22SP_ARH377 African Art & the Contemporary Diaspora

This course examines the traditional visual arts of Africa and the contemporary art of the global African diaspora.  The aim is to provide you with exposure to the function, meaning and stylistic characteristics of the art of some of Africa’s main ethnic groups and of artists of African descent who have incorporated traditional African idioms in their work since the mid-twentieth century.  Our focus will be on the traditional arts of sub-Saharan Africa, especially of the Western and Central regions, but we will also address contemporary African art for context.  Analysis of artworks goes beyond discussion of distinguishing formal characteristics to examine their conceptual bases and connection to a wider cultural and historical context.  In the second half of the course especially, we will address correlating issues of the diaspora, aiming to increase awareness and critical thought regarding broader issues of power, race, identity, colonialism, ethnicity and nationality.