Description
Postcolonial Studies have fiercely criticised what has come to be known as exoticism. This has tended to overshadow early discourses of the exotic and its aftermath. Thus the question of the place of the exotic within the formation of the history of art has generally been overlooked. Nonetheless, the concept seems to have found frequent use, precisely because of its experimental and ambivalent character. As opposed to definitions like orientalist or primitivist, the exotic is limited neither historically, nor geographically, nor stylistically. The question of the exotic thus seems to be essentially open. As such, images that fascinate, unsettle, or create other ambivalent feelings could be qualified as exotic. Symbolizing a gap in the discourse, exotic images point out a demand in art history, which can be investigated from the viewpoint of historiography. This seminar proposes to trace the various motivations underlying such discourses, from the perspectives of critical methodology and of the history of ideas. Selected case studies will serve to question when, under what circumstances (exhibitions, publications, etc.), on the basis of which criteria (materials, context, etc.), and to what effect (avant-garde, politics, etc.) images are or have been qualified as exotic within the field of art history.| Period | 9-Jun-2016 → 10-Jun-2016 |
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| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Paris, FranceShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
Keywords
- exoticism