Module Identifier AH30110  
Module Title ART AND SOCIETY 1: ASPECTS OF NON-WESTERN VISUAL CULTURE  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Ms Moira M Vincentelli  
Semester Semester 1  
Course delivery Lecture   10 Hours.  
  Seminars / Tutorials   5 Hours. 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
Adler, Peter Asafo! Thames & H. 0500276846
Barley, Nigel Smashing Pots Brit.Museum P. 071412513X
Batkin Clay people Santa Fe, N.M. : Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
Berlo, Janet Catherine Native North American Art Oxf.U.P. 0192842188
Bernhard Aratjara Kln : DuMont
Caruana, Wally Aboriginal Art Thames & H. 0500202648
Clifford, James Predicament of Culture Harvard U.P. 0674698436
Coe Lost and found traditions Seattle : University of Washington Press in association with the American Federation of Arts
Conway Design history London : Allen & Unwin 0047090197
Coombes, Annie E. Reinventing Africa edition n.e. . Yale U.P. 0300068905
Courtney-Clarke, Margaret African Canvas Rizzoli Internat.Pubns.,U.S. 0847811662
Courtney-Clarke, Margaret Ndebele edition n.e. . Thames & H. 0500283877
D'Azevedo The traditional artist in African societies Bloomington
Denyer, Susan African Traditional Architecture edition n.e. . Africana Pub.Co. 0841902879
Drewal Yoruba New York : Center for African Art in association with Harry N. Abrams Inc
Errington, Shelly Death of Authentic Primitive Art and Other Tales of Progress Univ.California P. 0520212118
Eyo, Ekpo Treasures of Ancient Nigeria Collins 0002170868
Gillow, John Traditional Indian Textiles Thames & H. 0500277095
Guth, Christine Japanese Art of the Edo Period Weidenfeld & N. 0297833707
Harris Textiles, 5,000 years edition n.e. . New York : H.N. Abrams 0714117692
Harrod Obscure objects of desire London : Crafts Council 1870145674
Huyler, Stephen P. Painted Prayers Thames & H. 0500236941
King, J.C.H. Portrait Masks from the Northwest Coast of America Thames & H. 0500060061
Laboratory of Anthropology I am here Santa Fe, New Mexico : Museum of New Mexico Press
Lane, Richard Images from the Floating World Oxf.U.P. 0192114476
Lechuga, Ruth D. Mask Arts of Mexico Thames & H. 0500277974
McLeod Ethnic Sculpture Brit.Museum Pubns. 0714120286
Narazaki, Muneshige Japanese Print Kodansha Internat.,U.S. 0870110314
Oliver, Paul Dwellings Phaidon P. 0714842028
Paolozzi, Eduardo Lost Magic Kingdoms Brit.Museum Pubns. 0714115797
Peterson, Susan Living Tradition of Maria Martinez Kodansha Internat.,U.S. 0870114972
Picton, John African Textiles edition r.e. . Brit.Museum Pubns. 0714115959
Rubin Primitivism in 20th century art Museum of Modern Art
Simpson, Moira G. Making Representations edition n.e. . Routledge 0415067863
South Bank Centre Exotic Europeans London : South Bank Centre
Steiner African Art in Transit Camb.U.P. 0521457521
Thomas, Nicholas Possessions Thames & H. 0500280975
Vequaud, Yves Art of Mithila Thames & H. 0500270937
Victoria and Albert Museum Indian art London : H.M.S.O,
Vincentelli, Moira Women and Ceramics Manchester U.P. 0719038405
Vincentelli, Moira Women potters A & C Black
Wenzel, Marian House Decoration in Nubia Duckworth 0715605321
Whitford Japanese Prints Thames & H. 0500530149
Willett, Frank African Art edition 3r.e. . Thames & H. 0500203644
Africa Explores Prestel Verlag,Germany 3791311433
Contesting Art Berg Publrs. 1859731392
Ethnic and Tourist Arts Univ.California P. 0520029496
Exhibiting Cultures Smithsonian Instn.P. 1560980214
History of Twentieth-century American Craft Abrams 0810934671
Myth of Primitivism Routledge 0415014816
Reading the Contemporary Institute of International Visual Arts (INIVA) 1899846212
Social Life of Things edition n.e. . Camb.U.P. 0521357268
Thinking About Exhibitions Routledge 0415115906
Unpacking Culture Univ.California P. 0520207971
James Clifford, (1988) The Predicament of Culture Twentieth century Ethnography, Literature and Art, London,Harvard U.P., Cambridge Mass
Jeremy MacClancy (1997) Contesting Art, Art Politics and Identity in the Modern World Berg, Oxford
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
Ruth Phillips and Christopher Steiner (eds) (1999) Unpacking Culture, Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds University of California, Berkeley
Shelley Errington (1998) The Death of Authentic Primitve Art and Other Tales of progress, University of California Press

Journals
** Supplementary Text
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 0001441825
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 0009528822
African Arts http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=african+arts&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6