Module Identifier AH30110  
Module Title ART AND SOCIETY 1: ASPECTS OF NON-WESTERN VISUAL CULTURE  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Ms Moira M Vincentelli  
Semester Semester 1  
Course delivery Lecture    
  Seminars / Tutorials   Seminar.  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours  50%
Semester Assessment 2500 word essay50%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. problematise concepts such as `art?, `the artist?, ` primitivism? in the context of the study of World Art and apply these to particular case studies or examples.

2. recognise the way that cultural exchange through trade, colonisation, and tourism affects the values attributed to art and artefacts and the status of the producers. You will understand the role of museums and exhibitions in this process and be able to apply these ideas to particular examples.

3. be effective in note-taking, reading critically, library research, essay writing and the presentation of ideas in class discussion.

Brief description

The aim of this course is to examine selected aspects of non-western visual culture in their social and historical context and to consider the on-going interchange between cultures which is not just a phenomenon of the recent past. The course will examine critically the concept of 'primitivism' and notions of 'art' and the 'artist' and will look at the way non-western art is displayed in exhibitions and museums, promoted in development projects, and marketed in shops. Theoretical issues will be examined through case studies of particular societies and historical moments. These will be used to consider how visual cultural artefacts are produced, used and valued by their own society and how these values may change when they are exchanged or seen outside that culture through, for example, colonisation, trade and tourism. The course will also consider who makes these things: is it men or women, artists or artisans, individuals or groups, people of high or low status, or with special or even magical powers, and are they full-time producers or occasional workers?

Reading Lists

Books
** Supplementary Text
Caruana, Wally Aboriginal Art Thames & H. 500202648
Africa Explores Prestel Verlag,Germany 3791311433
Willett, Frank African Art edition 3r.e. . Thames & H. 500203644
Courtney-Clarke, Margaret African Canvas Rizzoli Internat.Pubns.,U.S. 847811662
Bernhard Aratjara Kln : DuMont
Denyer, Susan African Traditional Architecture edition n.e. . Africana Pub.Co. 841902879
Picton, John African Textiles edition r.e. . Brit.Museum Pubns. 714115959
Steiner African Art in Transit Camb.U.P. 521457521
Vequaud, Yves Art of Mithila Thames & H. 500270937
Social Life of Things edition n.e. . Camb.U.P. 521357268
Social Life of Things edition n.e. . Camb.U.P. 521357268
Barley, Nigel Smashing Pots Brit.Museum P. 071412513X
Coombes, Annie E. Reinventing Africa edition n.e. . Yale U.P. 300068905
Reading the Contemporary Institute of International Visual Arts (INIVA) 1899846212
Rubin Primitivism in 20th century art Museum of Modern Art
Clifford, James Predicament of Culture Harvard U.P. 674698436
Thomas, Nicholas Possessions Thames & H. 500280975
Adler, Peter Asafo! Thames & H. 500276846
Ethnic and Tourist Arts Univ.California P. 520029496
Oliver, Paul Dwellings Phaidon P. 714842028
Conway Design history London : Allen & Unwin 47090197
Errington, Shelly Death of Authentic Primitive Art and Other Tales of Progress Univ.California P. 520212118
Contesting Art Berg Publrs. 1859731392
Batkin Clay people Santa Fe, N.M. : Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
Drewal Yoruba New York : Center for African Art in association with Harry N. Abrams Inc
Vincentelli, Moira Women potters A & C Black
Vincentelli, Moira Women and Ceramics Manchester U.P. 719038405
Myth of Primitivism Routledge 415014816
Lechuga, Ruth D. Mask Arts of Mexico Thames & H. 500277974
Simpson, Moira G. Making Representations edition n.e. . Routledge 415067863
Paolozzi, Eduardo Lost Magic Kingdoms Brit.Museum Pubns. 714115797
Coe Lost and found traditions Seattle : University of Washington Press in association with the American Federation of Arts
Peterson, Susan Living Tradition of Maria Martinez Kodansha Internat.,U.S. 870114972
Whitford Japanese Prints Thames & H. 500530149
Narazaki, Muneshige Japanese Print Kodansha Internat.,U.S. 870110314
Guth, Christine Japanese Art of the Edo Period Weidenfeld & N. 297833707
King, J.C.H. Portrait Masks from the Northwest Coast of America Thames & H. 500060061
Huyler, Stephen P. Painted Prayers Thames & H. 500236941
Harrod Obscure objects of desire London : Crafts Council 1870145674
Courtney-Clarke, Margaret Ndebele edition n.e. . Thames & H. 500283877
Berlo, Janet Catherine Native North American Art Oxf.U.P. 192842188
Victoria and Albert Museum Indian art London : H.M.S.O,
Lane, Richard Images from the Floating World Oxf.U.P. 192114476
Laboratory of Anthropology I am here Santa Fe, New Mexico : Museum of New Mexico Press
Wenzel, Marian House Decoration in Nubia Duckworth 715605321
History of Twentieth-century American Craft Abrams 810934671
South Bank Centre Exotic Europeans London : South Bank Centre
Exhibiting Cultures Smithsonian Instn.P. 1560980214
McLeod Ethnic Sculpture Brit.Museum Pubns. 714120286
Unpacking Culture Univ.California P. 520207971
Eyo, Ekpo Treasures of Ancient Nigeria Collins 2170868
Gillow, John Traditional Indian Textiles Thames & H. 500277095
Thinking About Exhibitions Routledge 415115906
D'Azevedo The traditional artist in African societies Bloomington
Harris Textiles, 5,000 years edition n.e. . New York : H.N. Abrams 714117692
Social Life of Things edition n.e. . Camb.U.P. 521357268
James Clifford, (1988) The Predicament of Culture Twentieth century Ethnography, Literature and Art, London,Harvard U.P., Cambridge Mass
Shelley Errington (1998) The Death of Authentic Primitve Art and Other Tales of progress, University of California Press
Jeremy MacClancy (1997) Contesting Art, Art Politics and Identity in the Modern World Berg, Oxford
Ruth Phillips and Christopher Steiner (eds) (1999) Unpacking Culture, Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds University of California, Berkeley
Nicholas Thomas (1999) Possessions, Indigenous Art, Colonial Culture London Thames and Hudson
Olu Oguibe and O. Enwzor (eds) (1999) Reading the Contemporary, African Art from Theory to the Marketplace London, INIVA

Journals
** Supplementary Text
African Arts http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=african+arts&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20
M Vincentelli (1986) Ceramic Review Women Potters of Kabylie http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=ceramic+review&SL=None&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20 London : Ceramic review 1441825
Pennina Barnett (1995) Third Text Rugs are Us, the Oriental carpet as sign and text http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=third+text&SL=None&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20 edition 30 13-28. London : Kara Press 9528822

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6