107-436 Postcolonial Visual Art

Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours in art history or the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours).

This subject focuses on contemporary cross-cultural visual art in relation to its colonial heritage. Responses to the colonial archive are a significant current in late 20th and early 21st century post-colonial culture. In many different contexts and in a range of visual media (film, photography and painting) artists have critiqued and deconstructed dominant Western myths and stereotypes of race. In this subject we will address such responses, and the issues that they raise about relationships between cultures. The theoretical issues that inform this subject include the relationship between aesthetics and politics, forms of resistance, the structure and operation of racial stereotypes in visual cultures, questions of cultural agency, the relationship between postcolonialism and feminism, cultural hybridity, and cross-cultural borrowing and appropriation. The subject focuses on the work of artists and filmmakers from Europe, South Asia and Australia. Students should complete the subject with an understanding of both the broad theoretical issues and historical/regional specificity of cross-cultural visual art forms.

• be able to research through the competent use of the library and other information sources, and be able to define areas of inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays;

• be able to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgements and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations;

• be able to communicate knowledge in an intelligent and economical way through essay writing and tutorial discussion;

• be able to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, essays, assignments and examination revision;

• be able to participate in team work through involvement in syndicate groups and group discussions.

Written work totalling 5000 words consisting of two items of assessment: a research essay to be handed in during the semester, shortly after presentation of a class paper, and a short essay to be completed to meet a due date at the end of semester. All written work must be submitted for satisfactory completion of the subject. Students must attend at least 75% of all classes.

A subject reader will be available.