ARH 262 Introduction to African Art
This course provides students a selective introduction to the art and architecture of cultures and regions throughout the African continent, spanning from ancient to contemporary times. The scope starts with millennia-old rock painting and ancient empires of Egypt and Nubia, moves to rural and urban expressions of power, lineage, and ancestry in cultures of Western, Central, and Southern Africa, and ends with contemporary forays into the international art market with photography, painting, and mixed-media arts. This course explores the ways that African visual traditions have been used to secure royal power, express cultural heritage, honor ancestors, provide protection, and address ruptures of colonialism, slavery, and empire. Students will learn how to write and talk about African Art in ways that respect cultural traditions, question definitions of “art,” and address histories of imbalanced power dynamics within the study and circulation of African Art in Europe and the “West.”