Cracks in the Curriculum Resource 5: What is it to be Oneself?

This resource by artist Jade de Montserrat resource supports art teachers working with young people to consider the impact gender, race, class, religion, disability, culture, and politics has on our sense of self.

What is it to be Oneself? delves into Afrofuturism and digital culture, using the process of collage to normalise fluid exploratory approaches to the formation, deconstruction and reformation of identity. It offers ways we might imagine liberated futures where everyone can live freely and thrive.

‘Collage is a way to draw together a multitude of materials found in our daily lives. The process of layering and remixing mirrors our fluctuating, ever evolving identities, allowing us to experience them as both fragmented and unified. Collage enables us to time travel, to collect archival material and place it alongside contemporary imagery. It can also be a metaphor for repair and healing.’

– Dr. Jade de Montserrat

The resource features critical questions, creative exercises, sources of support and a short story by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. It folds out into a poster designed by Jade de Montserrat which combines a quote from the 19th century abolitionist Sojourner Truth with the Progress Pride flag. This juxtaposition stresses how historical struggles can provide sustenance for contemporary campaigns.

You can download a pdf version below or email jemmae@serpentinegalleries.org to request an A2 printed version that opens out to form a poster that can be displayed in your classroom.

Cracks in the Curriculum is a multi-part series that addresses themes missing from or misrepresented in the UK school curriculum. It brings together artists, educators and organisers to ask how we can use creativity to collectively address pressing social issues.