This course invites us to view, and inquire into, African art as a multifaceted and nuanced range of artefacts constituting a challenging, and historically deprived, field of inquiry. African art has emerged largely, though not always exclusively, as a result of intercultural contacts between various geographic regions in Africa itself, and more or less unequal, forceful interventions in Africa on behalf of a range of colonizing powers. More recently, it has become part and parcel of what is currently acknowledged as the comprehensive field of global art. How did this come about? We will consider leading scholarly approaches to traditional or canonical African artefacts, discuss the social standing and functions of select works of traditional African art, and reflect on the underlying configurations that have brought about the reception of African artefacts and artists within the wider field of global art.

In this framework, we will begin by critically examining a range of contemporary stylistic and visual representations of Africa and Africans, describe and analyse how Africa and Africans are portrayed in popular culture both within Africa and elsewhere, and critically discuss our own stance(s) toward these representations. Next, we will briefly review the history of Africa South of the Sahara, considering how the legacy of colonialism has affected the plight of Africa at large, and the predicament of African art in particular. We will investigate aspects of the historically and geographical complexity entailed in the production, mobility, dissemination, dislocation and looting of African art and artefacts, prior to, and perhaps even notwithstanding, their integration into the broader field of what is today acknowledged as ‘global art’.

In the postcolonial context, we will focus on South African art before and after apartheid. We will consider African art at large, and South African art in particular, as products of intercultural contacts, procedures of emigration, and processes of globalization. In this vein, we will examine African art and artists as a complex system of artistic works and artefacts, artists, patrons, distributors, traders, agents and various cultural brokers who maintain concurrently, and over time, relations of reciprocity and power struggles. All the above contribute to a dynamic and fluid range of criteria when it comes to aesthetic value, authenticity, stylistic preferences, thresholds of acceptance and legitimacy, patterns of consumption, and no less importantly, market force dynamics within the market of contemporary global art. We will critically discuss the range of controversies underpinning how African art and artefacts come to be considered ‘authentic’: many African art enthusiasts tend to assess African art and artefacts as ‘authentic’ because they believe these were produced for local use or consumption, rather than for exchange in the wider art market. However, as it happens, many producers of African art create works of art precisely because of the existence of the broader art market, with which they aspire to interact.

We will acquaint ourselves with a series of formative exhibitions which played a key mediatory role in introducing African art to the West. We will further familiarize ourselves with a selection of works by a range of African artists, photographers, and curators, including Okwui Enwezor, Sylvester Ogbechie, Simon Njami, Yinka Shonibare, El Anatsui, Nicholas Hlobo, Samuel Fasso, Santu Mofekeng, David Goldblatt, Pieter Hugo, Peter Magubane, Roger Ballen, Zweletu Mthethwa, Zanele Muholi, William Kentridge, Marlene Dumas, Nandipha Mntambo, Meshak Gaba, Harold Rubin, Gerard Sekoto, and David Koloane.