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Activity

The Maidens and Their Buried Instruments

Writing
A 3D collage made with magazine clippings shows a pair of white marble statues looking at each other with speech bubbles that say “....” and “....”. The statue on the left is a young adult woman with long flowing hair and is standing with her arms above her head as if pushing her hair back. The statue on the right is the Venus de Milo, depicting the Greek goddess Aphrodite as an adult woman with hair pulled back, a bare torso, missing both arms, partially clothed with her dress fallen to her waist. The statues appear to be either on the surface of the moon or at the bottom of the ocean. Between the statues are a guitar, a violin, and an upright bass stuck in the ground. The statues are surrounded in darkness with a blue haze except for a light shining through to the ground around them. Between the statues is an image of five white figures joining hands and dancing in a circle. A fish floats above.
Collage by Elizabeth Lokon

How To Do It

  • Together, use your imaginations to create an original story based on this picture.
  • Write down your ideas in response to the questions below.
  • Give the story a title and read aloud with emotions the story you just created.
  • The last question asks you to connect the picture to your own stories.

Questions

  1. What is happening in the picture?
  2. Describe the setting. Do you think they are underwater or in outer space? Where else could they be?
  3. Did the two statues bury the instruments? If yes, why did they do this? If not, who might have done this and why?
  4. If the statues could talk, what do you think they would say to each other? Create a dialog.
  5. What happens next to the statues and the instruments?
  6. Share your own stories about learning to play instruments. Or, discuss what instrument you would like to learn to play and why.
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