​I’ve had a lot of realisations in the past few weeks. For example, the responsibility I thought I had as an International Art teacher to encourage bravery within my students to have the difficult conversations about race and provide a safe space to confront their own beliefs, isn’t in fact my responsibility. It’s my PRIVILEGE!
Seeing the work of Kara Walker and Yinka Shonibare in the UK during the 00s influenced my own art work and my teaching. Walker’s blatant portrayal of the bleakest moments of Black history through the ambiguous imagery of silhouettes, encourages students to consider the rewriting and censoring of history. And Shonibare’s belief in international exchange being a vehicle for social change, demonstrates to students how cultural boundaries can be blurred with purpose- not just for the aesthetic.
And now, in a generation of self promotion and social ideology, Ayishat Akanbi confronts contemporary issues surrounding race, gender and identity, encouraging conversations with my students about how we can utilise our platforms.
I’m a lifelong learner. As I hope my students will be. I will always strive to do better 🖤
 
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​To encourage virtual visitors into online Art Galleries, the Getty Museum created the #gettymusuemchallenge in which people recreate some of their favourite artworks. DCSL students from Years 2 to 12 accepted this challenge and the results are fantastic! 

Over the last two weeks, the Senior School students have been responding to the Tate Gallery’s insta-stories entitled, “A Home can be a World”. Students recorded an area or aspect of their own homes in whichever medium they chose, to represent what their home has been to them during these strange times. The video captures a snapshot of some of their responses…

The Year 13s should have held their end of course Visual Arts exhibition over the last two weeks. Of course, we have had to cancel the show and the students have felt a real sense of anti-climax as their IB Art journey is now over.
 
So, here is a different kind of exhibition for us to reflect on their Visual Arts journey and give Year 13 the sense of achievement and celebration that they so deserve!! The video is only a 1:45 snapshot, but it means a lot to them to know that they have been seen and heard! 

Art Murmurs- Colouring for Calm
Term 1 has been a busy time for the student-led design team, Art Murmurs. We started the year by appointing Gian Lee, Year 11 as our new Manager; a role in which she has excelled! Gian supervised live design briefs including the logo for the Dulwich Chingus and illustrated “Happy Holidays” notes for the IB Candy Cane Drive. However, it is the Colouring Book project that really captured the imagination of our team of designers. Following the theme You’re Not Alone, the team created a series of intricate illustrations that were digitised into a Colouring Book to be available to students when they’re feeling overwhelmed or “a bit lost”. The first page of the book also explains the positive effects colouring can have on our wellbeing, for example, it reduces our mental chatter enabling us to feel more present and find clarity. Each teacher will be given a copy of the Colouring Book and sent a digital version to use as they wish and several copies will be kept in the Counsellors’ Rooms. 
Colour yourself calm! 

​On hearing about the “Zero Waste” focus of this year’s Founders Day, the Year 9 students spent this term researching, investigating and creating bio-degradable sculptures with a scientific twist. The students were presented with a live design brief- to create a sculptural outcome that informs or raises awareness about one of the UN Sustainability goals that correspond to our new Dulwich Sustainability Goals. Faced with a number of constraints, everyone quickly became enthused and focused. To ensure the sculptures were structurally sound, aesthetically striking and supported by sound theory, the project was completed during both Art and Science lessons. Working in teams, students assigned themselves into roles of responsibility to not only complete the task, but to excel.
Kris, one of the group leaders was very proud and impressed by the effort and focus of his group. “Because issues regarding our world such as global warming and endangered animals have become so significant, I believe raising awareness to the public is definitely needed and doing this through making our own inventions and creating them with decomposable material was an amazing proposal. Being the group leader was not easy, but it was enjoyable. After we decided our roles, everyone started with real confidence and commitment.”
Juna, another group leader added, “Thanks to the Art and Science project we were able to learn very useful life skills such as much need collaboration. Due to having two large groups and the effort required to complete the task, everyone had to invest our energy and thought into making the project successful. I felt that the team led itself, rather than me being the sole conductor. It was my first time leading a group of such numbers, but thanks to everyone’s efforts I felt in control and relaxed.”
The outcomes more than met the brief and Bea was clearly impressed with the level of knowledge and innovation demonstrated throughout the project. 

​Our animators of the future had the privilege of meeting ‘Tonko House’ animator, Robert Kondo on Monday. During his visit, a lucky group of Senior School artists were involved in a fascinating and inspiring ‘question and answer’ session. The ex-Pixar artist spoke of his impressive portfolio working on films such as Monsters University and Ratatouille, as well his Academy Award nominated film with ‘Tonko House,’ The Dam Keeper. Our students gained valuable insight into the processes and demands of working as an animation artist and were undoubtedly inspired by his creative journey.

​Jet lag gave way to excitement, fun and creativity for our six travelling artists last month at the 400 Year Olympiad hosted by Dulwich College London. After an exhausting journey to the UK, our artists (along with the rest of the DCSL team), dived straight into the very best of London’s Art and Cultural scene with a tour starting at the National Gallery, heading through Southbank and ending at the Tate Modern. On arriving at Dulwich College London, the artists were amazed by the impressive architecture of the college itself. They were quickly put to work during an “Art Hijack,” in which fortune cookies revealed a hidden drawing task to complete on a postcard. These then became part of a large installation displayed in one of the historic halls. The majority of the artists’ time was spent in their workshops in which they worked alongside professional artists including puppet maker, Sian Kidd and ceramicist, Sarah Christie. Possibly the most impressive qualities demonstrated by our artists during this time wasn’t necessarily their creative competence or innovation, but their confidence, humour and compassion. All six students fully embraced every opportunity to work with adults and other students that they had only just met, clearly having a great time in the process. We even managed to squeeze in another trip to Southbank to visit the Hayward Gallery and spend time with the art students from DCB. One student in particular demonstrated enormous amounts of courage and composure, when she took to the stage at the closing ceremony. Speaking in both Korean and English, Suan bravely made a speech about her Art experiences in front of the other colleges in the spectacular Great Hall.  The trip was a truly memorable experience that I’m sure has impacted our creative and international perspectives.
Thank you and well done, to our six international artists…
Suan Kim, Julia Koo, Clarise Jang, Ally Lee, Ina Lee and Ashley Na

​Throughout Term 2, the Art department has initiated our first student leadership groups. In Primary School, Ms. Seo and the “Little Picassos” have been busily designing and crafting for personal and whole school projects, including artist fact-files, logos and assembly displays. Meanwhile, in Senior School the new design company “Art Murmurs” have been honing their digital design skills, creating their brand and working to live briefs such as a sketchbook cover illustration for the Olympiad Art students and a t-shirt design for the Self- Defence ECA. After a very successful term, we’re very much looking forward to the students being able to make more decisions and steer the groups for themselves. Therefore, it gives me great pleasure in announcing that Ga-Eun Kim (Year 10) will be the manager of “Art Murmurs” next term. She will work with her team of designers to improve skills, work towards live briefs and set group constraints. As these groups become more established we look forward to even more collaboration across the schools and more leadership opportunities becoming available. Have a look at the new ‘Art Leadership Noticeboard’ outside the Art rooms for updates, examples of student work and announcements.
Congratulations to all of our “Little Picassos” and “Art Murmurs” on a hugely successful and rewarding term! 

​“Phenomenal,” “so, so impressive” and “incredible talent” were just some of the phrases used at the opening of the IB Visual Arts Exhibition on Tuesday evening. As a mandatory part of the IB Visual Arts course, the students were required to produce up to 11 artworks, write their own exhibition text and formulate a curatorial rationale. An incredible amount of work considering the other two complex and time-consuming components of the course.
The range of disciplines is vast, demonstrating skills in drawing, painting, sculpture, print-making, photography and installation. Equally as impressive is the array of concepts and contextual starting points. From gender inequality to internal struggles. And media censorship to the experience of loss.
Congratulations and thank you, to our IB Visual Artists. The dedication and commitment to their Art studies has certainly lead to an amazing finale!
Our Year 13 artists are- Ellis Ahn, Julie Blanchard, Marie Blanchard, Jennifer Choi, Emily Kim, Kyle Lee, Christian Lindsay, Lucy Oh and Lexie Xuan.
Also, a special thank you to Atikah Thane, Gabrielle Green, Victor Jong, Daniel Song, Ms. Mitford and Mr. Graham for providing a fabulous musical backdrop for the opening! 
The exhibition will be open until the morning of Thursday 21st March. 

Click on the "Exhibition" tab in the menu to see more photographs + exhibitions from previous years! 

​As we all know, 2019 marks the quadricentennial or 400 years of Dulwich College London. As part of the Olympiad celebrations, the international colleges have submitted a collection of student artworks for a collaborative exhibition at DCL. Students have worked in response to the theme of “Make Your Mark.”
“…To do something that will be remembered; to do something that is very important or meaningful…”
A group of students in Year 10 (with some collaboration from Year 9 students) interpreted this theme in very imaginative and sophisticated ways. One student portrayed the impact of cultural influences on our personal development. Another investigated the “butterfly effect” of kindness; how a single act can subsequently affect many others. All 10 pieces were created with exceptional skill, care and enthusiasm. Congratulations to the 13 artists involved!

​At the weekend, a group of Art students had a fun filled day working with children at the Global Youth Fair event, “UK to Korea”. We were inundated by children wanting to take part in our UK inspired craft activity. Looking at the work of UK artist Grayson Perry, children used a coil method to skilfully create small plates using coloured clay. They selected a typically British image as a template (from a Queen’s Guard to a teacup) and filled the shapes with rolled clay before moulding it into the form of a plate. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the activity and we were never without a queue- another typically British pastime! Thank you to our wonderful student ambassadors Karlie, Julie, Paul, Grace and Alix for your enthusiasm, patience and professionalism. 

​Last Thursday, our Year 12 Visual Artists were lead in a montage workshop by artist and lecturer Sarah Horton. Sarah is the Subject Leader for MA Fine Art and the Senior Lecturer, BA (Hons) Fine Art at Norwich University of the Arts. The purpose of the practical workshop was to encourage a sense of lateral thinking around a starting point- creating without intention with the possibility that the resulting imagery might inspire further investigation. As the students intently worked on their postcard collages, Sarah talked to us about the university application process and what to expect when studying Visual Arts in the UK. To offer context to both the practical workshop and the university guidance, Sarah introduced us to the work of numerous successful designers, artists and practitioners within the Visual Arts who worked in similar styles to our stripy collages. The year 12 artists learned a great deal about how they might extend their art studies into further education and beyond.