Art In Southern Africa

Maggie's adventure, "Herd of Elephants?" is set in Angola. Like other countries in Africa, art plays an important role in Angola. People carve wooden statues to represent important events in a person's lifetime. These statues, aside from being a beautiful art form, are rich in symbolism. Carvers pay careful attention to the concept of symmetry when designing their work. Look at the figure below and decide where you would draw a line to show symmetry.

Design a statue of your own that is symmetrical. You may even want to create this statue from paper mache and paint it to appear as if it is made of wood.

Here is my design of a statue that is symmetrical.

Women in Angola are famous for their fine basket weaving skills. Pattern plays an important role in how the baskets are designed. Think about the game you played during "Herd of Elephants?" Part 2 that showed the patterns on different snakes. Plan a pattern of your own. Sketch a basket with your pattern.