Global Arts: decentering modernity (1800 on)

Building upon Global Arts: connected histories (to 1800), this module develops an understanding of the arts of Asia and Africa from the 19th century to the present, encompassing the period when many regions were impacted first by European colonialism and later by nationalist and postcolonial movements.

In this period new modes of production, patronage, artistic education and circulation transformed the arts of Asia and Africa. If Term 1 established globalization as precolonial phenomenon in Asia and Africa, in Term 2 a key theme will be ‘decentering Modernism’. By examining a series of individual works of art in the context of their production and reception, this module aims to challenge the universalist assumptions of Western modernist avant-garde discourse and its colonial antecedents. This will demonstrate both the rich variety of modern and contemporary art across Asia and Africa and develop a more inclusive global art history.

In sum, this module establishes a broad foundation for understanding modern and contemporary art in Asia and Africa from 1800 to the contemporary diaspora.

Objectives and learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students will be able to

• Demonstrate a knowledge of the social, religious and political contexts for the production of art in Asia, Africa and their diasporas from the 19th century to the present.
• Examine the role of colonialism, nationalism, postcolonialism, globalization and diaspora to the production and use of art.
• Critically analyse objects from Asia, Africa and their diasporas using appropriate vocabulary.
• Demonstrate a range of skills in visual and literary analysis, research and other study skills for successful academic and vocational pathways.

Workload

• Lectures: 1 hour per week
• Seminars: 2 hours per week

Method of assessment

• 500-word object analysis (worth 20% of marks)
• 1,500-word essay (worth 40%)
• Exam: 2 hours (worth 40%)

Suggested reading

• Michelle Antoinette and Caroline Turner, eds., Contemporary Asian Art and Exhibitions : Connectivities and World-Making (Canberra: ANU Press, 2014).
• Charlotte Horlyck, Korean Art : From the 19th Century to the Present (London: Reaktion Books, 2017).
• Elaine O'Brien et al. (eds.), Modern Art in Africa, Asia, and Latin America: An Introduction to Global Modernisms. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
• Gitti Salami and Monica Blackmun Visonà, eds., A Companion to Modern African Art, (Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 2013).
• Alex Dika Seggerman, Modernism on the Nile: Art in Egypt between the Islamic and the Contemporary (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019).

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.