaluate their thinking about artworks and the roles that The Arts play in the lives of people, cultures and communities.
• Literacy
  Through arts learning students enhance and extend their literacy skills as they create, compose, design, analyse, comprehend, discuss, interpret or evaluate their own and others’ arts works. Students learn that Arts terminology is dynamic and flexible, can be symbolic, is not always expressed through words and varies according to context.
• Personal and Social Capability
  As artists and as audiences, students develop self-awareness and self-management skills when they set goals, work collaboratively, reflect upon various arts practices, and build resilience, adaptability, and perseverance while thinking about their work and the work of other artists.
• Ethical Understanding
  Through this learning resource students will encounter artworks that require ethical consideration of intersecting issues, including colonisation, gender politics and climate change. Recognising examples of cultural appropriation in the context of Te Moana Nui (Pacific Ocean), will prompt students to develop their understanding of First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts, and build awareness of protocols for respecting the rights of First Nations peoples. Students will develop ethical understanding as they explore and respond to artworks that present, examine and/or challenge values, rights and responsibilities, and ethical norms. As artists students can create work that explores ethical issues or communicates a personal ethical outlook.
• Intercultural Understanding
  This learning resource includes works of art by contemporary artists with Te Moana Nui-based creative practices alongside 19thC European representations of Te Moana Nui (Pacific Ocean) cultures, supporting students to explore the influence and impact of cultural identities and traditions on the practices and thinking of artists and audiences. As artists, students develop empathy by exploring their own cultural identities and those of others, learning to appreciate the diversity of cultures and contexts in which artists and audiences live. As audiences, students engage with arts works from diverse cultural sources, and are able to consider accepted roles, images, objects, sounds, beliefs and practices in new ways. They take opportunities to use their arts practice to respond to biases, stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination.
• Information and Communication Technology
  This resource includes contemporary artists working with digital photography and editing software, encouraging students to explore utilising digital devices, tools or production techniques in developing their own artworks.

1. Tim Stone, Yuki Kihara: the photographer upending the cultural legacy of Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian paintings, The Art Newspaper, 2023, viewed 4 June 2024, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/03/22/yuki-kihara-the-photographer-upending-the-cultural-legacy-of-paul-gauguins-tahitian-paintings.