Undergraduate Course: African art and material cultures: Beyond stereotypes (HIAR10212)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course draws on examples from ancient African cultures like Asante, Axum and Nok to explore the art and visual cultures of the continent. Africa's rich and diverse artistic traditions, including monumental architecture, metalworking, terra-cotta and woodcarving, are examined in terms of specific but interconnected cosmologies. The earliest studies of African art by Europeans produced misconceptions expressed through concepts like primitivism, authenticity and tribal art. This course challenges such stereotypes. Additionally, it explores how exhibitions were utilised to both produce and counter these stereotypes, and how African art later influenced European modernism. |
| Course description |
The course is a historical study of the artistic productions of Africa's rich and diverse visual cultures. Examples from different cultures in Africa such as Asante, Axum, Banama, Benin, Dogon and Nok are used to explore the mediums, forms, techniques and the complexities of artistic representation across the continent. Students will consider the philosophical foundations of the artistic cultures¿ their rootedness in local cosmologies; in socio-cultural, spiritual, political and economic life. Ingenuity in African art is explored through various lenses, e.g., age in the case of Southern African rock art, monumentality as found in the Great Zimbabwe, regalia and display in Kuba, or naturalism in Ife art.
In addition, the course critically examines the conceptual frameworks imposed in initial academic engagement with African art and material cultures, and challenges notions of 'authenticity', timelessness, tribal style and 'primitivism' that still haunt art historical discourse. We will look at the role played by exhibitions and early research conducted¿largely in the disciplinary context of anthropology and archaeology¿in perpetuating and countering stereotypes. The influence of African art in the works of artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse is also investigated in order to understand how the so-called primitive arts shaped European modernism.
The course involves a series of weekly two-hour seminars conducted over ten weeks. The seminars integrate lecture-style delivery with class discussions and group presentations centred on the key art objects and concepts drawn from readings. The course includes a practical component, offering students the option to create a short film, an online exhibition or a photo book reflecting on conceptual and historical questions that emerge from the course. Three seminars convene in a digital media resource room, where the use of software applications like InDesign and Final Cut Pro for the practical projects will be demonstrated and practiced.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 History of Art courses at grade B or above, and we will only consider University/College level courses. **Please note that 3rd year History of Art courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces. These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 19 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 4,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
170 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components.
1. Creative Project, a short documentary film of 4-7 minutes or online exhibition of 10-15 images or a photo book comprising 10-15 images, 50%, Weeks 8-11, relating to all LOs, especially 4. The project will be undertaken by students in small groups
2. Exam, 3 hours, 50%, December Exam diet, relating to LOs 1-3
Resit Information
The resit arrangements for this course are as follows.
- The resit task for assessment component 1 is a Creative Project
- The resit task for assessment component 2 is an Essay, 2000 words
Students will receive further resit information as per University regulations where necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Groups will present their Creative Project plan in class (Weeks 5-6) and receive verbal feedback from peers and the Course Organiser.
Summative Feedback
Oral feedback on the Creative Project will be provided in the class where all projects will be shown as part of class discussion. Further, written feedback will be provided via Turnitin by the Course Organiser. Written feedback on the exam script will be provided by the Course Organiser. Students will be given the opportunity to meeting with the Course Organiser on request. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | African art and material cultures: Beyond stereotypes (HIAR10212) | 120 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a broad understanding of the richness of African art in terms of the diversity of medium, form, technique, and function, through written analysis of relevant art objects
- Contest the misconceptions about African art, and highlight its contributions to the development of modern art
- Use examples from African art to rethink art historical concepts and theories
- Handle digital media in production of practical work as an approach to engaging with materials related to African art
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Reading List
Austen, Ralph A. "The Sources of Gold: Narratives, Technology, and Visual Culture from the Mende and Akan Worlds." In Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture,and Exchange across Medieval Sahara Africa, edited by Kathleen Bickford Berzock, 63-74. Princeton University Press, 2019.
Cohen, Joshua I. "Fauve Masks: Rethinking Modern 'Primitivist' Uses of African and Oceanic Art, 1905-8." The Art Bulletin 99, no. 2 (2017): 136-165.
De Grunne, Bernard. "An Art Historical Approach to the Terracotta Figures of the Inland Niger Delta." African Arts 28, no. 4 (1995): 70-79.
Ezra, Kate. Art of the Dogon: Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988: 15-28.
Garlake, Peter. Early Art and Architecture of Africa. Oxford University Press, 2002. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical and Reflective Thinkers: In many instances, the African art material is at odds with dominant art historical concepts, theories and methods. This course will help to produce students as critical and reflective thinkers who would confidently employ their research in African art to challenge ideas rooted in Euro-American art historical traditions. In doing so, they will actively contribute to the process of decolonising knowledge.
Effective and Influential Contributors: The course will prepare students to be effective and influential contributors to global cultural issues where African art holds significance. One example is the ongoing discourse around colonial histories that manifests in such initiatives as repatriation and restitution.
Communication: The practical project will provide students with essential tools to convey ideas about African art through digital media and photo book. These skills are particularly valuable in the context of professional practices, such as curatorship, for which Art History students are being prepared. |
| Keywords | African art,culture,stereotype |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr George Agbo
Tel: (0131 6)51 5800
Email: gagbo@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Rian Matsui
Tel:
Email: rmatsui@ed.ac.uk |
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