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Ancient Arts of Africa ARHA298 SP

This course will study these early West and Central African art traditions within the framework of several conceptual paradigms. We will look at these arts both as unique forms of cultural expression, representing solutions to formal and, where sufficient historical context exists, functional problems specific to those cultures; and as artistic traditions representative of universal human sensibilities. The later Benin bronzes and the Afro-Portuguese ivory carvings will be considered as a response to contact with Europeans, to the development of new and foreign markets (in the case of ivories) and as an effort to comment on the European Other. The arts of sub-Saharan Africa, from prehistoric rock art to the earliest contact with Europeans on the Atlantic coast in the 15th century, provide rich and diverse subject matter. From the 2000-year-old terra cottas of northern Nigeria to the bronze sculpture of Ife and Benin, these arts show the great antiquity of African artistic traditions. Traditional West African architecture and the development of distinctive styles of mosque construction will also be studied.

MAJOR READINGS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA ART

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-22-1999