Learning Resources

Learning Resources

The Argyll Collection was established for school and community use. This collection offers a range of perspectives on the African continent. These works of art let students learn about important artists, different locations on the African continent and different types of art-making. They can be used in a range of lessons and projects, from art to geography to history to story-telling.

Here are pilot learning resources, pitched for primary school-aged children. The resources, which provide introductory information, suggested talking points and activities, can be adapted and extended to suit classroom needs. They can also be adapted for older students. Additional learning Primary and Secondary resources can be found in ArtUK’s online repository for Louis Mbughuni, Samuel Ntiro and Henry Tayali.

Related resources like our interactive Google map, and themed playlist allow you to adapt this material to fit a range of learning activities.

Educators in Argyll and Bute can request specific works of art for their classrooms by contacting Madeleine Conn (madeleine.conn@argyll-bute.gov.uk). Educators elsewhere can download high resolution images of all works of art here, and contact Kate Cowcher (kc90@st-andrews.ac.uk) for any further needs.

Please note: these images can reproduced for educational use within the classroom. They cannot be published without permission or reproduced for commercial use.

Artists / Artworks / Themes

Sam Ntiro

Who: Tanzanian artist and ambassador

What: Chopping Wood, c. 1965 – painting depicting the place where he grew up, a Chagga community, near Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Themes / keywords: representations of home, rural themes, Mt. Kilimanjaro, painting and representation (realism / abstraction).

Henry Tayali

Who: Zambian artist

What: Title Unknown, c. 1971 – painting of a busy bar / café in urban Lusaka (Zambia’s capital).

Themes / keywords: life in African cities, group portraits, expressive use of colour, painting and representation (realism / abstraction), the fight for independence.

Mugalula Mukiibi

Who: Ugandan artist

What: Modest Wealth (Cattle), 1963 – print (etching) of Ankole cattle.

Themes / keywords: Ugandan agriculture, printmaking (etching), traditional Ugandan arts (barkcloth).

Hezbon Owiti

Who: Kenyan artist

What: Ostriches, 1966 – painting of two ostriches.

Themes / keywords: painting and texture (impasto), animals as symbols, representations of a nation (era of independence), self-taught artists.

Lucky Sibiya

Who: South African artist

What: Sangomas, 1975 – print (woodcut) of Zulu healers from a series about the play uMabatha (the Zulu Macbeth).

Themes / keywords: printmaking (woodcuts), Zulu history, art and storytelling, Apartheid.

Catherine Nankya

Who: Ugandan artist

What: Youth, 1965 – print (Aquatint) depicting the artist reflecting on life in young adulthood.

Themes / keywords: printmaking (aquatint), portraiture and self-portraiture, symbols of Uganda, feelings and symbols.

For further support, see this additional list on external resources for teaching about specific media (eg. printmaking etc), histories and themes (eg. colonialism) and art in general.

Research for these resources was undertaken by Christina Cao and Lauren Kammerdiener, supported by the University of St Andrews Undergraduate Research Assistant Scheme.