Asia and Africa On Display
- Module Code:
- 15PARH043
- Credits:
- 15
- FHEQ Level:
- 7
- Year of study:
- Year 1 or Year 2
- Taught in:
- Term 1
Objectives and learning outcomes of the module
The aims and objectives of this course are as follows:
- To enable students to develop an understanding of the methods, practices and key issues associated with the presentation of objects from outside the European tradition in transcultural museum spaces.
- To introduce students to critical approaches to object analysis and exhibition development.
- To provide an environment in which students can consider and evaluate the concepts and language of cultural representation.
- To enable students to consider the historic reception of non-Western visual culture in Europe.
- To encourage students to develop their own research and professional interests in the area of Asian and African art/visual culture.
At the end of the course, students should be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:
- The development of object analysis and interpretation skills.
- Acquire knowledge and understanding of critical concepts of reception, presentation and
transculturation. - An understanding of issues associated with culturally defined categories of objects.
- An ability to evaluate critically museum exhibitions and their interpretative frameworks.
Method of assessment
- One 1,000-word display report (worth 40%)
- One 2,000-word research essay (worth 60%)
Suggested reading
The core text for this course will be:
- Karp, Ivan and Steven Lavine (eds.) (1999) Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Further key readings will include:
- Barringer, Tim and Tom Flynn (1997) Colonialism and the object: empire, material culture and museum. London and New York: Routledge.
- Coombes, Annie (1994) Reinventing Africa: museums, material culture and popular imagination. New Haven and London, Yale University Press.
- Harris, Clare (2012) The Museum on the Roof of the World: Art, Politics and the Representation of Tibet. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
- Hicks, Dan (2020) The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution. London: Pluto Press.
- Kreps, Christina (2003) Liberating Culture: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Museums,
Curation and Heritage Preservation. London: Routledge. - Pierson, Stacey (2007) Collectors, Collections and Museums: the Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain, 1560-1960. Oxford; New York: Peter Lang.
- Phillips, Barnaby (2021) Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes. Oneworld Publications: London.
- Tythacott, Louise and Ardiyansyah, Panggah (eds.) (2021) Returning Southeast Asia's Past: Objects, Museums, and Restitution. Singapore: NUS Press.
- Varutti, Marzia (2014) Museums in China: The Politics of Heritage after Mao. Woodbridge: Boydell Press.