Art from Japan, Africa and Oceania
Code: 106393 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Art History | OT | 3 |
| Art History | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Ricard Bru Turull
- Email:
- ricard.bru@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
English reading comprehension is recommended, apart from Catalan and Spanish.
Objectives and Contextualisation
- Learn a general and introductory overview of the world's artistic diversity, focusing on various examples from Africa, Oceania and East Asia.
- Manage the bibliographical resources of the discipline.
- Acquire a certain familiarity with Japanese art.
- Master the appropriate artistic terminology.
Competences
- Art History
- Critically analysing from the acquired knowledge a work of art in its many facets: formal values, iconographic significance, artistic techniques and procedures, elaboration process and reception mechanisms.
- Interpreting a work of art in the context in which it was developed and relating it with other forms of cultural expression.
- Recognising the evolution of the artistic imagery from the antiquity to the contemporary visual culture.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
Learning Outcomes
- Accurately defining and explaining an artistic object with the specific language of art criticism.
- Analysing ideas about an artistic phenomenon in a given cultural context.
- Analysing the creators of an artistic phenomenon in a specific cultural context.
- Analysing the recipients of an artistic phenomenon in a specific cultural context.
- Applying the iconographic knowledge to the reading of artistic imagery.
- Connecting an artistic imagery with other cultural phenomena within its period.
- Distinguishing the elaboration techniques and processes of an artistic object.
- Engaging in debates about historical facts respecting the other participants' opinions.
- Examining an artistic imagery and distinguishing its formal, iconographic and symbolic values.
- Explaining the reception mechanisms of a work of art.
- Identifying the artistic imagery, placing it into its cultural context.
- Reconstructing the artistic outlook of a particular cultural context.
Content
Previous recommendations concerning the consistency of the title and the contents of the course.
1. ARTS OF AFRICA. Introduction to artistic forms from sub-Saharan Africa.
2. ARTS OF OCEANIA. Introduction to artistic forms from the Pacific.
3. JAPANESE ART: Introduction to Japanese art, from prehistory to 20th century.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Directed | 130 | 5.2 | 3, 4, 2, 11, 5, 1, 7, 9, 10, 8, 12, 6 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Supervised | 10 | 0.4 | 3, 4, 2, 11, 5, 1, 7, 9, 10, 12, 6 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Autonomous | 10 | 0.4 | 3, 4, 2, 11, 5, 1, 7, 9, 10, 8, 12, 6 |
Classroom courses(directed activity):
- Theoretical classes.
- Eventual conferences.
Tutorials (supervised activity)
- Resolution of doubts related to the subject. Virtual Campus
- Certain materials, calendar and delivery dates.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence 1: Written test | 20% | 0 | 0 | 3, 4, 2, 11, 5, 1, 7, 9, 10, 8, 12, 6 |
| Evidence 2: Written test | 40% | 0 | 0 | 3, 4, 2, 11, 5, 1, 9, 10, 12, 6 |
| Evidence 3: Short essay | 40% | 0 | 0 | 3, 4, 2, 11, 5, 1, 7, 9, 10, 12, 6 |
Evidence 1: Test consisting of the identification of artistic works from Africa and Oceania (20%)
Evidence 2: Short essay (40%).
Evidence 3: Commentary of a Japanese artwork (40%).
The final grade of the course will be the result of the percentages of the assessment items. In order to pass the course, students must submit all the assessment items.
Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items.
Only students who have taken all three written exercises with a final grade lower than 5 are entitled to a re-assessment - on the date set by the Faculty - The maximum grade to be obtained in the re-assessment is 5.
On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.
In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activites. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
Bibliography
Africa
Werner Gillo, Breve historia del arte africano, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1989.
Frank Willet, Arte africano: una introducción, Barcelona, Destino, 2000.
África: mágia i poder. 2500 anys d'art a Nigèria, Fundacio La Caixa, Barcelona, 1998.
William Fagg, Yoruba. Sculpture of West Africa, Pace editions, New York, 1982.
Louis Perrois, L'art fang de la Guinea Equatorial, Barcelona, Fundación Folch, 1991.
William Rubin, Primitivism in 20th century art, New York, MoMA, 1987.
Oceania
Nicholas Thomas, Oceanic art, Nova York, Thames & Hudson, 1995.
Peter Brunt i Nicholas Thomas, Art in Oceania: a new history. Londres, Thames & Hudson, 2012.
Peter Brunt, Nicholas Thomas et alii, Oceania. Londres, Royal Academy of Art, 2018.
Eric Kjellgren, Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nova York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007.
Eric Kjellgren, How to read Oceanic art, Nova York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014.
Steven Hooper, Pacific encounters. Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860, University of East Anglia, 200
Japan
Joan Stanley-Baker, Arte japonés, Barcelona, Destino, 2000.
Ivan Morris, El mundo del príncipe resplandeciente, Girona, Atalanta, 2007.
Daisetz T. Suzuki, El zen y la cultura japonesa, Barcelona, Paidos, 1996.
Christine Guth, El arte en el Japón Edo: el artista y la ciudad, 1615-1868, Madrid, Tres Cantos, 2009.
Amaury A. García Rodríguez, Cultura popular y grabado en Japón. Siglos XVII a XIX, México, El Colegio de México, 2005.
Yoshihiro Suzuki, Aprendiendo aver la estatuas budistas japonesas, Gijon, Satori, 2024.
Doshin Sato, Modern Japanese Art and the Meiji State. The Politics of Beauty, Getty Publications, 2011.
Software
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |