In this Book
- Seeing the Unseen: Arts of Power Associations on the Senufo-Mande Cultural "Frontier"
- Book
- 2023
- Published by: Indiana University Press
- Series: African Expressive Cultures
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
summary
How do arts convey the existence of potent knowledge without revealing details of that knowledge?
In Seeing the Unseen, art historian Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi examines tensions between the seen and unseen that makers, patrons, and audiences of arts in western West Africa negotiate through objects, assemblages, and performances. Gagliardi examines how ambiguity anchors design of the arts, and she shows that attempts to determine exact meanings miss the point. Specialists across western West Africa construct assemblages, installations, and buildings that hint at the possibility of revelation, but full disclosure remains unattainable. Specific activities and contexts integral to the design and use of the works often leave no visible trace.
Through attention to many ways of seeing and knowing, Seeing the Unseen opens new possibilities for the study of so-called historical or classical arts of Africa grounded in the specificity of individual works, their making, and their reception. It also prompts us to reflect on how we know and what it means to know in any context.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
Download Full EPUB
- Half Title
- p. i
- Title Page
- p. iii
- Dedication
- pp. v-vi
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xix-xxiv
- Note on Names
- pp. xxv-xxviii
- Introduction
- pp. 1, 3-53
- 1. Power Associations
- pp. 55-93
- 2. Assemblages
- pp. 95-146
- 3. Performers and Performances
- pp. 147-172
- 4. Unseeing Audiences
- pp. 173-194
- 5. Komo on Screen
- pp. 195-220
- Coda: Embracing Unstable Ground
- pp. 221-224
- References
- pp. 265-292
- About the Author
- p. 313
Additional Information
ISBN
9780253064295
Related ISBN(s)
9780253064271, 9780253064288, 9780253064301
MARC Record
OCLC
1375055129
Launched on MUSE
2023-04-19
Language
English
Open Access
Yes
Creative Commons
CC-BY-NC-ND