Negotiating Modernity

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Inhalt

1. How did the field of modern and/or contemporary African art emerge?
2. Who were the main actors in this field (artists, patrons, critics, etc.)? 
3. How did the discourse on modernity shape the appreciation of contemporary African Art?
4. How is the popular imagery of modernity linked to local aesthetic practice in Africa?

Reports from a field study of popular and representational art in Cameroon will be presented by some of the participants of the Projektkurs Kamerun 2003/04.

Programm

The course tries to introduce new modes of teaching and learning and is therefore organized as a workshop. Oral participation is essential and will form an important part of the course.

The program is organized in three parts:

1. a lecture course of relevant literature.
2. a series of oral presentations, accompanied by handouts of two to three pages each, addressing key questions of part one.
3. a discussion of the topics emerging from the presentations.

Literatur

Enwezor, Okwui (ed.): The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945–1994. München: Prestel, 2001.

Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield: Contemporary African Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 1999.

(A list of other recommended publications will soon be accessible on this website.)

Bemerkungen

Papers (approx. 25 pages) are due by the end of the semester.

Prerequisites in Social Anthropology as major and in African Studies: Kultur/Cultural Anthropology (Proseminar/module “Basics”) is strongly suggested but not required.