Art and Resistance. Peter Ginz and ‘Vedem’

Art and Resistance

Peter Ginz and ‘Vedem’

I Lead in. Think of the answers to the questions:

1.    Take 2 minutes to think write down your associations with the word ‘resistance’ (resistance- “the act of fighting against something that is attacking  you, or refusing  to accept  something). Compare your lists with other students’ words. Did you have similar ideas?  What were the biggest differences between your lists?

2.    What or whom can people resist? What situations can people resist or oppose?

3.    Is resistance always a matter of choice? Is it always possible to resist?

4.    Does resistance mean being brave or courageous?

5.    How can people resist? Does resistance always mean using force? Can you think of any examples that prove your point of view?

6.    How can art be used in resistance? What is the role of art in helping people to build courage to resist? Is it true only for professional artists?

II Elements of art. Analogue drawing.

A) Take a separate sheet of paper. On this sheet of paper draw the lines and shapes that you associate with the concepts, feelings, and emotions listed below. You have to express and portray the emotion using only lines or shapes:

       1) anger;         4) loneliness;       7) love for your family.

        2) sadness;     5) hope;

        3) peace;         6) energy;

B) Choose 3 emotions of feelings from the list. Compare your drawings that portray those emotions or feelings with the images that other students created. What types of lines and shapes did you use? What are the similarities and differences between your drawings?

C) Match different elements of art to the feelings and emotions they represent or symbolize.

Match the elements of art to their psychological meaning or association.

Element of art		Emotion, feeling, symbolism
horizontal line		stability
vertical line		continuous movement
diagonal line		imbalance and tension
zigzag line		certainty
curved line		security
broken line		equality
thin line		cycles, eternity, and timelessness
thick line		unity and harmony
parallel lines		comfort
square		greatness or superiority
circle		overcoming challenges
ellipse		conflict and action
rectangle		feeling of rest
triangle		quiet and restful feeling
inverted triangle		strength and power
		activity
		force, anger or conflict
		excitement
		confusion and nervousness
		danger and destruction
		comfort, safety, and relaxation

D) Use the phrases from the table to speak about elements of  art and their meaning. 

Element of art	is used to represent			Feeling, emotion, concept
colour	red			show	danger
	black				destruction
line	horizontal line	is used to		suggest	youth
	vertical line	is used to	symbolize		safety
	….				force
shape	square	is used to		create the illusion of	anger
	triangle	is used to			conflict
	….		express		happiness
form	circle	is used to			comfort
	cube	is used to	demonstrate		peace
	…				…

III Analyse the drawings. Look at the drawings below. They were created by the teenagers at the time when they were going through terrible events in their lives. The drawings were one of the only ways those children could resist the horrible reality.

1.    What can you see in the images? What colours, shapes, and lines are used?

2.    What feelings do you have when you look at those images? What effect and atmosphere does the choice of lines and shapes create?

3.    In your opinion what were the horrible events that the teenagers tried to resist? Try to predict what events and reality the images represented. 

 IV Vocabulary focus. Match the terms and the definitions. Copy the words into your exercise books.

	Word		Definition
1	Jew	A	to put someone in prison
2	concentration camp	B	a member of a  people  whose religion is Judaism
3	barracks	C	to defend yourself
4	Nazi	D	immediately, at that moment
5	precious	E	very bad
6	Yellow Star	F	an area  of a city  where people  of a particular race or religion live  together and apart from other people
7	ghetto	G	a member of the National Socialist Party, led by Adolf Hitler
8	starvation	H	of great value
9	appalling	I	the state  of having no food  for a long period
10	imprison	J	a badge Jews were forced to wear for identification
11	consolation	K	a group of buildings where soldiers live
12	on the spot	L	a place  where large numbers of people are kept as prisoners
13	fight back	M	something that makes someone who is sad or disappointed feel better

V Watch the video and answer the question.  What type of horrible reality did the authors of the drawings live in?

VI Comprehension check. Numbers, dates, people and places. Work in pairs Can you remember what is said about these numbers, dates, people, and places? Watch the video again and check your answers.

              Peter Ginz                           Czechoslovakia

1939                                      50,000

Terezín                                  Prague

Professor Eisinger               “Vedem”

VII Comprehension questions. Answer the questions.

1.    What were the ways the boys chose to fight the appalling conditions they lived in?

2.    Why did the boys decide to create the magazine? Who were the authors and what did the magazine include?

3.    How many copies did the magazine have?

4.    Was it dangerous to read that magazine? Why was it dangerous to create such a magazine?

VIII Look at the list of some of the steps that the Nazi power took in the treatment of the Jews. Tick the actions, decrees or laws that were mentioned in the video. Watch the video and check.  What effects did those actions have on the boys’ lives emotionally, socially, physically?

·       random attacks on Jews and Jewish property;

·       April boycotts of Jewish shops - for one day, Germans are told not to buy from shops and business owned by Jews;

·       Jews excluded from military service;

·       Jews banned from parks, restaurants and swimming pools;

·       Jews excluded from cinema, theatre, concerts, exhibitions, beaches and holiday resorts;

·       Jewish children expelled from German schools;

·       Jews' radios confiscated;

·       Jews over 6 years of age  forced to wear a Yellow Star of David with 'Jew' written on it;

·       deportations to concentration camps.

IX Life in the Concentration Camp. What were the conditions in the concentration camp like? Watch the  video  and note down what the numbers below refer to?

4,000

50,000

33,000

87,000

900

140,000

90%

15,000

X Elements of art analysis. Look at the drawings from the ‘Vedem’ magazine that show scenes from the concentration camp.

1.    What do you notice about the use of colours, lines, and shapes? Why do you think young artists chose to draw the conditions in the camp using certain colours (remember the information from task IX)? What feelings and emotions does the use of colours, lines, and shapes express?

2.    What were other subjects that Peter and the boys who created ‘Vedem’ included into their drawings? Why do you think they drew mountains and space that they had never seen? Focus on the psychological associations of lines, shapes, and colours used in those drawings.

 XI OVER TO YOU.

A.   Go to https://www.centropa.org/centropa-cinema/peter-ginz-and-boys-vedem  and watch the video till the end. Find out what happened to Peter Ginz and the boys who wrote and edited ‘Vedem’. What part of the story impressed you the most?

B.   What elements of art would you use to draw the emotions and feeling you have after getting to know Peter Ginz’s story? What colours, lines and shapes will you choose? Explain your choice.

 C.   Find an example of the drawings created by children from your home country who went through horrible events or resisted. Get ready to show the copy of the artwork to other students and comment on the use of elements of art: lines, shapes, colour, that document the experience and help to fight back.