Exploring Art History

Facilitator: Monica Juneja

February 24, 26, 28, and March 3, 5, 7, 1997 | 10.30 am to 4.30 pm
Little Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai

When we are confronted with a vast array and variety of images, collectively referred to as “works of art”, how can we begin to make sense of them?
Are images simply faithful portrayals of the world, crafted by artists trained in specific skills of representation?
Or are they conjured up out of an individual imagination which creates a vision that is purely subjective?
In what ways does a work of art articulate the preoccupations, beliefs, hopes and anxieties of individuals and groups?

Can we get a richer sense of its meanings through probing the circular relationship between a work of art and the world in which artist, image and viewer are rooted? These are some of the questions and issues which this course will try to address and explore. Each of the following sessions will be structured as an ensemble of viewing, lecturing, questioning and discussing, using slides and video clips.

Session 1. Looking at the pictures
Session 2. The spectacle of the new: art, industry and modern life
Session 3. Imaging the Orient
Session 4. Painting as Woman
Session 5. “But is this art?
Session 6:  Visualising the Nation

Rather than providing a survey of major art movements or of “great” artists, the course will address a particular set of ideas and themes in relation to works of art.