Identity Boxes

Conversation Questions

Looking at these images of Frida Kahlo, where do you notice celebrations of mixed heritage?

Where do you notice celebrations of traditional Mexican culture?

Can you spot Spanish colonial jewelry?

Can you spot traditional Indigenous huipil blouses?

Can you spot an Indigenous jadeite necklace?

Can you spot the high fashion that reflects Western fashions?

Dig Deeper

We recommed learning more about the history of the politically-constructed category of mestizaje in order to facilitate an inclusive conversation honoring multiple ways of being Mexican.

• The Myth of Mestizajes
• pbs.org

Create Your Own Identity Box

Just like Frida Kahlo we all have complex inner lives and personal styles. Art is an excellent vehicle to develop and discover your own identity and can be a way for communicating and sharing these ideas – whether they relate to personal identity or a cultural or community identity. Building on the idea of how Kahlo revealed aspects of her identity and challenges through her artwork, take time to reflect on your own identity and what you choose to reveal to the world versus what you prefer to keep to yourself. Create a representation of your internal and external self.

Your Turn!

1. Fill out the identity map to assist your brainstorm before starting the artmaking project.
2. Think about a hollow form that could represent your identity. It could be an altered shoebox, a transformed cereal box, a handcrafted papier-mâché form, or the paper template we provided. It is helpful if you are able to deconstruct the form and flatten to draw, paint, write, or create a collage on the surface.
3. Reflect on challenges or adversities that you have over come and pushed you to grow. How did you show strength and determination in these situations? Brainstorm different ways in which you could represent these challenges. Make a collage of images and words or sketch your own depictions.
4. On the inside of your form or paper template illustrate a representation of what you have overcome.
5. Reflect on your public persona or your personal image. What do you like to show about yourself through your actions, clothing, hairstyles, or other personal style choices? What do you feel proud of in sharing about yourself? Make a collage of images and words or sketch your own depictions.
6. On the outside of your form illustrate a representa tion of your personal style and public image.
7. Complete your identity box by reconstructing it into the shape desired and reflect on your process with the questions below.

Facilitator Tip

This art making project requires deep introspection and has the opportunity to connect bring up trauma for kids. Incorporate socio-emotional learning into your practice in order to be mindful of kid’s mental health.

Educators are not advised to step into the role of psychologist or counselor, unless they are explicitly trained and licensed to do so. However, we can do our best to take proactive measures to mitigate significant stress.

Here is a helpful resource if this activity brings up past trauma or processes current stress.

Dig Deeper

• Trauma Toolkit

Activity Extension

What some might interpret as cultural appropriation others understand as reclamation. (Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate adoption of another culture’s customs, practices, ideas, and so on.) Kahlo presents different versions of herself by celebrating the multitude of Mexico’s cultural histories. The artist’s intentional choices speak of an agency and control that she is claiming over her inherited legacies; she is making a statement of authenticity and power.

Kahlo’s heritage includes Indigenous roots from Santo Domingo Tehuantepec, Mexico. However, in her fashion she combined traditional elements from numerous cultures— including Indigenous people from several places in Mexico and Guatemala, the Olmec who occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco, and the Oaxaca traditions, which include several different groups of Indigenous peoples: Zapotec, Nahua, and Mixtec tribes, each with distinctive textile traditions. Investigate examples of reclamation and appropriation throughout history and the nature of the other native roots of Kahlo’s wardrobe choices in order to form your own opinion.