Draft: this lesson was written with AI help and has not yet been read by a human editor.
1 What your class asks
This lesson asks you to notice art forms, styles and traditions of other cultures, and to analyse how the elements and principles of design carry meaning. The museum offers Islamic geometric patterns, the arabesque, as its records describe them. The records do not analyse colour or symmetry; your class can investigate those in the artworks themselves. 1
Curriculum expectations, with their official codes
- D2.2 analyse the use of elements and principles of design in a variety of art works, and explain how they are used to communicate meaning or understanding […]
- D3.2 demonstrate an awareness of a variety of art forms, styles, and traditions, and describe how they reflect the diverse cultures, times, and places in which they were made […]
2 Before you start
A thought to carry into the lesson.
3 The lesson
What does a pattern do to a surface?
The expectations ask how design is used to communicate meaning. Look at a repeating pattern and follow one shape through it: where does it begin, where does it repeat, and what fills the space around it?
Go deeper
A pattern of leaves and stalks does not stay on one kind of surface. The Encyclopaedia of Islam says the arabesque is not tied to one material. It appears in architectural decoration, in painted decoration, in pottery, glass and metalwork, and above all in book illumination. It says Persian and Turkish artists understood its language, and over the centuries they competed with one another in creating ever more varieties. 2 A later article adds that Islamic ornament can pass easily from one material or technique to another. 3
Think about it
Imagine the same leaf pattern on a clay pot and on a wall. What could stay the same and what would the artist have to change when the surface changes, and why?
Into the museum
- Arabesque: the materials it appears in, from buildings to manuscripts.
- Islamic geometric patterns: a short record about stars, polygons and grids that cover buildings from al-Andalus to Central Asia.
Try this
Read about geometric patterns and then about the arabesque. Draw one shape from a pattern and repeat it until it covers a sheet of paper, then describe what the repetition did to the surface.
4 Check yourself
Nothing here is marked or sent anywhere. It is for you.
In your own words: what does Islamic geometric patterns have to do with this lesson?
Compare with the card
Stars, polygons and grids. Islamic geometric patterns are repeated patterns of stars, polygons and grids that cover the surfaces of Islamic architecture and art from al-Andalus to Central Asia. Look at one pattern from this tradition: which shapes repeat, and how does your eye move across the surface?
In your own words: what does Arabesque have to do with this lesson?
Compare with the card
A pattern that respects the surface. In Yeomans's view geometric forms in Islamic art are dynamic and open-ended, rarely coming to rest, and the vegetal arabesque is stylised and two-dimensional, respecting the surface. What would you change in a drawing so that it respects its surface?
I can now