Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

Chapter 9 we see how history has been revised in
In
songs and other artistic narratives as a form of
lm,
Consider whether art is better suited for this
uplift.
than other areas of knowledge.
purpose
addition to its progressive role of
In
unspoken truths about the past
illuminating
present, art has also played subversive or
or
roles, expressing the unspeakable
transgressive
or hiding it in plain sight. From the
loudly
Decadent poets of the late 19th century,
French
rallied behind art to “épater la bourgeoisie”,
who
is, “shock the upper/middle classes”, to the
that
obscenity charges against hip-hop artists
1990s
reached the US Supreme Court, subversive
that
has a long history with no shortage of
art
These transgressions have been
controversies.
with appeals to freedom of expression
met
freedom of speech, as well as calls for
and
often simultaneously from opposing
censorship,
of the political spectrum.
sides
encounter tricky intersections when
We
art touches religious belief or
subversive
accepted societal norms. It can be
widely
as liberatory or dangerously disruptive,
seen
on one’s perspective. Would you
depending
that we tend to celebrate subversive art
agree
oppressive times, but condemn transgressive
in
in presumably progressive times? This is
art
by what may be a tendency to view
complicated
past, or geographically distant contexts—
the
elsewheres and elsewhens—as oppressive;
the
our present—our here and now, no
whereas
where we are—is more frequently
matter
as progressive.
perceived
reading what the curators said about their
Before
consider how a collective label such
collections,
“feminist art” may be similar to or different
as
“Renaissance art” or “Indigenous art”.
from
Did the artists think of themselves as
1.
work in a particular genre,
producing
a particular purpose or a specific
for
audience?
If you think the answer to question 1 is
2.
when do labels applied after a work
“no”,
created meaningfully bring artists and
is
together
artworks
sorts of strange things happen when the
All
and artefacts of another culture are
artworks
and protected”, which could be a modern
“taken
for “stolen and exhibited”. It is
euphemism
enough when this is done in the name of
complex
and aesthetic exchange involving an open
cultural
but many cases involve artworks or
dialogue,
that have been stolen, misappropriated,
artefacts
are home to millions of artworks and
Museums
artifacts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
cultural
holds two million objects. The Hermitage has
alone
million. The British Museum eight million.
three
of these objects have made their way to these
Some
through unjust means. Some were stolen
institutions
plundered, others acquired through coerced or
or
transactions. Should these injustices be
exploitative
of these things that belong to our people in Australia—
All
don’t tell a story about the Queen of England, do
they
No way. … They tell stories about the people that
they?
them and used them—that’s our people here in
made
We don’t have the Queen’s crown jewels. And we
Australia.
want them. But what we do want is to get our things
don’t
II. Perspectives
II. Perspectives
Making connections
History, art and uplift
II.4 Patrimony, repatriation and
redistribution of art
misunderstood and misrepresented.
rectied, and if so, how?
(Matthes 2017)
For discussion
back from the British Museum. We want them back.
(Murray quoted in Daly 2015)
Labels in art
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