Introduction
– Ask students to recap on what they did in the last session. What did they learn? What was most interesting/challenging for them?
– Explain that this session will focus on developing their visual analysis skills and their vocabulary related to contemporary art. Highlight that they will learn how to explore and explain specific features in an artwork, and how to connect that information with the ‘bigger picture’ surrounding the piece — its context of production.
Task 1: Grammar / Vocabulary
– Ask students to complete a fill in the blanks exercise (handout 1, available below) based on an interview with artist Bouchra Khalili.
– Tell students that verbs from the first line of options should be conjugated in the present tense. With verbs from the second line, students should pay attention both to the conjugation of être and the accord of the participe passé.
– Prompt students to reflect on the technical terms and film-related expressions used in this exercise. What do they say about the artwork?
Task 2: Aural comprehension
Play excerpts from this video by the Jeu de Paume gallery about one of Bouchra Khalili’s exhibitions (focus on excerpts 00’12”-01’13”, and 07’25”-08’08”).
Ask students to take notes and discuss the following questions:
– What does it mean to organise an exhibition in the form of a ‘constellation’?
– How does Bouchra Khalili define the notion of the ‘civic poet’?
– What does it mean to say that Bouchra Khalili ‘raconte nos histoires’?
Differentiation: You can also show the entire video to students, and ask them to report back on an artwork of their choice. What did they understand about it? How are Khalili’s artworks connected? What are the main themes she explores? This could be used as a link to a piece of homework too, in which students have to do some independent research and write up a specialist review in French about another of Khalili’s works.
Task 3: Writing / Speaking
– Show students some images of the artwork and how it is installed in a gallery, such as these ones from the MOMA website.
– In pairs, ask them to write down at least five sentences to describe what they see.
– Prompt students to use certain vocabulary or focus on certain themes. We suggest focusing on colours, shapes, the exhibition layout, perspective, and subject matter.
– Ask students to read their sentences aloud to the class, so that vocabulary can be shared.
Differentiation: Depending on the confidence and ability of the group, this can be done as a whole class. In this case, they share ideas verbally in French that the teacher writes up on the board; they can also collaboratively correct or edit other sentences. Just as the previous task, this can be used as a prompt for homework too, in which students write up a more complex review of the artwork.
Task 4: Reading / Discussion
– Show students a written excerpt from the artwork (handout 2, available below). Explain that it is a testimony by one of Bouchra Khalili’s collaborators.
Differentiation: You can read the excerpt aloud or, depending on the confidence of the group, ask a student to read it.
In pairs or small groups, ask students to discuss the following questions:
– Why do you think the collaborator focuses so much on modes of transportation and geographic locations?
– What feelings are evoked by this narrative? Think in particular about the repetition of certain words and the structure around short sentences.
– What can we know about the narrator through this narrative? What do we not know?