Visual snapshots Students explore images of Cook as well of those of Aboriginal artists (then and now) to appreciate the ways in which images ...
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Visual snapshots
Students explore images of Cook as well of History
those of Aboriginal artists (then and now) to
appreciate the ways in which images convey English
important ideas over time.
Visual Arts
Year Level: 9–10 Critical and Creative ThinkingION RESOU
AT
C
RC
EDU
ES
Y E A R LE V E L
9 –10
SE
CONDARY
Visual snapshots
OVERVIEW
In this learning sequence, Students will consider the historical They will consider views of Cook
students will explore the and cultural context of artworks and that have been expressed over
how artists shape content and style. time, and think about how he could
achievements of Cook, as well They will look at the perspectives of be represented in contemporary
as ideas reflected in artworks artists and some of the ways that Australia during the commemoration
containing European and artworks have been, and continue of the 250th anniversary of his
Australian perspectives. to be, viewed and interpreted. landing in Australia.
LEARNING OUTCOMES LEARNING AREAS
By the end of this unit students will: • analyse Aboriginal and Torres
History
Strait Islander and contemporary
• understand the achievements
perspectives of James Cook
of Cook as an explorer, surveyor,
English
navigator and cartographer • develop and justify a viewpoint
of Captain Cook for the 250th
• analyse and evaluate historical Visual Arts
commemoration of his landing
and contemporary representations
in Australia.
of Cook in artworks
Critical & Creative Thinking
• understand the ways that artists
shape the content and style of
artworks to present ideas and DURATION OF LESSONS
perspectives of people and events
6–8 lessonsVisual Snapshots 3
Australian
Curriculum
CROSS-CURRICULUM PRIORITIES GENERAL CAPABILITIES
Aboriginal and Torres Critical and Creative Thinking
Strait Islander Histories
and Cultures
HISTORY – YEAR 9
• The extent of European imperial expansion and different responses, including in the Asian region (ACOKFH017)
HISTORY – YEAR 10
• Background to the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for rights and freedoms before 1965,
including the 1938 Day of Mourning … (ACDSEH104)
• The significance of the following for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: …
1967 Referendum; … Mabo decision; … (ACDSEH106)
• Identify the origin, purpose and context of primary and secondary sources (ACHHS187)
• Identify and analyse the perspectives of people from the past (ACHHS190)
• Identify and analyse different historical interpretations (including their own) (ACHHS191)
• Select and use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies (ACHHS193)Visual Snapshots 4
Australian
Curriculum
ENGLISH – YEAR 9
• Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, including media texts, can be influenced by cultural
perspectives and other texts (ACELY1739)
• Interpret, analyse and evaluate how different perspectives of issue, event, situation, individuals or groups are
constructed to serve specific purposes in texts (ACELY1742)
• Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse texts, comparing and evaluating representations of an
event, issue, situation or character in different texts (ACELY1744)
ENGLISH – YEAR 10
• Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including
media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices (ACELY1749)
• Identify and analyse implicit or explicit values, beliefs and assumptions in texts and how these are influenced by
purposes and likely audiences (ACELY1752)
• Use comprehension strategies to compare and contrast information within and between texts, identifying and
analysing embedded perspectives, and evaluating supporting evidence (ACELY1754)
THE ARTS: VISUAL ARTS – YEARS 9 AND 10
• Evaluate how representations communicate artistic intentions in artworks they make and view to inform their future
art making (ACAVAR130)
• Analyse a range of visual artworks from contemporary and past times to explore differing viewpoints and enrich
their visual art-making, starting with Australian artworks, including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Peoples, and consider international artworks (ACAVAR131)Visual Snapshots 5
Engage
Inquiry questions: Cook’s voyages Feedback
• How do we remember Have students in small groups Have student groups report back on
explore one of Cook’s voyages: the immediate outcomes of Cook’s
Captain Cook?
voyages. Compile a class list of
• Endeavour voyage (1768–71)
• What did Captain achievements.
Cook achieve? • Resolution voyage (1772–75)
Discuss with students the impact
• Resolution voyage (1776–80). of items in this list on subsequent
Students will discuss their current movements of people; for example,
understandings of Captain Cook. For each voyage, students
in enouraging people to travel into/
They will develop an understanding should explain:
settle explored lands.
of the context for artworks by • the purpose
exploring his three ‘voyages of Have students explain the various
discovery’. • the route taken responses of First Peoples of the
Pacific to encounters with James
• the lands encountered
Student understandings Cook. Were their responses
• relationships with the First consistent?
Discuss with students their
Peoples of the Pacific
understandings of James Cook: Have students show and explain
• immediate outcomes of the the images they have chosen to the
• What do we know about him?
voyages; for example maps class. Discuss these questions with
• Why do we remember him? of seas and lands, botanical students:
finds, knowledge of other lands,
• What were his achievements? • Who produced these images and
opportunities for trade.
when?
• How do we remember him
Students should also identify an
in Australia? • What sources might artists use in
image/artwork associated with the
their representations of Cook and
• Do all Australians remember voyage; for example one of people,
his voyages?
him the same way? plants, animals or landscape.
• Whose perspectives are these
• How do we memorialise and Provide students with a copy of
artworks created from?
commemorate famous people? Worksheet 1 to record their responses,
and a copy of the Resources sheet for • What was the artistic intention of
a list of resource examples. Find both each artwork?
at the end of this PDF.Visual Snapshots 6
Explore
Inquiry questions: Students will explore artworks about Captain Cook’s death was met with
Cook’s time in Australia, from the shock and horror in England, where
• How was Captain Cook period immediately after Cook’s death news of his death and tributes to his
portrayed in Britain in and from three points in time (colonial achievements were published in The
the years after his death? period, Federation at the turn of the London Gazette. Tributes poured in
20th century, and the 1930s). They from the rulers of European nations
• How is Cook portrayed in will also explore the perspectives and from the Empress of Russia,
artworks at three points of contemporary Aboriginal artists. Catherine the Great. King George
of time in Australia? Students will consider the artists’ III was distraught and eventually
interpretations of Cook, ways that awarded Cook the honour of a coat of
• How have subsequent artworks reflect the point of view arms in 1785.
portrayals challenged of the artist and the period in which
The apotheosis of Captain Cook
traditional views of they were produced, and views
was created by Philippe-Jacques
James Cook? that challenge the idea of Cook as
de Loutherbourg from a drawing by
‘founder’ and ‘discoverer’ of Australia.
John Webber, the artist on Cook’s
The apotheosis of Captain Cook final voyage, and was then engraved
by a Franco-British artist, Francesco
Show students the image, The Bartolozzi. The image was originally
apotheosis of Captain Cook, 1794. used in a play in 1785.
(Display this image on a screen so
that you can zoom in on the detail, Explain to students that apotheosis
including the conflict shown in the means the elevation or exaltation of
lower part of the image.) a person to the rank of a god.
Remind students that James Cook
was killed on 14 February 1779 on
Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii during
a conflict with the local indigenous
people. The image depicts the
aftermath of Captain Cook’s death.Visual Snapshots 7
Have students discuss the following • What does The apotheosis of • landscape
questions and refer them to this Captain Cook tell you about the
• impact that the work might have
National Library of Australia resource. values and beliefs of the time?
on the viewer
• What can you infer from the • Can you formulate a theory about • ideas about Cook presented in
artist’s portrayal of Captain Cook why Cook was seen as a godlike the image
in this image? Consider how Cook figure in Britain?
is posed, his facial expression • perspective of the artist
It has been suggested that the
and his clothing, and what he • sources used by the artist.
landscape was based on the work
is carrying.
of John Webber, the artist for Cook’s Students in small groups should
• Cook is accompanied by the third voyage. View his engraving look closely at the images under
figures of Britannia (a figure used The Death of Captain Cook, 1784 ‘Artworks’ on the Resources
in the 18th century to personify from the National Portrait Gallery. document at the end of this PDF,
the might of Britain’s maritime and use Worksheet 2 to record
• What atmosphere is created in
power) and Pheme (the ancient their observations. Teachers could
Webber’s artwork?
Greek goddess of fame and work through the first artwork with
rumour, who spread news both • What seems to be his view students as an example.
good and bad). Why has the artist of Cook?
chosen these figures? Other perspectives
Images of Cook in
• What atmosphere is created by New Holland/Australia Students explore the following works
the artist through the depiction by contemporary artists. These
of the landscape, the clouds of Students explore three different artists rework significant historical
smoke, the people in the boats artworks about Cook in Australia artworks as a tool to challenge and
and on the shore? from three different times: colonial comment on the representation of
Australia, Federation at the turn of Captain Cook and his legacy.
• What opinion do you think the 19th century and the 1930s. In
de Loutherbourg has of James their viewing of images, students Have students view the following
Cook? What evidence can you should consider the: artworks and complete the
see in the work that supports questions below.
your contention? • context of the artwork
• How might this image have • people in the image
influenced perceptions of Cook • portrayal of Cook: his stance,
at the time? What can you infer clothing, facial expressions and
about the British public’s view of the sense of leadership
British exploration and maritime
power at the time? • portrayal of Aboriginal and/or
Torres Strait Islander peoples
(if represented)Visual Snapshots 8
Artworks • What impact might Daniel • How does Jason Wing’s artwork
Boyd’s painting have on the challenge the view of Cook
We call them pirates out here,
viewer? In what ways might it presented in the Hyde Park
Daniel Boyd, 2006, Museum of
challenge conventional views sculpture?
Contemporary Art
about James Cook? • Why does he use a head covering?
This work is a parody of the E Phillips
Captain James Crook, 2013, Jason • What modern associations do
Fox painting Landing of Captain
Wing (Biripi people). Purchased 2013 we have with head coverings
Cook at Botany Bay, 1770 (1902),
in recognition of the 50th Anniversary of this sort?
which was commissioned in 1900 as
of the 1967 Referendum, National
one of a group of Australian history • What does this head covering
Gallery of Australia.
artworks. Boyd intentionally copied signify? What impact does this
the format and style of the Fox This artwork parodies the Hyde Park, have on the viewer?
painting in order to make a point. Sydney statue of Captain Cook, which
• Research the 1967 Referendum
was installed in the park in 1879.
Compare the Fox painting with the and explain its significance for
Boyd painting: Have students view the Cook statue: Aboriginal Australians.
• Make a list of elements of the Fox Hyde Park 1879 and read the
Untitled [Captain Cook statue and
painting that have been changed. description given and the inscription
Journal], Micky Allan, National Gallery
What do you think is the purpose on the statue:
of Australia.
of these changes? • What ideas about Cook are
The artist includes black-and-white
• How do these changes alter the represented in this sculpture and
images of a silver statuette of Cook
meaning of the painting? its inscription?
and an extract from Cook’s journal in
View the Daniel Boyd video on • What significance might this a single frame.
the website of the Museum of sculpture have had for the people
• Why do you think these elements
Contemporary Art: of Sydney in the late 19th century?
were chosen by the artist?
(Consider the size of the sculpture,
• What changes and what choices the stance of Cook, the telescope • What do you think is the purpose
has the artist made in this in his hand, the inscription and the of this artwork?
artwork? How do these illustrate importance of Cook to colonists at
his point of view? • Why might the artist choose
the time.) that particular extract from
• What ideas does Daniel Boyd • View Jason Wing’s artwork and Cook’s journal?
present about the landing of read his views about the Hyde
James Cook in Kamay (now • What appears to be the artist’s
Park sculpture. view of Cook?
known as Botany Bay)?
• What is Jason Wing’s view of
• The E Phillips Fox painting was • What impact do the elements of
the Hyde Park sculpture? What
commissioned in 1900 to illustrate the work have on the viewer?
feelings does the statue provoke
Australia’s history. How might in this Aboriginal artist?
Australian nationalist feelings at
the time of Federation influence
his artwork?Visual Snapshots 9
Explain
Inquiry question: Have students discuss the following • What can you infer from the
in relation to the artworks: works of contemporary Australian
• How have ideas artists about the standpoint
• What ideas about Captain Cook
about Captain Cook of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
are contained in the artworks
changed over time? Islander artists in regard to Cook
from various periods of history?
and colonisation?
(Consider the artworks from the
three periods of Australian history • What do we need to know in
and the contemporary artworks.) order to determine how well
each artwork reflects the period
• Have there been changes over
in which it was produced?
time? What are these? What
evidence from the paintings Have students complete a concept
viewed supports your views? map with James Cook at the centre
and various ideas about him that
• How does the work of
emerge from the artworks.
contemporary artists challenge
ideas about James Cook
contained in earlier artworks?Visual Snapshots 10
Elaborate
Inquiry questions: Students will deepen their Questions
knowledge of the context for
• How was historical • Why has the commemoration of
artworks about the exploration
Captain Cook been important to
and cultural context and settlement of Australia and
many Australians?
reflected in artworks the contested debates about the
about Captain Cook? legacy of Captain James Cook. • What role did Aboriginal
peoples play in the various
Using Worksheet 3, have students
• Why should we consider read and discuss the meanings of
commemorations of Captain Cook?
all perspectives on our the term ‘terra nullius’. • How has commemoration
shared history? changed over time?
• How did this doctrine and the
attitudes to Aboriginal and • What is the significance of the
Torres Strait Islander peoples 2003 renaming in Kurnell as
justify the exploration and ‘The meeting of two cultures’?
colonisation of Australia?
• What perspectives do Aboriginal
• How were Aboriginal and Torres peoples have about James Cook?
Strait Islander peoples viewed
• Why is it important to explore
in colonial times, at Federation,
Aboriginal perspectives in
during the 1930s?
Australia’s shared history?
Have students read the Mabo
Case from the Australian Institute
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Studies.
• How did the Mabo doctrine
overturn the notion of terra nullius?
Have students read the following two
articles and discuss and answer the
questions below:
• Commemoration and
contestation at Kurnell,
Dr Stephen Gapps, Australian
National Maritime Museum
• ‘I’m Captain Cooked’: Aboriginal
perspectives on James Cook,
1770–2020, John Maynard,
National Library of Australia.Visual Snapshots 11
Evaluate
Inquiry question: Provide students with instructions Complete a 350-word evaluation in
for the following assessment task. which you:
• How should we Students should look for information
• name the artist and the artwork
commemorate Captain about the artist, the art and the
Cook in 2020? context of the artwork from gallery • explain:
websites and other historical websites. • the period of time in which the
Student task artwork was produced and
how this may have influenced
See Worksheet 4. Choose two the artwork
artworks that you feel best reflect
• the purpose of the artwork
and represent Captain Cook for the
250th anniversary. Alternatively, you • how the artist shaped
could design or describe a design for the content and style of
appropriate artworks. the artwork
• the point of view of the artist
• the perspective on Cook taken
by the artist
• the portrayal of Aboriginal
Australians
• the landscape and flora/fauna
• the impact of artworks on
viewers – then and now.
Justify your choice of artworks for
inclusion in an exhibition as part
of the 2020 commemoration that
includes a discussion of the contested
nature of the British colonisation of
Australia and Captain Cook’s legacy.STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 Visual Snapshots 12 Cook’s voyages Name/date of voyage Purpose of voyage Route taken Lands encountered Relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Achievements of the voyages Art image from voyage
STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 Visual Snapshots 13
Images of Cook over time
Samuel Calvert (1853–1864) E Phillips Fox (1902) Australian National Travel Association (1938)
Context of
the artwork
People in
the image
Portrayal of Cook
Portrayal of
Aboriginal and
Torres Strait
Portrayal of
landscape
Impact on
the viewer
Ideas about Cook
in the image
Perspective
of the artistWORKSHEET 3 Visual Snapshots 14
Contexts
Terra nullius and Mabo • the introduction of new diseases protection officers or native welfare
officers, children forcibly removed from
‘In Latin, the term “terra nullius” means” • settler acquisition of Indigenous
their families, peoples’ movements and
land belonging to nobody” … lands
associations controlled; and they were
‘Starting in the 17th century, terra nullius • direct and violent conflict with the classified according to descent.
denoted a legal concept allowing a colonisers.’
‘Across Australia, Aboriginal people
European colonial power to take control Source: Australians together, suffered poor living conditions and poor
of ‘empty’ territory that none of the other Colonisation health on many reserves and missions
European colonial powers had claimed. with sub-standard shelter or housing,
Colonial period, 1788–1901
‘Of course, most of these ‘empty’ meagre rations, and poor education;
territories were inhabited, so the ‘… until 1870, 25 British infantry employment was controlled, often with
meaning of terra nullius grew to include regiments and several smaller artillery rations for payment or wages withheld,
territories considered ‘devoid of civilized and engineer units were stationed in the and speaking language and other
society’. The most celebrated example colonies. One role of the troops was to cultural practices were prohibited.’
is that of Australia, where the concept guard Australia against external attack,
Source: The Australian Institute of
of terra nullius still features in lawsuits but their main job was to maintain civil
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
pressed by Aboriginal peoples … order, particularly against the threat of
Studies (AIATSIS)
convict uprisings, and to suppress the
‘Although Australia was clearly not resistance of the Aboriginal population
empty land, the presence of scattered Aboriginal peoples in the 1930s
to British settlement.’
and nomadic Aboriginal groups would ‘In 1931, the federal government
have been widely perceived, through Source: Australian War Memorial
declared Arnhem Land an Aboriginal
European eyes at the time, as evidence ‘The near absence of Indigenous people reserve as part of a new policy
of a barbarous country and thus no legal in mid-nineteenth-century colonial emphasis to try to segregate traditional
impediment to settlement.’ painting has been one of the most Indigenous people and make decisions
Source: Gustavus Adolphus College, potent assertions of continued settler governing their lives.
Terra nullius presence in Australia. This invisibility
reinforced the myth of terra nullius and ‘The Aborigines Act Amendment
‘… from the time of Captain Cook’s rendered further colonial expansionism Act, 1936 (WA) gave the Minister
arrival the British Government acted picturesque. Many colonial artists were for Native Affairs the power to take
as if Australia were uninhabited. reluctant to insinuate the original owners Aboriginal people into custody without
So, instead of admitting that it was into the landscape, thereby avoiding trial or appeal, and prevented them
invading land that belonged to complicated issues of dispossession, from entering specified towns without
Aboriginal people, Britain acted as it resistance and guilt … a permit.
were settling an empty land. This is
In the mid nineteenth century … many ‘In the 1930s, Aboriginal people
what is meant by the myth of terra
believed Aboriginal people and their formed protection associations led by
nullius.’
culture would simply disappear, replaced inspirational men and women such as
Source: Racism No way by the advancing British Empire.’ William Ferguson, Jack Patten, William
Cooper, Douglas Nicholls, Margaret
‘The High Court’s Mabo judgment Source: Depictions of Aboriginal People Tucker and Pearl Gibbs to use political
in 1992 overturned the terra nullius in Colonial Australian Art: Settler and action in campaigns to assert Aboriginal
fiction. In the same judgment, however, unsettling narratives in the works of self-determination.
the High Court accepted the British Robert Dowling, Humphrey Clegg and
assertion of sovereignty in 1788, and Stephen Gilchrist, Art journal 48, 29 Jan ‘January 1938
held that from that time there was only 2014 National Gallery of Victoria
one sovereign power and one system of ‘The first national conference of
law in Australia.’ Aboriginal Australians was held at
Aboriginal people at Federation the Australian Hall, Sydney, to mark
Source: Council for Aboriginal a ‘Day of Mourning’ and protest during
‘All states enforced special laws and
Reconciliation, Documents of the 150th Australia Day anniversary
protection policies for Aboriginal
Reconciliation of colonial settlement. The conference
people. In practice, protection laws
were shaped by prevailing attitudes of was initiated by William Cooper,
Colonial Australia racial superiority and paternalism. This founder of the Australian Aborigines
meant Aboriginal people lived under six League (AAL), and The Aborigines
‘In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip and
different state laws and regulations. Progressive Association (APA), led by
1,500 convicts, crew, marines and
William Ferguson and Jack Patten.
civilians arrived at Sydney Cove. In the ‘State governments severely Participants called for Aboriginal land
10 years that followed, it’s estimated controlled every aspect of Aboriginal and citizenship rights.’
that the Indigenous population of people’s lives, moving them from their
Australia was reduced by 90 per cent. homelands to live on reserves managed
Source: My Place
Three main reasons for this dramatic by Aborigine Protection Boards,
population decline were:WORKSHEET 4 Visual Snapshots 15
Student task
Choose two artworks that you feel best reflect and represent Captain Cook for the 250th anniversary.
These may be artworks that you have encountered in this unit or in research for this unit. Alternatively, you
could design or describe a design for appropriate artworks. Complete a 350-word evaluation in which you:
• name the artist and the artwork • how the artist shaped • the landscape and flora/fauna
the content and style of • the impact of artworks on
• explain:
the artwork viewers – then and now.
• the period of time in which the • the point of view of the artist
artwork was produced and Justify your choice of artworks for a
how this may have influenced • the perspective on Cook commemoration in 2020 that includes
the artwork taken by the artist discussion of the contested nature of
• the purpose of the artwork • the portrayal of the British colonisation of Australia
Aboriginal Australians and Captain Cook’s achievements.Visual Snapshots 16
Resources
Cook’s voyages Artworks Landing of Captain Cook at Botany
Bay, 1770, E Phillips Fox, 1902,
Captain Cook’s voyages of discovery, Captain Cook taking possession of
National Gallery of Victoria
State Library NSW the Australian continent on behalf
of the British Crown, AD 1770 E Phillips Fox was an Impressionist
The voyages of Captain James Cook,
painter who was commissioned
British Library Samuel Calvert (c 1853–1864) wood
to paint historical paintings on
engraving, hand-coloured sheet,
Cook and the Pacific, National Australian themes in 1900. The
National Gallery of Victoria
Library of Australia: rising nationalist sentiment in the
Samuel Calvert was born in London Australian colonies was reflected in
Defining moments, Cook claims
in 1828 and died in 1913. He settled the art, newspapers and literature
Australia, National Museum of
in Melbourne in the 1850s where of the time, and ultimately led to
Australia
he worked as a painter, wood Federation in 1901. See this National
James Cook and his voyages, engraver and lithographer. His works Museum of Australia resource, for
National Library of Australia included illustrations for books and further information on this period.
newspapers, stamps, advertisements
Royal Museums, Greenwich Australia’s 150th anniversary,
and maps including a map of the
(see Collections/James Cook) Sydney 1938: Pageantry and
goldfields. He exhibited his work
carnival, Australian National Travel
Cooks’ three voyages of widely and produced many works
Association, Smith and Julius Studios,
exploration, Museum of Applied on life in the colonies. The Victorian
Sydney, chromolithograph, National
Arts and Sciences population increased enormously
Library of Australia
during the 1850s after the discovery
of gold, and diggers from all parts of In 1938, Australia was nearing
the world brought new ideas about the end of the period of economic
rights and democracy, as well as great downturn known as the Great
wealth to the colony. See this National Depression. On 26 January 1938,
Gallery of Victoria resource for further Aboriginal leaders organised a Day of
examples of Calvert’s work. Mourning. At Australia Hall in Sydney
they passed a resolution protesting
the callous treatment of Aboriginal
people over the previous 150 years
since the landing of the First Fleet
and calling for laws and policies to
advance equal citizenship. See the
AIATSIS resource.COPYRIGHT © 2020 Commonwealth of Australia, unless otherwise indicated. This material may be used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) licence, unless otherwise indicated. Australian Curriculum material: © Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2010 to present, unless otherwise indicated. This material was downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (www.australiancurriculum.edu.au) (accessed 25/2/2020) and was not modified. The material is licensed under CC BY 4.0 AUTHOR Patricia Hincks
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