V. Appendix
The Cultural Iceberg
Culture has been aptly compared to an iceberg. Just as an iceberg has a visible section above the
waterline and a larger, invisible section below the waterline, culture also has some aspects that are
observable and others that can only be intuited. The “below waterline aspects” are the values and
beliefs that underlie a culture (adapted from Culture Matters, The Peace Corps Cross-Cultural Workbook).
Ask students to revisit the sample art pieces, writing the observable visible cultural aspects
above the iceberg’s waterline and the invisible values and beliefs below. Aspects of culture
found in “El Rio” (the first sample art piece - Cultural Art Worksheet # 1A) are already listed as
an example.
•
The Cultural Iceberg
The Visible
• A woman crouched over and
girl standing behind her
•
•
Clothes on a rock in river and
hanging on a line between two
trees
Woman and girl wearing similar
clothes, a checked skirt and
short sleeved top
The Invisible
• Family
• Collaboration, working together
• Love for natural resources
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2019 -2020 ArtLink Program “Our Environment, My Culture”
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