The lecture provides an introduction to the history, theory, and methodology within the anthropology of art. It starts
out by discussing terminological issues and the difference between art-historical and art-anthropological
approaches. After introducing earlier anthropological studies on art, the lecture focuses on key debates within this
sub-discipline, including: differences between material culture and art, questions of agency, primitivism,
aesthetics, and iconography, as well as art and technology. Following, newer art-anthropological research will be
discussed in the context of art as a commodity, the collection and display of modern and contemporary art, art’s
circulation in global art worlds, as well as the provenance and restitution politics of art.
Last update: Mgr. Hana Gabrielová (27.07.2023)
The lecture provides an introduction to the history, theory, and methodology within the anthropology of art. It starts
out by discussing terminological issues and the difference between art-historical and art-anthropological
approaches. After introducing earlier anthropological studies on art, the lecture focuses on key debates within this
sub-discipline, including: differences between material culture and art, questions of agency, primitivism,
aesthetics, and iconography, as well as art and technology. Following, newer art-anthropological research will be
discussed in the context of art as a commodity, the collection and display of modern and contemporary art, art’s
circulation in global art worlds, as well as the provenance and restitution politics of art.
Syllabus -
Last update: Mgr. Hana Gabrielová (27.07.2023)
• Art: Terminology, Disciplines, approaches
• What is an "anthropology" of the art? Which questions do anthropologists ask? What are the differences and similarities to art historical approaches?
• How is "art" defined, and how did anthropologists approach the term ("Primitive art", "ethnic art", "tribal art")
• Early anthropological studies on art, and their relevance for anthropology today (Boas, Firth, Lévi-Strauss)
• Art or material culture? (Errington, Coote & Shelton, Gell)
• Global Art Worlds and Contemporary Art (Belting, Buddensieg, Fillitz, Bunzl)
• Decolonizing Museums (Geismar, Savoy)
Last update: Mgr. Hana Gabrielová (27.07.2023)
• Art: Terminology, Disciplines, approaches
• What is an "anthropology" of the art? Which questions do anthropologists ask? What are the differences and similarities to art historical approaches?
• How is "art" defined, and how did anthropologists approach the term ("Primitive art", "ethnic art", "tribal art")
• Early anthropological studies on art, and their relevance for anthropology today (Boas, Firth, Lévi-Strauss)
• Art or material culture? (Errington, Coote & Shelton, Gell)
• Global Art Worlds and Contemporary Art (Belting, Buddensieg, Fillitz, Bunzl)
• Decolonizing Museums (Geismar, Savoy)
Course completion requirements -
Last update: Mgr. Hana Gabrielová (27.07.2023)
Methods & Assessment
The course involves formal lectures with the use of audio and visual materials. Students are expected to write an exam at the end, which will consist of questions to which they have to provide short written answers. To pass the course, students have to reach at least 56% of all points.
Grades:
1: 100 % bis 91 %
2: 90 % bis 76 %
3:75 % bis 56 %
4: 55% and lower
Last update: Mgr. Hana Gabrielová (27.07.2023)
Methods & Assessment
The course involves formal lectures with the use of audio and visual materials. Students are expected to write an exam at the end, which will consist of questions to which they have to provide short written answers. To pass the course, students have to reach at least 56% of all points.
Grades:
1: 100 % bis 91 %
2: 90 % bis 76 %
3:75 % bis 56 %
4: 55% and lower
Learning resources -
Last update: Mgr. Hana Gabrielová (27.07.2023)
Adorno, T. 1984. Aesthetic Theory. London and Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Becker, H. S. 1982. Art worlds. Berkeley, Calif, London: University of California Press.
Belting, H., Buddensieg, A. 2009. Contemporary Art as Global Art: A Critical Estimate. In The global art world: Audiences, markets, and museums. Hans Belting and Andrea Buddensieg, eds. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz.
Boas, F. 1955 [1927]. Primitive Art. New York: Dover.
Bourdieu, P. 1984. Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Bunzl, M. 2016. In search of a lost avant-garde: An anthropologist investigates the contemporary art museum. Paperback edition. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
Clifford, J. 1988. The Predicament of culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press.
Coote, J., and A. Shelton, eds. 1992. Anthropology, art, and aesthetics. Oxford studies in the anthropology of cultural forms. Oxford, New York: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press.
Danto, A. 1965. The Art World. Journal of Philosopy(61):571-84.
Dickie, G. 1974. Art and the aesthetic: An institutional analysis. Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell University Press.
Errington, S. 1998. The death of authentic primitive art and other tales of progress. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/ucal042/98017204.html.
Fillitz, T. 2015. Anthropology and discourses on global art. Social Anthropology 23(3):299-313.
Fillitz, T., and A. J. Saris, eds. 2013. Debating authenticity: Concepts of modernity in anthropological perspective. New York: Berghahn Books.
Firth, R. 1979 [1936]. Art and Life in New Guinea. New York: AMS Press.
Foster, H. 1995. The Artist as Ethnographer? In The traffic in culture: Refiguring art and anthropology. George E. Marcus and Fred R. Myers, eds. Pp. 302-09. Berkeley, Calif. Univ. of California Press.
Geismar, H. 2013. Treasured possessions: Indigenous interventions into cultural and intellectual property. Objects/histories. Durham: Duke Univ. Press.
Gell, A. 1992. The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of Technology. In Anthropology, art, and aesthetics. Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton, eds. Pp. 40-66. Oxford studies in the anthropology of cultural forms. Oxford, New York: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press.
Gell, A. 1998. Art and agency: Towards a new anthropological theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Greenberg, C. 1965. Art and culture: Critical essays. Beacon paperback 212. Boston: Beacon Press.
Küchler, S. 2002. Malanggan: Art, memory and sacrifice. Materializing culture. Oxford: Berg.
Kuper, A. 1988. The invention of primitive society: Transformations of an illusion. London: Routledge. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0648/88012201-d.html.
Latour, B., ed. 2002. Iconoclash: Beyond the image wars in science, religion, and art ; on the occasion of the exhibition "Iconoclash - Beyond the Image Wars in Science, Religion, and Art", ZKM Karlsruhe, 4 May - 4 August 2002. Karlsruhe: ZKM.
Lévi-Strauss, C. 1982. The way of the masks. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Marcus, G. E., and F. R. Myers, eds. 1995. The traffic in culture: Refiguring art and anthropology. Berkeley, Calif. Univ. of California Press.
Mauss, M. [1925] 1990. The gift: Form and resason for exchange in archaic societies. New York, NY: Norton.
Mitchell, W. J. T. 1987. Iconology: Image, text, ideology. Paperback ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Morphy, H., ed. 2007. The anthropology of art: A reader. 2. [print.]. Blackwell anthologies in social and cultural anthropology 7. Malden, MA: Blackwell. http://ubdata.univie.ac.at/AC06700030.
Myers, F. R. 1991. Pintupi country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment, Place, and Politics among Western Desert Aborigines. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Panofsky, E. 1972. Studies in iconology: Humanistic themes in the art of the Renaissance. Icon editions IN-25. New York: Harper & Row.
Price, S. 2001. Primitive Art in Civilized Places. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sansi, R. 2015. Art, Anthropology, and the Gift. London: Bloomsbury.
Sarr, F. 2016. Afrotopia. Paris: Philippe Rey.
Sarr, F., and B. Savoy. 2019. Die Rückgabe des afrikanischen Kulturerbes. 1. Auflage. punctum. Berlin: Matthes & Seitz Berlin.
Savoy, B., C. Guichard, and C. Howald, eds. 2018. Acquiring cultures: Histories of world art on western markets. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. http://www.degruyter.com/search?f_0=isbnissn&q_0=9783110543988&searchTitles=true.
Steiner, C. B. 1994. African art in transit. Cambridge studies in social and cultural anthropology 94. Cambridge [England], New York: Cambridge University Press.
Last update: Mgr. Hana Gabrielová (27.07.2023)
Adorno, T. 1984. Aesthetic Theory. London and Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Becker, H. S. 1982. Art worlds. Berkeley, Calif, London: University of California Press.
Belting, H., Buddensieg, A. 2009. Contemporary Art as Global Art: A Critical Estimate. In The global art world: Audiences, markets, and museums. Hans Belting and Andrea Buddensieg, eds. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz.
Boas, F. 1955 [1927]. Primitive Art. New York: Dover.
Bourdieu, P. 1984. Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Bunzl, M. 2016. In search of a lost avant-garde: An anthropologist investigates the contemporary art museum. Paperback edition. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
Clifford, J. 1988. The Predicament of culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press.
Coote, J., and A. Shelton, eds. 1992. Anthropology, art, and aesthetics. Oxford studies in the anthropology of cultural forms. Oxford, New York: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press.
Danto, A. 1965. The Art World. Journal of Philosopy(61):571-84.
Dickie, G. 1974. Art and the aesthetic: An institutional analysis. Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell University Press.
Errington, S. 1998. The death of authentic primitive art and other tales of progress. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/ucal042/98017204.html.
Fillitz, T. 2015. Anthropology and discourses on global art. Social Anthropology 23(3):299-313.
Fillitz, T., and A. J. Saris, eds. 2013. Debating authenticity: Concepts of modernity in anthropological perspective. New York: Berghahn Books.
Firth, R. 1979 [1936]. Art and Life in New Guinea. New York: AMS Press.
Foster, H. 1995. The Artist as Ethnographer? In The traffic in culture: Refiguring art and anthropology. George E. Marcus and Fred R. Myers, eds. Pp. 302-09. Berkeley, Calif. Univ. of California Press.
Geismar, H. 2013. Treasured possessions: Indigenous interventions into cultural and intellectual property. Objects/histories. Durham: Duke Univ. Press.
Gell, A. 1992. The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of Technology. In Anthropology, art, and aesthetics. Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton, eds. Pp. 40-66. Oxford studies in the anthropology of cultural forms. Oxford, New York: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press.
Gell, A. 1998. Art and agency: Towards a new anthropological theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Greenberg, C. 1965. Art and culture: Critical essays. Beacon paperback 212. Boston: Beacon Press.
Küchler, S. 2002. Malanggan: Art, memory and sacrifice. Materializing culture. Oxford: Berg.
Kuper, A. 1988. The invention of primitive society: Transformations of an illusion. London: Routledge. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0648/88012201-d.html.
Latour, B., ed. 2002. Iconoclash: Beyond the image wars in science, religion, and art ; on the occasion of the exhibition "Iconoclash - Beyond the Image Wars in Science, Religion, and Art", ZKM Karlsruhe, 4 May - 4 August 2002. Karlsruhe: ZKM.
Lévi-Strauss, C. 1982. The way of the masks. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Marcus, G. E., and F. R. Myers, eds. 1995. The traffic in culture: Refiguring art and anthropology. Berkeley, Calif. Univ. of California Press.
Mauss, M. [1925] 1990. The gift: Form and resason for exchange in archaic societies. New York, NY: Norton.
Mitchell, W. J. T. 1987. Iconology: Image, text, ideology. Paperback ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Morphy, H., ed. 2007. The anthropology of art: A reader. 2. [print.]. Blackwell anthologies in social and cultural anthropology 7. Malden, MA: Blackwell. http://ubdata.univie.ac.at/AC06700030.
Myers, F. R. 1991. Pintupi country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment, Place, and Politics among Western Desert Aborigines. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Panofsky, E. 1972. Studies in iconology: Humanistic themes in the art of the Renaissance. Icon editions IN-25. New York: Harper & Row.
Price, S. 2001. Primitive Art in Civilized Places. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sansi, R. 2015. Art, Anthropology, and the Gift. London: Bloomsbury.
Sarr, F. 2016. Afrotopia. Paris: Philippe Rey.
Sarr, F., and B. Savoy. 2019. Die Rückgabe des afrikanischen Kulturerbes. 1. Auflage. punctum. Berlin: Matthes & Seitz Berlin.
Savoy, B., C. Guichard, and C. Howald, eds. 2018. Acquiring cultures: Histories of world art on western markets. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. http://www.degruyter.com/search?f_0=isbnissn&q_0=9783110543988&searchTitles=true.
Steiner, C. B. 1994. African art in transit. Cambridge studies in social and cultural anthropology 94. Cambridge [England], New York: Cambridge University Press.
