ASIA 269 - Arts of India

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as ART 269) For thousands of years, the Indian subcontinent has been home to numerous empires and a hotspot for trade and cross-cultural exchange. This course explores the artistic traditions and aesthetic systems that emerged in the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the first millennium BCE to the end of British colonial rule in the mid-20 th century. We cover a range of art forms, including Buddhist rock-cut architecture and murals, Hindu and Jain sculpture, Indo-Islamic court architecture and miniature, photography and prints as means of dissent and propaganda under British rule, to name but a few. We study how art in India reflected and shaped political and social movements, and how it generated debates and ideologies throughout Indian history. Starting with the premise that Indian art never existed in a cultural or conceptual vacuum, the course also emphasizes the place of India and the Indian Ocean in land and maritime trade networks in Afro-Eurasia. At times, we examine objects and monuments that defy the canon’s often narrow definitions of Indian art, tracing in it cultural elements from China, Persia, and other Asian empires. Petya Andreeva.

Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or any 100-level Asian Studies course.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS