Introductory description

This module offers an introduction to the arts of African and the African diaspora from the late-1800s to the present. It is organised through an emphasis on practices, objects, events, and materials rather than a chronological or geographic approach. Problematising continental coherence, this module is concerned with what V. Y. Mudimbe has called the ‘invention of Africa’ (1988), what we could call here the invention of African art. The module will examine a broad range of art and curatorial practices, including sculpture, performance, textiles, video and film, digital archiving, activism, architecture, city biennales, ethnography, and conservation.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Objects
Ethnographies
Practices
Oceans
Ecologies
Away day
Museums
Festivals
Biennales
Pedagogies

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Command a knowledge of key works of colonial and postcolonial art in the field of African art
• Display an understanding of key conceptual and theoretical frameworks within which colonial and postcolonial works have been discussed by art and cultural historians
• Demonstrate an ability to interpret differing manifestations of colonial, national and artistic identity within an informed historical trajectory
• Demonstrate an understanding of the regional discourses of African art and their relationship with the Global North
• Present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
• Familiarity with essential ICT skills
• Ability to collaborate effectively with others
• Show understanding of diverse viewpoints
• Ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
• Ability to formulate a sustained argument
• Think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
• Employ sophisticated conceptual and visual analysis
• Demonstrate bibliographical skills at an appropriate level
• Produce critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context

Indicative reading list

Harney, Elizabeth. 2004. In Senghor’s Shadow: Art, Politics, and the Avant-Garde in Senegal, 1960–1995. Durham: Duke University Press.
Moore, Allison. 2020. Embodying Relation: Art Photography in Mali.
Mudimbe, V. Y. 1988. The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Nettleton, Anitra. 2019. African Dream Machines: Style, Identity and Meaning of African Headrests. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth and Fillitz, Thomas. 2020. Dak’art: The Biennale of Dakar and the Making of Contemporary African Art.
Rassool, Ciraj. 2019. Rethinking the Ethnographic in Museums in South Africa and Germany: Mimicry, Violence and the Challenges of Decolonization. ‘Spectral-White: The Appearance of Colonial-Era Europeans’ (2019-2020).

Subject specific skills

• Command a knowledge of key works of colonial and postcolonial art in the field of African art.
• Display an understanding of key conceptual and theoretical frameworks within which colonial and postcolonial works have been discussed by art and cultural historians.
• Demonstrate an ability to interpret differing manifestations of colonial, national and artistic identity within an informed historical trajectory.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the regional discourses of African art and their relationship with the Global North.
• Employ sophisticated conceptual and visual analysis
• Produce critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context

Transferable skills

• present and argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
• ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
• familiarity with essential ICT skills
• ability to collaborate effectively with others
• show understanding of diverse viewpoints
• ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
• ability to formulate a sustained argument
• think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
• demonstrate bibliographical skills at an appropriate level