When cultures collide, they assimilate, they exchange, they transform, and they develop, and there seems to be a pattern of recognizable centres of power around which artistic tradition often revolves. This has caused the conventional understanding of certain flowering of artistic heritage as a product of cross-cultural influences. This course is a seminar style survey that explores these fascinating amalgams of artistic traditions that lie at the Eastern outskirts of the Hellenistic world throughout the roman Period, from Bactria to India, and with a heavy focus on the Buddhist art of Gandhara, reaching out along the Silk Road. As the title suggests, the class aims at a renewed framework that re-evaluates the role of the Ancient West, which has been absent since the heavily Eurocentric scholarship from the early 20th century. It also aims to familiarize students with current theoretical issues surrounding cross-cultural studies as it pertains to the visual arts, touching upon modern postcolonial theories of space.
When cultures collide, they assimilate, they exchange, they transform, and they develop, and there seems to be a pattern of recognizable centres of power around which artistic tradition often revolves. This has caused the conventional understanding of certain flowering of artistic heritage as a product of cross-cultural influences. This course is a seminar style survey that explores these fascinating amalgams of artistic traditions that lie at the Eastern outskirts of the Hellenistic world throughout the roman Period, from Bactria to India, and with a heavy focus on the Buddhist art of Gandhara, reaching out along the Silk Road. As the title suggests, the class aims at a renewed framework that re-evaluates the role of the Ancient West, which has been absent since the heavily Eurocentric scholarship from the early 20th century. It also aims to familiarize students with current theoretical issues surrounding cross-cultural studies as it pertains to the visual arts, touching upon modern postcolonial theories of space.
