Welcome to the sixth instalment of Culture Box!

Delivery 1

Banyan Tree by Martin Jordan

Oil on Canvas

A print of this painting with its corresponding activities is included in this month’s physical box.

This month, Martin has painted the life cycle of the Banyan Tree.

The Banyan is a type of fig and begins life as an epiphyte (a type of plant that grows on another plant) that is native to the Indian Subcontinent but can also be found in East Asia, the Pacific Islands and in Central & North America.

Banyan trees have cultural and religious significance for many people; in Hinduism the leaves are said to be the resting place for the god Krishna, in the Philippines they are regarded as the homes for certain deities and spirits .

Martin is a visual artist who specialises in botanical and zoological painting. To find out more about him click here.

Some of the ways that Cuckoos have found their way into our lives:

Cuckoo Song is an old English folk song

The theme tune for Laurel and Hardy’s films is called Dance of the Cuckoos

And of course, Cuckoo Clocks!

Cuckoo Birdsong Video

We have chosen the Cuckoo this month for two reasons. 

Firstly, the Cuckoo maybe represents the changing of the seasons more than any other bird, with some people saying that the sound of a cuckoo signals the arrival of Spring. 

Secondly, different kinds of cuckoos are common throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and the Americas, so maybe they are familiar to many people, wherever we started our lives.

Cuckoos come to the UK as migratory birds, usually arriving on our shores in April having spent the winter months in Central Africa. They stay with us until July or August, when they fly south again.

Famously (or perhaps infamously), cuckoos don’t look after their own young, but lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.

 Let’s Chat! by DementiAbility

Banyan Tree Life Cycle by Martin Jordan

Colouring-in Activity

This activity is included in this month’s physical box.

In the line drawing for you to colour in, artist Martin Jordan has drawn the leaf, fruit and flower of the Bayan tree. The leaves are large, leathery, glossy green and elliptical in shape and the fruits are bright red and round.

Martin has also included two drawings of elephants; one is of an Asian elephant who live across the Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia and the other is of an African Elephant who can be found across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Banyan Tree Benefits Video by Peepal Baba/ Give Me Trees Trust

This short animated video from the Give Me Trees Trust gives some background information on the Banyan tree including its mythological importance, its many benefits and details how the different parts of the tree are used for treating a range of medical conditions.

This is a recording that was made at dawn in Tamil Nadu, which is the state right at the southern-most tip of India. The recording lasts for about 5 minutes.

This recording is taken from the BBC’s sound effects archive. If you enjoyed listening together, then you could explore listening to many more recordings by clicking the link below.

Nature Soundscape: Dawn in Tamil Nadu, South India

Ways to listen:

• You could play this recording while you work on the Banyan tree colouring activity. Banyan trees grow in India, so this recording might help to give a sense of the sounds you might hear around the tree.

• Simply sit and listen to the sounds together. Maybe the sounds will give rise to questions and comments. Can you imagine the scene, with the sun rising over the Indian landscape? What scenery do you imagine? What can you hear, see, smell, or feel? How warm is it? Are you alone, or with someone else?

• You could ask how we could know that the sounds are not from the United Kingdom - for example, do you recognise the bird calls? 

• Have you travelled to India, or to any other distant places? Do you think India would be an interesting place to visit?

 Delivery 3

This video gives some background information on the Doodle Book with insights from people who helped create it and those who have used the resource.

Click the link below to download the Creative Doodle Book.

Creative Doodle Book by Mind the Gap

This activity is included in this month’s physical box.

The Creative Doodle Book is a hands-on resource developed by Mind the Gap and York St John University to support socially distanced community arts practice during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The book consists of a series of playful activities and instructions designed to encourage creativity.

We all have the capacity to be creative, but sometimes we need a little help. The Creative Doodle Book is full of ideas, activities and tasks that encourage creativity with a focus on doing, thinking and reflecting.

Mind the Gap is England’s leading learning disability performance and live arts company. Since 1988 they have been delivering a wide range of programmes that focus on performance & live art, talent development and sector leadership.

Some ways that you can work with M4D Radio:

• Work together with residents to choose the decade of their birth and see what music comes up 

• Maybe people will want to sing along with the songs that are playing, or even dance?

• Maybe the music will lead to people remembering certain moments and times in their lives, and you can have some interesting conversations?

• The music could be playing in the background whilst you are doing other things, for example drawing, painting or crafting activities, or looking at pictures together.

M4D Radio by Music for Dementia

M4D RADIO is a free online resource created by Music for Dementia, who are a national campaign working to highlight the value and importance of music in dementia care. Their vision is that every person living with dementia has music as an integral part of their care. 

M4D Radio is a fantastic, easy to use online radio player that can be easily personalised by choosing a radio station based on the year of your birth. The station will then play music that is likely to be familiar to you from your teens and into your twenties - a time in our lives when music tends to be particularly important.