An Undergraduate Course, University of Virginia
Spring Semester 2000
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African Art and the Web Museum
An Undergraduate Course, University of Virginia Spring Semester 2000 |
Last updated January, 2000. Copyright © 2000 Benjamin C. Ray All rights reserved.
Each student will design an exhibition of African art for presentation on the World Wide Web, incorporating the results of the student's study of African art. Collaborative exhibitions will be encouraged, using collections from the Bayly Museum and Hampton University Museum. Collaborative exhibitions will be focused on two specific themes: "Images of Animals in Africa Art" and "Images of Ancestors in African Art." All exhibitions will contain an introductory text that explains the exhibit's theme, a map of Africa locating the societies whose objects are represented, images of selected African art objects, relevant field-context images, descriptive labels, and other explanatory textual materials. The images will be taken from collections at the Bayly Museum of the University of Virginia, the Fowler Museum of Cultural History, the Hampton University Museum, and The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and are used in this course with copyright permission.
Tuesday and Thursday classes will be devoted to illustrated lectures on African art; Tuesday (& Wednesday) evening computer lab sessions will be used for computer instruction, digital image processing, and Web page construction. The course includes the following curricular components: a brief history of African art studies; African ritual and cosmology; analysis of African art exhibition catalogues; library research on selected art objects; the exhibition of African art in museum contexts; training in Web skills and image processing. The special challenge of the course is to create exhibitions of African art that attempt to be true to the objects while placing them in a Western cultural environment -- the World Wide Web -- that will be of educational value to the exhibitor and the viewer alike.
Image Collections:
As a participant in the Museum Educational Site Licensing project, the University uses images from the collection of the Fowler Museum of Cultural History for instructional purposes, with certain copyright restrictions. These images are av
ailable only for students in the course and may be used in student Web exhibitions only with proper citation.
Students enrolled in the course also have access to collections of images shown in class. These images are intended for study and review, and will not be incorporated into the student exhibitions. Access to these collections is controlled by password.
Examples from previous class, 1996.
Jones, Atalaya
Matricardi, Jayne
Mid-Term Exhibits:
Mid-term exhibits should consist of six images with descriptive labels.
The images may be left-justified or placed in any position on the Web page
in relation to the label. The images should be imported in both small gif
form and the larger jpeg format, so that the viewer can study the object
in greater detail. The exhibit should open with a title, followed by an
opening statement that explains the exhibit's theme. It should be informative
and succinct, two or three short paragraphs in length. A key image might
follow immediately below the exhibition title (or stand next to it) as
a way of visually conveying the theme of the exhibition. The six images
should be taken from at least four different societies. A map locating
the societies represented in the exhibit is not necessary for the mid-term.
Click on the following Template
Link to help you organize your mid-term
exhibit. You can copy and paste this
template (text and HTML markup) into almost any word-processing software
with the exception of Microsoft Word (for PC users this means you should
use such applications as "Wordpad" or "Notepad"). When you are ready
to save your work, change the file setting to "save as text only" and then
force an ".html" suffix on your title (i.e. "yoruba.html" saving as text
without line breaks). Click save and the computer will ask you several
options on saving the text. Again, do not save as a Word document
and proceed to save the document as a text file clicking on the appropriate
button. Once you have done this, you can view that document by using
any web browser.
The well-written label:
Since objects of traditional African art are generally made for use in specific contexts, which are often ritual or ceremonial, the museum exhibition label should inform the viewer both about the object and its context of use. This is done by referring to certain prominent features of the object, its particular shape, formal properties, and artistic detail, and by explaining these features in terms of contextual social, moral, and religious ideas and actions. This helps the viewer to "see" the object within its own cultural setting. The label thus educates the viewer's eye by explaining how the object expresses important African moral and religious ideas and actions. If possible, the label should quote a relevant statement (proverb, poetic verse, myth text) taken from the society itself or an informant's words concerning the object or context. The label must do this with a minimum of words for an audience that possesses little or no knowledge of African art. Since the label represents the curator's own knowledge and personal point of view, it is necessarily interpretive; it should also give present the viewer with an opportunity to think about the object and make some connections to it and African cultural features which it expresses.
Guidelines for the final exhibitions:
Your final exhibitions at the end of the semester should be expanded and revised versions of your mid-term exhibitions. They should be more complex and contain more descriptive information, and they should double the size of the mid-term exhibit, twelve images in all.
1. Exhibition theme
Consider whether your exhibition theme should be slightly revised to include about six more objects. You may also choose to reduce (or expand) the number of societies represented in your exhibit (the final exhibition should present images from at least three different societies). Your final exhibit should engage in drawing some comparisons between the objects and their social, moral, and religious contexts, as well as some pertinent comparisons with aspects of Western culture and human life in general. Here is where your exhibition can express a distinctive point of view in addition to conveying of artistic and cultural information. Re-read Warren Robbin's article, "Making the Galleries Sing: Displaying African Art," as well as the articles by Susan Vogel and Ivan Karp.
2. Design, structure, & organization
The exhibition should have a separate title page, presenting the title (with perhaps a subtitle), your name, and an image that conveys the general theme of the exhibit. If there is enough space, you may also write a brief statement to introduce the theme of the exhibit. The statement should be short enough so that it appears on the title page, without scrolling too much down the page. At the bottom of the title page there should be three or four links to the various parts (pages) of your exhibition, each part having its own title. These same links should appear at the end of each section of the exhibit so the viewer can navigate from one to section to an other and return to the title page.
As a general rule you should place your labels next to the images so that the viewer can view the label and the image without having to scroll up or down the page while reading the label and looking at the image. Each thumbnail image (gif) should be linked to a more detailed jpeg version of the image. This can be done by wrapping the jpeg image anchor around the gif or by mapping the gif image so that it links to the jpeg. If you would like to make your images into transparencies and place them against a particular background, say an African fabric, this will enhance the aesthetics of your exhibit. This is an attractive but also time consuming task, and should not be undertaken at the expense of the research and writing components of your exhibit. Your exhibit should contain a map of Africa locating the societies whose objects are represented.
3. Textual content: making the label more complex, with links, and additional library research.
Each part of the exhibit should begin with a brief statement to explain how it fits into the overall theme. You might also give a brief descriptive title to the objects in your image to attract the viewer's attention. Each label should begin with the name of the object, the society or culture it comes from, and the modern nation to which the society belongs. You should also include an image source or museum credit line, for example, "Fowler Museum of Cultural History." The labels should contain links to bibliographical references, either at the end of the label or within the body of the text. There should also be links to "further information" concerning some major point (or points) that appear in the label. Be sure that there is a link at the end of this page which returns the reader to the original label. Using Photo Shop, you might find it useful in some cases to crop the jpeg image and enlarge one of more parts of it so that the viewer can focus on a specific feature (or features). You should put a link within the text of the label to this part of the image, and add a few more lines of text describing this feature next to the jpeg; then create a link that returns the viewer to the original label.
4. Context photos:
Since there are very few context photos in the Fowler images, it will
be necessary to scan them from published sources. One of the most extensive
is The Art, Ritual, and Drama of Africa by Michael Huet. Most of the recent
books on African art also contain excellent field photos showing the objects
in context. The journal African Arts is also full of field photographs,
just consult the index in your packet. But this is a time consuming process
and should be low on your list of priorities. There are some scanned context
photos in the digitized collection of "images shown in class." Take a look
at these, first.
5. Check list for the final exhibitions:
Artistic form: Pay attention to the aesthetics of each object, describe its basic artistic features, comment on its artistic quality -- also say what you think about it, why you selected it -- mention features of the objects that transcend their culture and as well as those features that are a direct expression of the culture that produced it, especially the object's symbolic aspects.
Cultural content: Describe and explain the object's cultural meanings and use, its significance in general and in detail. Place the right amount of artistic and cultural explanation in the label next to the image, so that the reader will want to click on a link in your label and read further to find out more.
Audience assumptions: Think about some of the key assumptions in your audience's mind which you want to address in your theme and in your object labels and text. Address some of these assumptions explicitly, by way of pointing out some similarities and differences between African societies and ours.
Web page design: This is your "museum" gallery, make its space work for you so that the viewer is attracted to your objects and can appreciate their design and beauty. The layout of the pages should enable the viewer to read the text easily while looking at the images and navigating around your exhibition.
Student E-mail Correspondence:
Follow this link for information on subscribing and posting to the class mailing list.
RELA 345/ARTH 345 AFRICAN ART & THE WEB MUSEUM
Class: Tues & Thurs, 9:30-10:45am, Wilson 140
Computer Lab: Tues (& Weds), 6-6:50pm, Wilson 306
Instructor: Benjamin C. Ray, Dept. of Religious Studies
Room 103, Cocke Hall
Technology Teaching Assistant: Kent McConnell
Books for Purchase
Perani & Smith, The Visual Arts of Africa
Woodward, African Art in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Ray, Rela 345/Arth 345: African Art (Brillig Books, Elliewood
Ave.)
Jan 20
Reserve list of books, articles.
Mar 21
FISKE KIMBALL LIBRARY RESERVE
The study of African art, Exhibiting African art
I. Karp & Levine, S., EXHIBITING CULTURES
S. Price, PRIMITIVE ART IN CIVILIZED PLACES
General Books & Videos on African art in all regions of Africa
Gabai Baar*, Ilisa & Others, IN AND OUT OF AFRICA, VIDEO .VHS6845 at CLEMONS
Cole, H., I AM NOT MYSELF
-----, IDEALS & POWER IN AFRICAN ART
Nooter, N., SECRECY: AFRICAN ART THAT CONCEALS & REVEALS
Ray, B., RELA 410: YORUBA RELIGION (PHOTOCOPY PACKET)
Roberts, A., ANIMALS IN AFRICAN ART BIBLIOGRAPHY
Roy, Christopher, ART AND LIFE IN AFRICA CD-ROM - disk
______, ART AND DEATH IN AFRICA, VIDEO .VHS6848 (CL-MEDIA) at CLEMONS
R. Thompson, AFRICAN ART IN MOTION
S. Vogel, FOR SPIRITS AND KINGS
------, PERSPECTIVES: ANGLES ON AFRICAN ART
------, ART/ARTIFACT
------, CLOSE UP: LESSONS IN THE ART OF SEEING AFRICAN ART
------, AFRICAN AESTHETICS
West Africa: General
Peter Adler and Nicholas Barnard, AFRICAN MAJESTY: THE TEXTILE ART OF THE ASHANTI & EVE
Barbier-Mueller Museum, ART OF COTE D'IVOIRE
Boone, S., RADIANCE FROM THE WATERS: IDEAS OF FEMININE BEAUTY IN MENDE ART
Duchateau, BENIN: ROYAL ART OF AFRICA
Ezra, K., ROYAL ART OF BENIN
LaGamma, A., THE ART OF THE PUNU "MUKUDJ"
Perrois, ANCESTRAL ART OF GABON
Phillips, R., REPRESENTING WOMAN: SANDE MASQUERADES OF THE MENDE
Roy, C., ART OF THE UPPER VOLTA RIVERS
--------, ART & LIFE IN AFRICA (book)
--------, ART AND LIFE IN AFRICA CD-ROM disk
Yoruba
Abiodun, R., H. Drewal, J. Pemberton, YORUBA ART & AESTHETICS
Drewal, H., Abiodun, R., Pemberton, J.,THE YORUBA ARTIST
Drewal, H., & Drewal, M., GELEDE: ART AND FEMALE POWER
Fagg, W., & Pemberton, J., YORUBA: SCULPTURE OF WEST AFRICA
Drewal, H., Pemberton, J., Abiodun, R., YORUBA: NINE CENTURIES OF AFRICAN ART & THOUGHT
Lawal, B., GELEDE: ART & SOCIAL HARMONY IN AN AFRICAN SOCIETY
Thompson, R. F., BLACK GODS AND KINGS
------, FACE OF THE GODS, AFRICAN ART & ALTARS OF AFRICA & AFRICAN AMERICAS
Ray, B., RELA 410: YORUBA RELIGION (Photocopy packet: Selected articles & extracts)
Asante
Appiah, P., "Akan Symbolism," AFRICAN ARTS 13, 1(1979)
Garrard, T., "Akan Metal Arts," AFRICAN ARTS 13, 1 (1979)
McLeod, THE ASANTE H. Cole and Ross, D., THE ARTS OF GHANA
Kyerematen, A. A. Y., PANOPLY OF GHANA
Patton, S., The Stool and Asante Chieftaincy," AFRICAN ARTS 13, 1(1979)
Rattray, r. RELIGION AND ART IN ASHANTI
Ross, D., "The Iconography of Asante Sword Ornaments," AFRICAN ARTS 11, 1 (1977-78)
-----, "The Verbal Art of Akan Linguists Staff," AFRICAN ARTS 16, 1 (1982): 56-67
Sarpong, Peter, THE STOOLS OF THE AKAN
Kongo Area (Luba, Kuba, Chockwe, Songye, Pende, Hemba, Kongo)
Herreman. F. & Petridis, C., FACE OF THE SPIRITS: MASKS FROM THE ZAIRE BASIN
Verswijuer, G.et al., MASTERPIECES FROM CENTRAL AFRICA
McGaffey, W. & Harris, M ., ASTONISHMENT & POWER: KONGO MINKISI
Roberts, M. N., & R. F. Roberts, LUBA ART & THE MAKING OF HISTORY