Yoko Ono
Explore the artist’s childhood, artwork and activism and learn about her approaches to imagination, togetherness and rebellion
Yoko Ono was born in Tokyo in 1933. Her father had a job in a bank that took him around the world. Yoko grew up in Japan and also spent some time in the United States. Both her parents were interested in art and music - her father was a skilled piano player and her mother was a talented painter.
They enrolled Yoko in music school when she was 4 years old old and taught her about her Japanese heritage. She went with her mother to classical theater performances and to temples where she would write a wish on a piece of paper and hang it on a tree with other people's wishes.
Her mother and father preferred traditional art and music, but Yoko wanted to create her own new things. On the outside she was obedient to her parents, but inside she had a rebellious and independent spirit. Have you ever felt like that too?
In 1941 Japan went to war with America. When Yoko was 12 years old the United States Air Force bombed Tokyo leaving nearly a million people homeless. Her father was working far away in Vietnam and so she her little brother and her little sister were sent to live in the countryside where it was safer. All around them people were struggling struggling to survive.
Yoko had to sell some of their belongings in order to buy food, but she and her siblings were sometimes hungry and unhappy. "Let's make a menu together!" Yoko said to her brother Keisuke one day.
"What kind of dinner would you like?"
He said "Ice cream!"
"Good" she replied "Let's imagine our ice cream dinner!"
They imagined together and Yoko realised then the imagination could connect people and make them happy. Years later she would say that this imaginary dinner was one of her first pieces of art. What would your imaginary dinner look like?
A few years after the war ended, Yoko and her family moved to America. She studied poetry and music at University, but she felt like an outsider. To be an artist you need courage she told herself so she left University and moved to New York City. Finally, she felt she could truly live and create as she wanted.
She was still interested in how art could bring people together. In her early artwork Painting to be Stepped On, she placed a canvas on the ground and invited her audience to step on it. Later, she invited people to share a memory of their mother or hang a wish from a tree, just like she did when she was young.
Yoko also wrote a book called Grapefruit, full of playful and thought-provoking instructions for making art like - draw a map to get lost, have a dance party, let people dance with chairs, step in all the puddles in the city. A lot of the ideas were impossible to actually do, but Yoko wanted people to imagine that everyday life could become art.
Yoko also imagined a world without war, where everyone lived in peace. Sounds wonderful, don't you think? She and her husband, the musician John Lennon, thought so. They used music, art and every opportunity they could for activism and to make a difference. Yoko and John even invited newspaper journalists to join them on their honeymoon where they stayed in bed for a whole week as a peaceful protest against the war happening in Vietnam. This got people talking about world peace even more. Give peace a chance, they sang.
A lot of people didn't understand Yoko's art or music, but she kept on doing it anyway because she believed that you can change the world by being yourself.
Now in her '90s, Yoko is known as an artist, a musician, a filmmaker and an activist for peace. She's made over a dozen albums and has had art exhibitions around the world. Her different wish tree artworks have brought together over 2 million wishes.
Is there a wish or an idea that you want to bring to life? Go on, tell a friend or your family! As Yoko says a dream you dream alone is only a dream - but a dream you dream together is reality.
About the video
Encourage your students to respond to the video in their own ways – perhaps by making notes, doodles or drawings, or through gestures and sounds
Find out more about Yoko Ono through this bright, colourful animation.
"A dream you dream alone is only a dream, but a dream you dream together is reality"
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono is known as an artist, a musician, a filmmaker and an activist for peace. She’s made many music albums and has had art exhibitions all around the world. She was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1933. She now lives in the United States and spent some time there when she was growing up.
Yoko Ono with Glass Hammer 1967 from HALF-A-WIND SHOW, Lisson Gallery, London, 1967. Photograph © Clay Perry / Artwork © Yoko Ono
Discuss
Your students' ideas and experiences are the best starting point for any discussion. Using the prompts below, support meaningful and creative discussions in the classroom about the video’s key themes. Discover how Yoko Ono’s practice can inspire your students to learn with art.
Imagination and Connection
After being evacuated from Tokyo as children during the Second World War, Yoko Ono asked her siblings to imagine an ice cream dinner, as a way of feeling better about their situation. Later, Ono considered this moment to be her first artwork, as she realised that imagination could connect people and make them happy.
Prompts
- What wish or idea would you like to bring to life using your imagination?
- Have you ever used your imagination during a difficult time? How did your imagination help you?
- What can we do to support each other to use our imaginations more?
Performance and Togetherness
Ono is interested in how art can bring people together. She made an artwork in 1961 called Painting to Be Stepped On. She placed a canvas on the ground and invited her audience to step on it. She also made artworks where she invited people to write a message to their mother or hang a wish from a tree – like she did when she was young!
Prompts
- Paintings are usually presented on a wall so that people can look at them. How do you think walking on a painting might feel? Do you think it would change how you see or feel about that painting?
- Why do you think Ono is so interested in bringing people together with her art?
- What activities (traditions, rituals, hobbies) do you do that you could invite others to do together? How do you think they would make people feel?
Instruction and Rebellion
Ono wrote a book called Grapefruit 1964, which was full of playful and thought-provoking instructions for making art, like ‘Have a dance party. Let people dance with chairs’ and ‘Step in all the puddles in the city’. A lot of the instructions were impossible to actually do, but Ono wanted people to imagine that everyday life could become art!
Prompts
- How do you feel about Ono’s ideas about art? Have you seen or heard of artworks like hers before?
- Can you think of a playful instruction you would like to invite others to do? Have a go! Did you choose something that was possible or impossible to do, and why?
- Ono believes that ‘you can change the world by being yourself’. What do you think about this? What would you like to change about the world, and how would you do it?
How to use Artist Stories
Introduce art and artists into your classroom with Artist Stories resources. The resources combine engaging videos and thoughtful discussion points to encourage confidence, self-expression and critical thinking. Art is a powerful tool for discussing the big ideas that impact young people's lives today.
- Explore the video:
- Read About the video to introduce the artist to your students.
- Project the video or watch it in smaller groups.
- Each video is between 3–10 minutes.
- Transcripts are included where available.
2. Discuss the video:
- Select discussion prompts from the list below to frame your conversation.
- Use a mix of individual reflection, pair work and group discussion.
- Use one set of prompts to explore a theme in depth or shape your discussion across different themes.
- Discussion prompts can also be used in a Q&A format.
