Making History of Non-Western Art History: Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

This class examines the creation of the field of non-Western art historically known as “AOA” or the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. When the conceit emerged, its purpose was to provide a means for classifying art of non-European manufacture into an organized system that would allow for understandings of value, merit, and quality in comparison (but not on par) with European arts. The legacy of this strategy of “the West and the Rest” is seen today in museums, textbooks, galleries, and journals. Arts from the “AOA” regions will be examined from within their own cultural contexts, as well as within the European canons of art history. Art historical theories of art, value, display, the West, religion, colonialism, and conquest will be examined in conjunction with objects from around the world. We will focus on the “unmaking” of this unwieldy art historical category, and students will propose new strategies for examining material culture from global perspectives. Students will evaluate exhibitions of non-Western material in New York collections and will design their own “corrective” exhibition as a final class project. As the class is a service learning class in partnership with The Art Gallery at the Yonkers Riverfront Library, students will expand upon their classroom knowledge over the course of the year by directing curatorial, programming, and educational service learning opportunities at The Art Gallery and with Yonkers residents and high-school students. A possible travel component for a service learning/art exhibition project to Dakar Senegal in May 2012 is in the works for this class. Enrolled students will be kept up to date on this opportunity. Students must attend both a group interview and a personal interview with the instructor during registration week to be eligible for this class.