What is African art? Attempting to answer this (perhaps not so) simple question presents an opportunity to explore the complicated history of interaction between Africa, Europe and the United States; an opportunity to examine the relationships forged among institutions and individuals that have been making, trading, collecting, studying and exhibiting African art since the beginning of the 20th century. Course activities will include lectures, class discussion, one-on-one tutorials, meetings with guest scholars and artists, and visits to museums and galleries. An exciting dimension of Inventing African Art is its association with an important research project recently launched here at UM that will culminate in a major traveling art exhibition—the work students undertake for the course will contribute to this project.

HISTART Concentration Distributions: B. Sub-Saharan Africa, 4. Modern & Contemporary.