IGS/SCT 530
STUDIES IN THE LOCAL AND GLOBAL: VISUAL STATES - ART, ARCHITECTURE AND NATIONHOOD IN THE 'ISLAMIC' WORLD
Instructor: Hussein Keshani
Course Description
In the 20th and 21st centuries, communities of the ‘Islamic’ world have grappled with re-imagining themselves in the guise of the Euro-American nation-state, often using newly imported languages of art and architecture. This seminar will examine the globalization of Euro-American aesthetics and the ways modern and contemporary art and architecture have been reckoned with and deployed in the construction and critique of emerging national identities in the ‘Islamic’ world. Using Turkey, Egypt, Iran, India/Pakistan, and Indonesia as case studies, we will focus on the practices of art-making, architectural design and the institutionalization of the arts. We will explore how these practices related to the social project of nation building in an age marked by collapses in traditional social structures, Europhilia, the cult of progress, and decolonization; pan-Arabism, Cold War geo-politics, and petrowealth; and gender regime shifts, emerging trans-national identities, and the ever-evolving role of Islam.
Evaluation
Weekly reading responses: 20%
Seminar participation: 15%
Seminar presentation: 15%
Seminar paper: 50%
Week 1: Introduction; Art, Architecture and National Identities
Humphreys, R. Stephen (2005). “From Imperialism to the New World Order.” Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age. University of California Press. Pp. 23-59.
Leoussi, Athena S. “The Ethno-cultural Roots of National Art.” Nations and Nationalism 10 (1/2), 2004, pp. 143–159.
Khan, Hassan Uddin. “The Impact of Modern Architecture on the Islamic World.” Back from Utopia: The Challenge of the Modern Movement. Eds. Hubert-Jan Henket, Hilde Heynen, 2002, pp. 174-189
Week 2: Art, Architecture and National Identities; Turkey
Ali, Wijdan. “The Status of Islamic Art in the Twentieth Century,” Muqarnas, Vol. 9. (1992), pp. 186-188.
Selections - Ali, Wijdan. Modern Islamic Art: Development and Continuity. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997.
Selections - Renda, Günsel, et al. A History of Turkish Painting. Geneva: Palasar in association with the University of Washington Press, 1988.
Inel, Berke & Burcak Inel. “Discovering the Missing Heroines: The Role of Women Painters in Early Modernist Art in Turkey.” Middle Eastern Studies; Apr2002, Vol. 38 Issue 2, p205, 8p
Week 3: Turkey
Selections - Bozdogan, Sibel. Modernism and Nation Building: Turkish Architectural Culture in the Early Republic. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001.
Week 4: Egypt
Selections - Karnouk, Liliane. Modern Egyptian Art: The Emergence of a National Style. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1988.
Winegar, Jessica. “Preface” & “Introduction: Cultural Politics and Genealogies of the Modern in the Postcolony.” Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt. Stanford: Stanford Univ. press, pp. xv-xvii; 1-36.
Alkassim, S. (2004), ‘Cracking the monolith. Video and film art in Cairo’, New
Cinemas 2: 1, pp. 5–16, doi: 10.1386/ncin.2.1.5/0
Week 5: Egypt
Selections – Kultermann, Udo. Contemporary Architecture in the Arab States: Renaissance of a Region
Asfour, Khaled. "Polemics in Arab Architecture: Theory Versus Practice," in ArchNet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 1 (2007).
Salama, Ashraf. "Mediterranean Visual Messages: The Conundrum of Identity, Isms, and Meaning in Contemporary Egyptian Architecture," in ArchNet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 1 (2007) pp. 86-104
Week 6: Iran
Selections - Balaghi, Shiva, and Lynn Gumpert, eds. Picturing Iran: Art, Society and Revolution. London: I. B. Tauris, 2002.
Grigor, Talinn. 2002. "(Re)Claiming Space: The Use/Misuse of Propaganda Murals in Republican Tehran." IIAS Newsletter 28 (August), 37.
Week 7: Iran
Dehbashi, Mazayan, and Darab Diba. 2004. “Trends in Modern Iranian Architecture.” In Iran: Architecture for Changing Societies. Philip Jodidio (ed). Torino: Umberto Allemandi & C.
Micara, Ludovico. "Contemporary Iranian Architecture in Search for a New Identity." Environmental Design: Journal of the Islamic Environmental Design Research Centre 1 (1996): 52-91.
Week 8: India
Jacob, Preminda S., “Between Modernism and Modernization: Locating Modernity in South Asian Art.” Art Journal; Fall99, Vol. 58 Issue 3, p48, 10p, 4c
Dutta, Arindam, SAHMAT, 1989-2004: Liberal Art Practice against the Liberalized Public Sphere. Cultural Dynamics; Jul2005, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p193-226, 34p
Jeffrey, Robin. “What the Statues Tell: The Politics of Choosing Symbols in Trivandrum” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 53, No. 3. (Autumn, 1980), pp. 484-502.
Week 9: Pakistan
Selections - Yashodhara Dalmia and Salima Hashmi, Memory, Metaphor, Mutations: Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan. Oxford 2007
Hosagrahar, Jyoti. “South Asia: Looking Back, Moving Ahead-History and Modernization.” The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 61, No. 3. (Sep., 2002), pp. 355-369.
Naz Neelum, “Contribution of Turkish Architects to the National Architecture of Pakistan: Vedat Dalokay.” METU Journal of Faculty of Architecture Faculty of Architecture Middle East Technical University, vol 22, no. 2, 20005, 51-77
Week 10: Indonesia
Sanento Yuliman, “Modern Art in Indonesia.” Contemporary Indonesian Art : Painting and Print, 1991 (www.javafred.net)
Selections - ASTRI WRIGHT, Soul, Spirit, and Mountain.' Preoccupations of Contemporary Indonesian Painters. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Anderson, Benedict. “Cartoons and Monuments: The Evolution of Political Communication in the New Order.” Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia. Ithaca: Cornell, 1990. pp. 152-193.
Astri Wright, “'Difference in Diversity': Women as Modern Artists in Indonesia.” In Laura Summers and Bill Wilder, Eds. Gendered States, Modern Powers: Perspectives from Southeast Asia. England: Macmillan Press, St. Martin’s Press. In Press (1999).
Wright. Astri. “Thoughts from the Crest of a Breaking Wave.” In Timothy Lindsey and Hugh O'Neill, Eds. AWAS! Art from Contemporary Indonesia. Melbourne: Indonesian Art Society, 1999, pp.49-69.
Week 11: Indonesia
Abidin Kusno, "'The Reality of One-which-is-two', Mosque Battles, and Other Stories: Architecture, Religion and Politics in the Javanese World," Journal of Architectural Education, vol. 57, 1, 2003: 57-67.
Abidin Kusno, “Chapter 7: Professional and National Dreams – The Political Imaginings of Indonesian Architects.” Behind the Postcolonial: Architecture, Urban Space and Political Cultures in Indonesia. London and New York: Routledge, 2000
Week 12: Conclusion
Last reviewed 
12/17/2008 2:18:30 PM
