![]() If this session is scheduled early in the course, or you find that many students don’t have an understanding of or appreciation for a long view of history, you might ask them to write on a notecard the oldest building or monument they have personally encountered and then share it with the class. One way to begin the class is with the following exercise: Some questions that can be addressed by the lesson include: what objects have been held by various cultures and rulers as being imbued with power? Who has chosen to co-opt, usurp, or destroy particular works, and for what reasons? Who has obtained objects in the hopes of transferring a civilizing aura and promoting their cultural enrichment and status? What objects have been subject to iconoclasm, and why? What economic considerations might be present, and what are the ramifications of the sale of culturally significant objects? And, perhaps most importantly, when has the destruction of those objects been a harbinger of or a corollary to the destruction of an entire culture? Since the reverberations of historical and contemporary looting are felt in the present, it is also important to consider society’s ethical obligations and current debate over contested objects of cultural heritage. Of particular importance to this lesson are issues of identity and contestation of power over objects of cultural heritage. ![]() While the lesson itself contains material for a much deeper discussion of these issues, instructors should feel free to choose the works, time periods, and geographical locations that fit most comfortably into their course. This lesson is intended to be completed in two one-hour-and-fifteen-minute sessions. Restitution, repatriation, reconstruction, and artistic interventionsīecause of the complexity and often overlapping issues of looting and destruction, many examples will fit into more than one theme.Looting and the appropriation of objects (for purposes of propaganda and economic gain).Destruction/iconoclasm and the erasure of culture (due to ideology, neglect, or disregard for the object). ![]() There will be a focus on three major themes, with a section for each: This session could either be used near the beginning of the course to engage students and get them thinking about “why art matters,” or it could come much later in the course, at which point it would make clear the relevance of ancient objects to contemporary ideology and provide a touchstone for looking back at many time periods presented throughout a survey course. The thematic subject of art and cultural heritage (looting and destruction) offers students the opportunity to engage with a potent subject that can elicit cultural empathy, to critically examine a historical and contemporary societal problem that affects their present and future, to examine their own attitudes and values, and to consider how art intersects with issues of power. Cultural property crime is not, however, a new phenomenon, but a tactic employed over millennia across continents and against many different cultural groups for a variety of reasons. Popular books and movies, such as The Rape of Europa, The Monuments Men, and The Woman in Gold, have brought more attention to the subject, especially in regards to outrages perpetrated during World War II, while scholars, policy-makers, lawyers, conservationists, and forensic scientists are intimately involved in combating atrocities currently being committed. Almost daily there are reports of the destruction and looting of art and objects of cultural heritage of local, regional, national, and international significance, notably coming out of the Middle East, but also from many other places in the world.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |