CfP: PROGRESSIVE ART EDUCATION AND THE SPREAD OF MODERNISM BEYOND EUROPE

Reykjavik, Iceland - NORDIK 2015
Mapping Uncharted Territories, The 11th Triannual Nordik Committee for Art History Conference, May 13 - 16, 2015
Deadline: September 25, 2014

SESSION ORGANIZERS: 
Dr. Melanie Klein, Freie Universität Berlin <[email protected]>
Prof. Dr. Isabel Wünsche, Jacobs University, Bremen <[email protected]>

2015 NORDIK SESSION:

PROGRESSIVE ART EDUCATION AND THE SPREAD OF MODERNISM BEYOND EUROPE

The crucial role that progressive art education played in the spread, reception, and adaptation of
Modernism beyond Europe has largely been neglected in art historical writing. The session examines
the interrelations between modernist art and concepts of progressive education and the impact of
art in relation to Reformpädagogik. It discusses educational activities, ideas and reformist efforts of
modernist artists and art educators at art schools and workshops that shaped the emergence of
Modernism in Africa, Asia, Australia, Latin and South America. Particular focus is laid on its reception
and transformation within the cultural traditions and local art scenes of these regions. Furthermore,
the session wishes to contrast various pedagogical efforts with theoretical positions and institutional
policies of major exponents of modernist art history and to address gender roles as well as reciprocal
effects between educators and students in the production, dissemination, and reconfiguration of
modernist art beyond the Western World.

Questions about what role art should play in Africa, Asia, Australia, or the Americas, what
cultural image or ‘inner’ condition it should transport, how it could be related to ‘traditional’
creativity, and how it should be positioned in the face of emerging Modernisms were of prominent
importance within the contact zone of educational institutions. For example, European art teachers
in South Africa first established provisional art educational venues for Black students within the
curricula of mission schools and then as workshops and schools in their own right. They transferred
modernistic concepts from Europe - like the concepts of authenticity and originality - into the African
context yet were also confronted with restricted material conditions as well as divergent conceptions
and expectations of their students.

A closer look at selected case studies reveals ambivalent and polyphonic theoretical
approaches of educators and different visual translations of students. Here, the teachers’ attitudes
seem to oscillate between the search for an ‘authentic’ idiom in the native art of the region and the
claim to partake in global archives and in the making of an art history that is imagined as universally
applicable. Students, however, follow diverse paths: some delve into the imitation and interpretation
of European models, others continue their studies abroad and become part of a modern art world.
After all, art educational institutions perceived as transcultural contact zones exemplify a genesis of
modern art from Africa, Asia, Australia, or the Americas that was formed by differing and mutually
influencing perspectives rather than permanent homogeneous schemes.

Papers might explore, but are not limited to the following topics:
- Roots and routes of modernist and avant-garde “travelling concepts” in educational venues
- Transformations and deviant definitions of such concepts
- Material and intellectual context of art production and the generation of art historical narratives
- Definition of agency within contexts of limitations and freedom
- Dynamics of gender relations within educational contact zones

We invite paper proposals to the sessions from a variety of fields, including art history, art pedagogy,
cultural history, visual culture, and anthropology. Please submit an abstract (500 words) plus a brief
CV (300 words) along with your contact information in one single Word or PDF file by September 25,
2014.
 
Please direct your communication both to the session chairs and to the conference organisers at: [email protected]
 
For more information on the conference with 22 sessions spanning a wide range of topics visit: http://nordicarthistory.org

--
Prof. Dr. Isabel Wünsche

Professor of Art and Art History
School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Director
Humanities Research Center

Jacobs University
Campus Ring 1, Research IV
28759 Bremen
Germany

Tel. 49-421-200-3311
Fax: 49-421-200-49-3311
E-Mail: [email protected]
http://www.jacobs-university.de/shss/iwuensche

Commercial registry: Amtsgericht Bremen, HRB 18117
President/Geschäftsführerin: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Katja Windt
Managing Director/Geschäftsführer: Prof. Dr. Michael Hülsmann
Chair Board of Governors: Prof. Dr. Karin Lochte




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