Revisiting History of Art and bringing in a multitude of narratives is vital and important.
Thinking about this, made us look back to the artworks below by Kadder Attia, part of a series entitled Mirrors and Masks 2013-2015. They were made in tribute to African Art and the influence it has had on artists in the "Western" canon of art history.
Kader Attia’s first mask in the series was made after he visited a Picasso exhibition, where he was shocked to not find any African masks as part of the art that influenced Picasso’s cubism. So in response, and in homage to art from Africa, Attila created masks with shards of broken mirror to reflect back to the viewer, showing all who look at the masks a cubist portrait of themselves.
Through this cycle, it could make the viewer think of where art and its influences come from.
These images were taken from the artist's exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in 2019.
Here are some links and resources for us to read and learn on the subject of revisiting History of Art and adding to the narrative:
Decolonizing Art History: a set of responses from different art historians, curators and artists on decolonizing Art History, put together by Catherine Grant and Dorothy Price from Art History - Journal of the Association for Art History
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8365.12490
The Met Museum: African Influences in Modern Art by Denise Murrell
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aima/hd_aima.htm
https://africasacountry.com/author/serubiri-moses
TedEd: How ancient art influenced modern art - Felipe Galindo
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-ancient-art-influenced-modern-art-felipe-galindo
Black Artists and Modernism
http://www.blackartistsmodernism.co.uk/
Studio Museum Harlem: (+ Learn with online lesson plans)
INIVA
154 Art Fair
The Black Curriculum
https://www.theblackcurriculum.com/action
https://www.theblackcurriculum.com/ourcurriculum
via @sarahmower
https://www.instagram.com/sarahmower_/
Art influences art, a work of art or an art movement builds on top of another, or pushes forward, disrupts and so on, but it should not erase people, artists, movements or civilisations. For instance Toulouse Lautrec was influenced by Japanese prints, this does not take away anything from the talent of Toulouse Lautrec or the wonders of French art, but at the same time, not learning about the art that comes from Japan and how it may have influenced the post impressionists, and not being taught all perspectives in art history means that art becomes a tool to showcase one history, one power and not multiple spheres of influence or the multitude of beautiful art that comes from all over the world.
To learn about Fauvism, an understanding of Cezanne and Van Gogh takes place, and so why not learn about all the influences from all over the world and a variety of art and culture that have impacted artists.
Here below are some resources on multiple narratives in art history, for us to learn and read. We will be adding some more as we find them. If you have any recommendations to share please send them through or add a comment.
Online Museum Resources in Asian Art (OmuRAA)
http://afemuseums.easia.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/museums/search.cgi
Kyoto National Museum
https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/index.html
The Met Museum: The Arts of Korea, A Resource for Educators
https://www.metmuseum.org/-/media/files/learn/for-educators/publications-for-educators/korea.pdf
Asia Art Archive
https://aaa.org.hk/en/resources/for-educators
Whitney Museum
https://whitney.org/exhibitions/vida-americana
https://whitney.org/essays/america-mexican-muralism
Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World
http://www.encyclopedia.mathaf.org.qa/en/Pages/default.aspx
The Met Museum: Art of the Islamic World
https://www.metmuseum.org/learn/educators/curriculum-resources/art-of-the-islamic-world
Modern Art Iraq Archive
Museums With No Borders
AMCA: The Association for Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab world, Iran, and Turkey
http://amcainternational.org/moma_primary_documents/
The Barjeel Art Foundation
https://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/collection/
"The personal is political" - the title of an essay written by Carol Hanisch - in reference to, women being pushed out of the narrative and stating that the notion of everyday life is of political importance. Being pushed out of the narrative has also been true for women in art. Here are some links readdressing this:
Hundred Heroines
https://hundredheroines.org/100-heroines/
The Great Women Artists
https://www.instagram.com/thegreatwomenartists/
Google: Arts and Culture