Haiku
Exhibition: Dagumisaatiy (We Persevere)
Artist: Seth Cardinal Dodginghorse
Overview
Throughout the exhibition Dagumisaatiy (We Persevere), Seth Cardinal Dodginghorse explores his experiences of displacement from his family’s ancestral land and home. Dodginghorse’s works offer the viewer a perspective in to his traumatic experiences and allows us to reflect on our own ideas of home to gain an understanding of his experience. What does home mean to us? How are we connected to our homes? In this project, participants will use the written form of Haiku poetry to explore these questions and reflect on personal experiences.
Objectives
Identify the form and structure of Haiku poetry
Learn to compose their own Haiku
Use written form to reflect on ideas within works of art
Materials
Paper
Pencil
Instructions:
Originating in 9th Century Japan, Haiku is a short form of poetry that contains 17 syllables. It consists of 3 lines or phrases written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. It focus’ on nature, simplicity, intensity, directness of expression and often has a philosophical aspect.
Step One
Begin the project by looking at examples of Haiku’s. Use a group discussion to generate a vocabulary list surrounding the word “home” that you can later refer to when writing your own Haiku.
Step Two
Use your pencil and paper to write down your reflections of home. What does home mean to you? Think of one important moment in your life that is connected to your idea of home.
Step Three
Use your ideas to compose your Haiku following the traditional structure:
Line 1: 5 syllables
Line 2: 7 syllables
Line 3: 5 syllables
Begin by writing out three sentences in three lines like a Haiku, then count the syllables. Once you have three sentences written and the general idea within your Haiku, you can then play around with the syllable count and word choice to match the Haiku form.
examples—
Home could be house
A shoe, a shell or hollow tree
A world made for me
What do I do now?
I used to belong somewhere
Now I just wander
