Art 326
Material Worlds: Skilled Craftsmanship and Symbolic Technologies in Africa and the Near East
Full course for one semester. This course investigates
technological processes of artifact production in ancient and
traditional societies in the Near East and Africa. Recently,
interdisciplinary interest has emerged in the concept of
"technological style" to explore the cultural processes of the
making of things as the main constituent of their symbolism,
meaning and style. We will explore several case studies drawn from
archaeological and ethno-archaeological work. While post-colonial
ethnographies will be used to explore social relations behind
craftsmanship and technologies of production, archaeological
material from the Near East will be studied comparatively. This
involves monuments such as Neo-Assyrian palaces or the reed mudhif
of Marsh Arabs, and artifacts such as Phoenician ivories or the
Afro-Portuguese brasswork of Benin. Formation and circulation of
craft knowledge, cultural biography of artifacts, cultural
identities and collective memory, materiality and
representationality of artifacts will be central in class
discussions. Prerequisite: Art 201 or Anthropology 211 or consent
of the instructor. Conference. Cross-listed as Anthropology 326.
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