Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about war and conflict in art, and paying particular interest to textiles.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking and exploring together in this lesson.

So, shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to draw a chosen symbol of remembrance using a variety of media.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The key words we'll be using today are conflict, remembrance, symbol.

I'm going to say those again, and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Conflict.

Remembrance.

Symbol.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions.

Conflict is a serious disagreement or fight between people, groups, or countries.

Remembrance is the act of remembering and showing respect for people or events from the past, especially those who have died in wars.

A symbol is a picture, object or sign that stands for or represents an idea, feeling or message.

Pause the video here to make a note of these key words, and when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson, discussing stories of war and conflict, and drawing symbols of remembrance.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to discuss stories of war and conflict.

What do you think has happened in this image? Take a good look.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? What do you think might have happened? What did you spot? Well, this image shows a high street heavily damaged by a World War II bombing.

During this period of conflict, many towns and cities across Europe were devastated by air raids.

You can see in this image those buildings, how they have been bombed and broken apart.

Civilians lived in constant fear, often seeking shelter during bombings.

The destruction left lasting scars on communities and reshaped urban landscapes for generations.

War and conflict continues to take place all over the world.

The effect upon communities is often devastating, leading to the loss of lives, homes, and livelihoods.

Many people are forced to flee their homes, becoming refugees in search of safety.

Artists have often responded to war and conflict by using their work to express the pain, fear, and devastation experienced by those affected.

Through painting, sculpture, photography and film, they capture the emotional and physical realities of war.

How does this artwork make you feel? And can you explain why? Pause the video here and give yourself moment to think about how the artwork makes you feel, and then discuss with a partner why it makes you feel that way.

And press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? How does it make you feel and why? While some artists aim to protest against violence and injustice, while others use their work as an act of remembrance, art can become a powerful tool for reflection, healing, and raising awareness about the true cost of conflict.

In this piece of art here, we can see people are fleeing.

We can see that things are on fire, homes and belongings, so it's quite a powerful piece.

It can make you feel upset, angry, maybe even helpless.

Henry Moore was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee during World War II to document the civilian experience of the war.

Some of his most well-known works show people sheltering in London underground stations during the Blitz, using pencil, wax and watercolour.

Moore's drawings focused on the vulnerability, endurance, and quiet suffering of civilians, rather than scenes of combat.

These works remain powerful visual records of wartime Britain, and highlight Moore's deep compassion and artistic sensitivity.

These artists have all responded to conflict in their artwork: Henry Moore, Shamsia Hassani, Paul Nash, eL Seed, Dame Laura Knight.

So each of these artists have all responded to conflict in their artwork in some way.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Artists rarely use their work to respond to conflict or explore its impact on people and society.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that's false, you're absolutely right.

But why is that false? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you discuss? Maybe you said something along the lines of, artists have often responded to war and conflict by using their work to express the pain, fear, and devastation experienced by those affected.

Well done.

Emotional and psychological impact from conflict can last for generations, affecting not just those directly involved but entire societies trying to rebuild in the aftermath.

You might have a family member who has been affected by conflict.

Izzy says, "My great-grandmother lost an arm in an air raid on our town.

My granny said she wouldn't talk about it, but would hide under the table in the kitchen during a thunderstorm as they reminded her of the bombs." Jacob says, "I don't know if my family was affected by World War II, but I pass the memorial to those that died from our town when I walk to school, and there are so many names." You might have been affected by a conflict that is happening now.

Sam says, "My cousins had to leave Ukraine because of the war.

They had to pack quickly and leave their home behind, which made them really sad.

Now they live in a different country and everything feels new and strange to them." Now, discussing the impact of conflict upon you or your community, think about how might conflict affect your home? How might conflict affect your family? So I'd like you to pause the video here and discuss the impact of conflict upon your community with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you discuss? Maybe you said something like, I think losing someone you love or being separated would be a major impact of conflict.

Or not being able to be at home or having your house destroyed.

There are lots of ways in which conflict could affect your home or your family.

Well done for discussing those.

This now brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to firstly imagine you are a child who's experiencing this conflict, taking a look at this image here.

How might you be feeling as you queue for food and water? So have a think about that.

And secondly, I'd like you to create a freeze frame of this scene, imagining you are seeing your own bombed town or house.

You should create a still image with your body to show a moment in a scene or event.

Maybe consider some body language and expression, and work collaboratively in groups to recreate the scene.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a think about how you might be feeling if you were in that queue for food and water, and then create a freeze frame of this scene, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, let's take a look at some examples.

You might have said, "I'm so tired as I've been sharing a tent in the camp with my whole family, and it is hard to sleep.

I am hot and thirsty, and it is hard when it takes so long just to get the basic things you need to live." Or maybe, "I miss my family and my home.

I'm with my mum, but we got separated from my dad and sister.

I'm so worried for them." Now in your freeze frame, you might have created something like this.

Andeep says, "In our group, we used different heights really well to create the scene.

Some people stood looking up at the sky and other people crouched on the floor, covering their heads.

We used facial expressions and body poses to show fear." And Jacob says, "We held onto each other to show that even though people were scared, they looked to each other for support.

It felt strange to act it out and really made me think about how people in conflict must feel." So, well done for having a go at thinking about the different stories of war and conflict, and how people might react during those times.

This now brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to look at drawing symbols of remembrance.

What do you think this poppy is a symbol for? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, symbols of remembrance are special objects, colours or images that help us remember people who have died in wars or during times of conflict.

They remind us to honour their bravery and to think about peace.

Some symbols of remembrance might include a peace crane of Japan.

This symbol is linked to remembrance of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and represents peace and hope.

The red poppy of the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

This is a symbol of remembrance for soldiers who died in war, especially from World War I.

And the forget-me-not flower in Armenia.

This symbol is used to remember that Armenian genocide and honour those who perished.

In Japan, a common symbol of remembrance, especially related to war and peace, is the paper crane.

Here's an image of a paper crane here.

The paper crane became a symbol of peace after the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who got sick from the Hiroshima bombings.

She folded 1000 paper cranes hoping to get better.

In the UK and Canada, red poppies are used as a symbol of remembrance.

After World War I, bright red poppies grew on the battlefields where many soldiers had lost their lives.

A famous poem called "In Flanders Fields" talked about these poppies growing among the graves.

In France and Belgium, a blue cornflower is used to represent hope and memory.

These flowers grew in the same fields as poppies after World War I.

Both corn flowers and poppies are wild flowers, and they grow in spaces where the ground has been churned up, so that's why they grow in the spaces after battles have taken place.

Forget-me-nots are used as a symbol of remembrance in Armenia to commemorate the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Here's an image of forget-me-not here.

The five petals of the forget-me-not used in Armenian remembrance materials represent the five continents where survivors found refuge.

The dark centre symbolises mourning and suffering.

The black ring around it stands for the grief that surrounds the memory, and the purple petals show unity and resilience.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which image shows the remembrance symbol for Japan? Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said it was B, you're absolutely right.

The story of Sadako Sasaki touched people around the world and made the crane a sign of hope and peace.

There is no single correct way to represent remembrance because people experience and understand loss, grief, and history in different ways.

Artists can represent their own ideas through their choice of media and subject.

An artist might explore symbols of remembrance through drawing.

They could start by sketching an outline, observing the shapes that they see in their chosen symbol.

So here we've got a poppy that's been sketched out, and then they might then add colour to their work in a chosen media.

So you can see the colour has been added here to this poppy.

How are these images of remembrance different? Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, this artist here has copied the shapes quite precisely, whereas this artist has interpreted the shapes and lines more loosely.

You could choose media that reflects your ideas about symbols of remembrance.

So Aisha says, "I wanted to use a strong, bold red to represent the bravery of those who died." Andeep says, "I wanted to use watercolour to represent how people's lives faded too early." You might choose to work without colour.

Izzy says, "Here, I have used pencil and charcoal.

I think it makes a quieter, reflective drawing." This artist has drawn a poppy in a loose style.

What do you notice? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you notice? Well, maybe you saw that they have used a mixture of different media within their artwork.

They've used that watercolour and they've also used pen.

This artist has repeated their symbol.

How do you think this affects the artwork? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Press play when you're ready to continue.

How do you think it affects it? It creates quite a bold and powerful image, doesn't it? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

When responding to ideas about remembrance, artists should all draw poppies, copy the work of other war artists, reflect their own ideas through their choice of media and subject.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about how to finish this sentence, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said it was C, that artists should reflect their own ideas through their choice of media and subject, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now, this brings us to our final task of this lesson.

I'd like you to choose a symbol of remembrance you would like to use, whether that's the forget-me-not, the crane, the poppy, or the cornflower.

Then I'd like you to select your media.

You might choose ink and water, pencil and oil pastel, watercolour, or maybe colouring pencils and permanent markers.

Then I'd like you to draw your symbol.

You might think about using an outline to help you consider layout and scale, a single material or a mixture of different media, or maybe even a repeated image of your chosen symbol.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to choose your symbol to decide which media you're going to use, and then to draw that symbol, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, you might have used a repeated image of your chosen symbol, or maybe you've done an outline to help you consider layout and scale.

Maybe you used a single material or a mixture of different media to create your symbol of remembrance.

So well done for having a go at drawing a symbol of remembrance and using that media to do so.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about researching art about conflict.

Artists use their work to express the fear and devastation of conflict, reflecting the experiences of those affected.

Artists can share their own ideas about remembrance through their choice of media and subject.

And across the globe, there are many different symbols of remembrance, including poppies, cornflowers, and paper cranes.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.