Primitive Art (20045)
Degree/study:Degree in Humanities
Year: 3rd -4th.
Term:1st
Number of ECTS credits: 5 credits
Hours of studi dedication: 125
Teaching language or languages: Spanish
Teaching Staff: Estela Ocampo/Roser Bosch
1. Presentation of the subject
This subject is not meant to be a comprehensive analysis of primitive art from an art history standpoint, which is impossible in just one term, but an attempt to explain its main principles from a theoretical and artistic viewpoint. Taking into account that primitive art was considered an object for art history in the 20th century, the subject will start with the colonial process that began in the mid-nineteenth century -introducing most of the objects in Europe- and the aestheticization produced when these objects were introduced in museums and avant-garde artists started appreciating them. Questioning the concepts of "primitive art" and "primitivism" is essential before starting to study primitive art specifically. The intrinsic study of primitive art will focus on formal aspects, i.e. its style and significant elements such as its connection with myth and rite through African, Australian and New Guinean works of art. Primitivism, which is the western reworking of primitive art, will also be included.
2. Competences to be attained
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General competences |
Specific competences |
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1. Ability for analysis and synthesis 2. Ability to manage information from diverse sources 3. Ability to interrelate knowledge from diverse subjects 4. Ability to interrelate particular aspects with their theoretical grounds 5. Having oral and written communication skills 6. Understanding how literature, history, art and thought interact
Interpersonal 1. Teamwork skills 2. Being able to combine both personal and group contributions 3. Having an analytical mind
Systemic 1. Independent learning 2. Further education disposition
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1. Synthesizing concepts from different disciplines such as anthropology, history, and art history 2. Formal analysis of primitive works of art. Knowledge of the main principles they are based on 3. Ability to analyze theoretical texts about primitive art 4. Ability to link theoretical texts with primitive works of art 5. Ability to put primitive art and its connection to western culture into its historical, social, political and cultural context 6. Ability to get information from diverse sources: documentary films, literary evidence, scientific texts
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3. Contents
Unit 1.
Keys to define primitive art. Aesthetics and Anthropology. Primitive art as a style in art history: formal and conceptual aspects. Examples from Africa, Australia, New Guinea and North America.
Unit 2.
Primitive art's formal language. Basic stylistic principles. Sculpture: constituent objects. Masks, ancestors and gods' statues, everyday objects from Africa and New Guinea.
Unit 3.
Meaning of primitive art. Concept of myth and rite in primitive societies. Connections between primitive art and myth. Connections between primitive art and rite. Picturing myth and rite in Australian and New Guinean paintings and sculptures.
Unit 4.
Primitivism. Reworking primitive art through contemporary art. Different stages of primitivism during the 20th century. Body aesthetics in primitive art and body art.
*The full version with the sections 4. Assessment, 5. Bibliography and teaching resources, 6. Methodology and 7. Planning of activities is available in the original version.
4. Assessment
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5. Bibliography and teaching resources
5.1. Basic bibliography
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5.2. Complementary bibliography
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5.3. Teaching resources
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6. Metodology
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7. Planning of activities
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