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| Semester | spring semester 2021 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers |
Sindi-Leigh McBride (s.mcbride@unibas.ch)
Julia Rensing (julia.rensing@unibas.ch) |
| Content | In this course, we will explore a selection of artworks by contemporary artists from across Africa to present and practice three critical approaches that are increasingly important in African Studies: decoloniality; race and gender; and environmentalism. Students will engage with these methods of analysis through selected artworks and critical texts while gaining insights into important intersectional issues. Using selected artworks as a window for accessing these key discourses will broaden students' understanding of African Studies as an interdisciplinary discipline, as well as offer them an opportunity to engage with both current issues and contemporary creative practices from the continent. In section one, we present ways to read art through the lens of decoloniality by looking at colonial histories and futures. Tuli Mekondjo (Namibia), who uses archival photography to renegotiate the past, is one of the artists studied in this section. Example of compulsory reading: Odumosu, T. (2020) “The Crying Child. On Colonial Archives, Digitization, and Ethics of Care in the Cultural Commons.” In section two, we focus on bodies and representation to foreground critical approaches to race and gender. Here, we will study paintings by Lady Skollie (South Africa), who addresses current discourses around sexuality, social stigma and violence. Example of compulsory reading: Butler, J. (2015) “Gender Politics and the Right to Appear” In section three, we present ways to read art through the lens of environmentalism by focusing on climate and spatial politics. One example is looking at the video work of Zina Saro-Wiwa (Nigeria) which focuses on food politics in the environmentally-degraded Niger Delta. Example of compulsory reading: Makhubu, N. (2018) “The Poetics of Entanglement in Zina Saro-Wiwa’s Food Interventions”. In each of the three sections of the syllabus, one artist will join our seminar session to discuss their work in relation to the critical issues that the course will tackle. At the end of the Spring semester, a public workshop will be held to continue the engagement with selected artists. Students are invited to present at this event and/or attend and contribute the conversation with artists and other scholars. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 10.00-12.00 | - Online Präsenz - |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 02.03.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 09.03.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 16.03.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 23.03.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 30.03.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 06.04.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 13.04.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 20.04.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 27.04.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 04.05.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 11.05.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 18.05.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Tuesday 25.05.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Tuesday 01.06.2021 | 10.00-12.00 | --, -- |
| Modules |
Modul: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Fields: Media and Imagination (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Profil: Bildtheorie und Bildgeschichte (Master's degree program: Art History and Image Theory) Modul: Profil: Moderne (Master's degree program: Art History and Image Theory) Modul: Werk und Kontext (Master's degree program: Art History and Image Theory) Modul: Werk und Kontext (Master's degree subject: Art History) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Zentrum für Afrikastudien |