GRS AH 822

Graduate Seminar

Dr. Cynthia Becker

Office: CAS, Room 305B

Office phone: 617-353-1471

Email: cjbecker@bu.edu

Office Hours: Mondays 4-5:00pm, Wednesdays 2-4pm or by appointment

African Islam at the Saharan Crossroads

Africa has traditionally been viewed through a bifocal lens, in which the Sahara has been perceived as an impenetrable barrier, dividing the continent into northern and sub-Saharan Africa. Scholars have failed to recognize that the Sahara was/is both a geographic and intellectual crossroads, allowing for the transmission and exchange of arts, culture, and religion. Over the centuries, the movement of traders, scholars, artisans, and nomads set the stage for the emergence of richly diverse aesthetic expressions. This graduate seminar examines the Saharan crossroads as a site of hybridity and transculturation and considers how Islam influenced art, culture, and performances in northern and western Africa. Topics include the Berber/Amazigh art in North Africa, contemporary artists in the Maghreb, Saharan arts (Tuareg, Wodaabe), Islamic empires in West Africa, Hausa art and architecture, the emergence of Sufi arts in Senegal, and the legacy of the trans-Saharan slave trade on arts in the Maghreb.

Online Readings

Readings from the course can be viewed and printed from the course website.

Participation

Two or three of you will lead the class in discussion each week. You can work as a group or divide the readings between you. You should consider the following format:

• Summarize the writer’s argument and main points.
• Critique the writer’s style and methods (what worked and what did not work in the article according to your opinion).
• Find quotes that you think are important for discussion, relating them to themes in the course.
• Prepare 3 to 4 questions for discussion.
• Prepare a powerpoint presentation with images to discuss. You must create the presentations yourself and can use images from the web (you must give the source website) and cumulus. You can register online to use cumulus at: http://www.bu.edu/ah/vrc/cumulus.html

Short response papers

Each week, all students must write a two to three page interpretation of the articles. You are allowed to miss one week without being penalized. Please consider the common themes and issues discussed in the articles and consider how they are the same or different. Feel free to voice your opinion of what is persuasive and what is not.

North African artist presentations

You must do research and present on one North African artist (see list on syllabus). Your presentations should be 10 minutes long and include a powerpoint presentation. You must also turn in a two to three page discussion of the artist’s work that includes a bibliography.

Final Research Paper

A 15 to 20-page research paper is due on May 1st. Papers must include images. Internet sources (unless you clear them with me) are not acceptable. Your final presentations will be held during the last three weeks of class. You should plan on giving a 20-minute presentation, leaving 10 minutes for questions. Final presentations must include a powerpoint presentation.

Grade Breakdown

Two In-Class Presentations: 15%

North African artist paper and presentation: 10%

Weekly written response papers: 20%

Final Oral Presentation: 20%

Final Research Paper (15-20 pages): 35%

Course Schedule

January 26

Introduction, course requirements and Choice of Paper topics.

February 2

The Islamization of North Africa

• Bynon, James. 1984. "Berber Women's Pottery: Is the Decoration Motivated," in Earthenware in Asia and Africa (Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No 12), pp. 136-161.
• Vincentelli, Moira. 1989. “Reflections on a Kabyle Pot: Algerian Women and the Decorative Tradition.” Journal of Design History. 2 (2/3): 123-138. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1315802

• Micaud, Ellen. 1970. “The Craft Tradition in North Africa.” African Arts 3(2): 38-43, 90-91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3334544

· Liu, Robert and Liza Wataghani. 1975. “Moroccan Folk Jewelry.” African Arts 8(2): 28-80. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3334828

· Kasfir, Sidney. 1984. “One tribe, one style?: Paradigms in the historiography of African art.” History in Africa 11: 163-193. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171633

• Becker, Cynthia. 2006. “Amazigh Textiles and Dress in Morocco.” African Arts 39(3): 42-55.

Presenters (3): Lynne, Eleana, Deb

February 9

Berber Art & Architecture

· Curtis, William. 1983. “Type and Variation: Berber Collective Dwellings of the Northwestern Sahara.” Muqarnas 1: 181-209. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1523077

• Bourdieu, Pierre. 1973. "The Berber House," in Mary Douglas (ed.) Rules and Meanings: The Anthropology of Everyday Knowledge. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, pp. 98-110.
• Loeckx, André. 1998. “Kabylia, the House, and the Road: Games of Reversal and Displacement.” Journal of Architectural Education 52 (2): 87-99. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425424
• Goodman, Jane. 2005. “The Mythical Village.” In Berber Culture on the World Stage. pp. 69-93.

Presenters (3): Karaugh, Jenny, Jamie

February 17 (Substitute Monday Classes)

Saharan Cultures in Transition

· Prussin, Labelle. 1995. African Nomadic Architecture. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 88-107.

· Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World, pp. 19-27, 54-55, 139-159, 167-195

· Bovin, Mette. 2001. Nomads Who Cultivate Beauty. Uppsala, Sweden: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, pp. 9-36, 62-67.

· Imperato, P. 1973. “Wool Blankets of the Peul of Mali.” African Arts 6(3): 40-47, 84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3334694

· Spooner, Brian. “Weavers and Dealers: the authenticity of an oriental carpet.” In The Social Life of Things, ed. Arjun Appadurai, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 195-223.

· Frank, Barbara. 1987. “Open Borders: Style and Ethnic Identity,” African Arts 20(4): 48-55, 90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3336634

Presenters (3): Sarah, Melanee, Leann

No class February 23 – class rescheduled for March 19^th (7-9pm) 285 Washington Avenue - Union Square

March 2

Saharan Cultures in Transition

• Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World, pp. 57-74 and pp. 213-237.
• Rasmussen, Susan. 1995. “Art as Process an Product: Patronage and the Problem of Change in Tuareg Blacksmith/Artisan Roles.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 65 (4): 592-610. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1161134
• David, Elizabeth A. 1999. “Metamorphosis in the culture market of Niger.” American Anthropologist. 101(3): 485-501. http://www.jstor.org/stable/683843

Presenters (2): Jamie, Andrea

March 9-13 – Spring Break

March 16

North African Art & Issues of Identity

· Fanon, Franz. 2003. “Algeria Unveiled,” in The Veil: Veiling and Representation, David Bailey and Gilane Tawadros, eds. MIT Press, pp. 74-87.

· Bernadac, Marie-Laure and Abdelwahab Neddeb, 2005. “Africa Begins in the North,” in Africa Remix, ed. Simon Njami. Hatje Kantz, pp. 40-46.

· Mikdadi, Salwa. "The Magic of Signs and Patterns in North African Art". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nasp/hd_nasp.htm (October 2004)

· http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2003/algerian_art

For this week, choose one North African artist from the list below and bring information and a few images to class this week to present to the class. A good online resource is: http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas

Artists:

Farid Belkahia (Morocco) - Leann

· Irbouh, Hamid. 1998. “Farid Belkahia: A Moroccan Artist’s Search for Authenticity.” Issues in Contemporary African Art, pp. 47-68.

Baya (Algeria) - Karaugh

Younes Rahmoun (Morocco) - Lynne

Lalla Essaydi (Morocco) - Sarah

· Essaydi, Lalla. 2005. Converging Territories. Powerhouse Books: New York. (essays and interview by Amanda Carlson), 26-29.

Rachid Koraichi (Algeria) - Andrea

· Lostia, Maryline. 2001. “Rachid Koraichi: A Celestial Architecture” in Authentic/Ex-centric: Conceptualism in Contemporary African Art, eds. Salah Hassan and Olu Oguibe. Forum for African Arts, pp. 158-177.

Houria Niati (Algeria) - Deb

· Rogers, Sarah. 2002. “Houria Niati’s No to Torture: A Modernist Reconfiguration of Delacroix’s Women of Algiers in their Apartment,” Thresholds, 36-41. http://architecture.mit.edu/thresholds/issue-contents/24/rogers24/rogers24.htm

Hassan Darsi (Morocco) - Eleana

Samta Benyahia (Algeria) – see website of the Fowler Museum - Jenny

Mounir Fatmi (Morocco) - Melanee

Touhami Ennadre (Morocco) - Jamie

· Enwezor, Okwui. 2007. “Photography in the Shadow of Death: A Conversation with Touhami Ennadre.” Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art 21: 10-23.

March 19

Berber Identity Construction

· Crawford, David. 2001. “How Berber Matters in the Middle of Nowhere.”
Middle East Report. http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/dcrawford/

· Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce. 2007. “Berber/Amazigh Memory Work.” In The Maghrib in the New Century, Bruce Maddy-Wetizman and Daniel Zisenwine, eds. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 50-71.

· Becker, Cynthia. 2009. “Matriarchal Nomad or Freedom Fighter? Expressions of Transnational Amazigh Consciousness in Art by Moroccan, Algerian, and Nigerien Activists.” Critical Interventions: Journal of African Art History and Visual Culture 4, spring issue, forthcoming

· Schroeter, Daniel and Vivian Mann. 2000. Morocco: Jews and Art in a Muslim Land. New York: Jewish Museum, 27-54; 126-138.

March 23

Arts of African Islam or Islamic Africa?

• Bravmann, René. 2000. “Islamic Art and Material Culture in Africa.” In The History of Islam in Africa, Nehemia Levtzion and Randall Lee Pouwels, eds. Ohio University Press, pp. 489-517.
• Prussin, Labelle. 1986. “The Medieval Age: West African Empires.” Hatumere, pp. 103-158.

• Saul, Mahir. 2006. “Islam and West African Anthropology.” Anthropology Today. 53 (1): 3-33. (accessible through Project Muse) http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.bu.edu/journals/africa_today/v053/53.1saul.html
• Prussin, Labelle. 1968. "The Architecture of Islam in West Africa." African Arts, 1(2): 32-35. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3334324
• Blier, Suzanne. 2004. “Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa.” In Butabu, pp. 185-206.
• Bourgeois, Jean-Louis. 1987. “The history of the great mosque of Djenne.” African Arts 20 (3): 54-63, 90-92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3336477
• Aradeon, Suzan. 1989. “Al-Sahili: the historians’ myth of traditional technology transfer from North Africa.” Journal des Africanistes 59(1/2): 99-131.

Presenters (3): Lynne, Eleana, Karaugh

March 30

African Empire Building: hausa Art and Architecture

· Picton, John. 2006. “Keeping the Faith: Islam and West African Art History in the 19^th century.” In Islamic Art in the 19^th Century, Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Stephen Vernoit, eds. Brill, pp. 191-230.

· Blier, Suzanne. 2004. “Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa.” In Butabu, pp. 206-213.

• Prussin, Labelle. 1976. “Fulani-Hausa Architecture.” African Arts 10(2): 8-98. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3335251

• Perani, Judith and Norma H. Wolff. 1992. “Embroidered Gown and Equestrian Ensembles of the Kano Aristrocracy.” African Arts 25 (3): 70-82, 102-103. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3337003
• Schwerdtfeger, Friedrich. 2008. Hausa Urban Art and its Social Background: External House Decorations in a Northern Nigerian City. Lit Verlag, selected text.

Presenters (3): Sarah, Leann, Deb

April 6

Islam in West Africa: From Masquerades to Urban Sufi Art

• Bravmann, René. 1974. Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 6-27.
• Roberts, Allen, and Mary Nooter Roberts, eds. 2003, a Saint in the City, (UCLA Fowler Museum of Art: Los Angeles, pp. 21-67, 85-107, 191-212.
• Robinson, David. 2000. Paths of Accommodation: Muslim Societies and French Colonial Authorities in Senegal and Mauritania, 1880-1920. Athens: Ohio University Press. Chapters 4 and 11.
• Lamp, Fred. 1996. “The Islamic Watershed: A Culture Held in Reserve,” in Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention. Prestel, pp. 223-239.
• Bravmann, René and Raymond A. Silverman, 1987. “Painted Incantations: The Closeness of Allah and Kings in 19^th Century Asante,” in The Golden Stool: Studies of the Asante Center and Periphery, eds. E. Schildkrout. American Museum of Natural History, pp. 93-108.

Presenters (3): Andrea, Melanee, Jenny

April 13

The Legacy of the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade: The Afro-Islamic Arts of the Gnawa

• Becker, Cynthia. TBA
• Bravmann, Renee. 1995. “Islamic spirits and African ancestry in Trans-Saharan perspective.” In Islamic Art and Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa, Karin Adahl and Berit Shlstrom, eds. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, pp. 57-69.
• Kapchan, Deborah. 2007. Traveling Spirit Masters. CT: Wesleyan University Press, pp. 11-46.
• Prussin, Labelle. 2006. “Judaic Threads in the West African Tapestry: No More Forever?” The Art Bulletin 88 (2): 328-353.

April 21 (substitute Monday classes)

Final Presentations

April 27

Final Presentations

May 4

Final Presentations

Books on Reserve at the Mugar Library

Becker, Cynthia. 2006. Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity. University of Texas Press: Austin. NX587.75.A1 B43 2006

Blier, Suzanne. 2004. Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa. New York:

Princeton Architectural Press. NA1598 .M67 2003

Bourdier, Jean-Paul. 1996. Drawn from African Dwellings. Indiana University Press: Bloomington. NA1598 .B68 1996 (folio)

Bourgeois, Jean-Louis. 1989. Spectacular Vernacular: the adobe tradition. Aperture Foundation: New York. NA2542.A73 B69 1989 (folio)

Bravmann, René. 1974. Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa. London: Cambridge

University Press. N7398 .B72

Brett, Michael and Elizabeth Fentress. 1996. The Berbers. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers Inc. DT193.5.B45 B74 1996

Courtney-Clarke, Margaret. 1996. Imazighen: The Vanishing Traditions of Berber Women. New York: Clarkson Potter. DT193.5.B45 C68 1996

Harney, Elizabeth. 2004. In Senghor’s Shadow: Art, Politics, and the Avant-Garde in Senegal, 1960-1995. Durham: Duke University Press. N7399.S4 H37 2004

Njami, Simon. 2005. Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent. New York: DAP. N7380.5 .A369 2005

Prussin, Labelle. 1986. Hatumere: Islamic Design in West Africa. University of California Press: Berkeley. NA1598 .P77 1986

_______. 1995. African Nomadic Architecture. Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington. NA7461.A1 P78 1995

Roberts, Mary Nooter and Allen Roberts. 2003. A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Art. BP195.M66 R66 2003

(folio)

Seligman, Thomas and Kristyne Loughran. 2006. Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads

in a Modern World. Los Angeles: Stanford University. DT346.T7 A78 2006 (folio)

Westermarck, Edward. 1926. Ritual and Belief in Morocco. London: Macmillan and co, Ltd. GR360.M6 F26 v 1 and 2