1 Towards a postcolonial art history of contact
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Christian Kravagna
Abstract
The chapter discusses the rhetoric of the global in art history and contemporary art exhibitions. It criticises tendencies of dehistoricisation in discourses based on the assumption of the globalisation of contemporary art after 1989. It further examines a tendency towards depoliticisation in those scholarly art discourses that have made an abrupt turn from Eurocentrism to a premature universalisation of the transcultural paradigm. In contrast to these approaches, the chapter argues for a focus on the formation of global modernism in the context of the internationalisation of anti-colonial alliances (Pan-African Movement, League Against Imperialism) after the First World War. In addition to those political forms of organisation, the chapter refers to the corresponding cultural platforms (Revue du Monde Noir, Tropiques) as contact zones of European, African, Caribbean, and African American art and intellectual discourse. By example of the travelling artist, the differences between Euromodernism and transmodernism are outlined. While the journey from the Western metropolis to the colonial space serves solely to inspire the Western artist (Gauguin, Nolde, Matisse), the transmodern artist journey (R. Tagore in Japan, W. Lam in France) is characterised by establishing contacts and co-operation.
Abstract
The chapter discusses the rhetoric of the global in art history and contemporary art exhibitions. It criticises tendencies of dehistoricisation in discourses based on the assumption of the globalisation of contemporary art after 1989. It further examines a tendency towards depoliticisation in those scholarly art discourses that have made an abrupt turn from Eurocentrism to a premature universalisation of the transcultural paradigm. In contrast to these approaches, the chapter argues for a focus on the formation of global modernism in the context of the internationalisation of anti-colonial alliances (Pan-African Movement, League Against Imperialism) after the First World War. In addition to those political forms of organisation, the chapter refers to the corresponding cultural platforms (Revue du Monde Noir, Tropiques) as contact zones of European, African, Caribbean, and African American art and intellectual discourse. By example of the travelling artist, the differences between Euromodernism and transmodernism are outlined. While the journey from the Western metropolis to the colonial space serves solely to inspire the Western artist (Gauguin, Nolde, Matisse), the transmodern artist journey (R. Tagore in Japan, W. Lam in France) is characterised by establishing contacts and co-operation.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of Figures viii
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction 1
- 1 Towards a postcolonial art history of contact 39
- 2 In the shade of tall mango trees 63
- 3 Transcultural beginnings 90
- 4 Trees of knowledge 107
- 5 The migrant as catalyst 131
- 6 Encounters with masks 149
- 7 Purity of art in a transcultural age 182
- 8 Painting the global history of art 221
- Bibliography 254
- Index 276
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of Figures viii
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction 1
- 1 Towards a postcolonial art history of contact 39
- 2 In the shade of tall mango trees 63
- 3 Transcultural beginnings 90
- 4 Trees of knowledge 107
- 5 The migrant as catalyst 131
- 6 Encounters with masks 149
- 7 Purity of art in a transcultural age 182
- 8 Painting the global history of art 221
- Bibliography 254
- Index 276
