Undergraduate Course: The Politics of Postwar Abstraction: Diaspora, Decolonisation, Liberation (HIAR10196)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines forms of abstraction produced by Black Atlantic and Asian artists in postwar Britain. We will look at artwork, critical reception, and exhibitions that challenge formalist readings of abstraction as well as interpretations based on identity politics and consider how decolonisation, liberation movements and new nationalisms shaped and contextualised post-war abstract art. |
| Course description |
Focusing on modern and contemporary Black Atlantic and Asian practices in postwar Britain, this seminar-based course examines forms of abstraction in the wake of decolonisation, liberation movements and new nationalisms. Historical narratives and critical reception and exhibitions of this period primarily confined international abstraction in post-war Britain to Europe and the United States, while the rise of a new Commonwealth internationalism in the 1950s-60s became associated with abstract art through the efforts of the Commonwealth Institute, Commonwealth artist collectives, and New Vision Centre Gallery. British politics, immigration and migration, and questions of belonging were intertwined with Commonwealth abstraction. In tandem with the rise of globalism in post-war international politics, a liberal, universal-humanist conception of abstraction by artists of colour would eventually become supplanted by readings based on identity politics.
We will look at artwork and texts produced by artists that problematise formalist interpretations of modernism as well as interpretations that privilege readings of identity, racial and ethnic subjectivity, diaspora, and nationality. We will trace shifts in attitudes towards abstraction through artworks, primary sources and artist texts, critical reception and exhibition practices. Artists explored include Rasheed Araeen, Frank Bowling, Avinash Chandra, Uzo Egonu, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Kim Lim, Althea McNish, Denis Williams, Aubrey Williams, Sadequain, and Anwar Jalal Shemza. We will also investigate theoretical and cultural criticism that seeks new methods for reinterpreting mainstream narratives of art history to better understand the conditions and structures of knowledge and thought that have historically excluded these artists. Topics covered include post-war universal humanism; notions of purity and the artwork as absolute; existentialism; Commonwealth internationalism; and Pan-Caribbeanism.
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Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate skills of visual analysis and interpretation by looking in detail at works by modern and contemporary Black Atlantic and Asian artists.
- Analyse the ways in which abstraction can be understood in the context of decolonisation, liberation movements and new nationalisms.
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of historical narratives, critical reception and exhibitions as part of Commonwealth internationalism in the 1950s-60s.
- Critically examine how and why broader historical changes in society contributed to developments in art.
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Reading List
Chambers, Eddie. Black Artists in British Art: A History Since the 1950s. London: I.B. Tauris,
2012.
Dadi, Iftikar. 'Introduction: Modernism in South Asian Muslim Art' and 'Sadequain and
Calligraphic Abstraction,' Modernism in Muslim South Asia. University of North
Carolina Press, 2010: 1-45.
Enwezor, Okwui, ed. Frank Bowling: Mappa Mundi. London: Prestel, 2018.
Mercer, Kobena, ed. Discrepant Abstraction. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Publishing, 2006.
Hall, Stuart. 'Black Diaspora Artists in Britain: Three 'Moments' in Post-War History.'
History Workshop Journal. Spring, 2006, No. 61: 1-24. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Visual and critical analysis; Clear thinking and the development of an argument; Independent research; Presentation and communication skills; Organisation and planning; Teamwork through group discussion |
| Keywords | Black Atlantic,postwar Britain,abstraction,Commonwealth,universal humanism,Pan-Caribbeanism |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani
Tel: (0131 6)51 5800
Email: mohadih@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Nathan Ross-Hammond
Tel: (0131 6)51 5880
Email: nrossha@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
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