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Spring Semester 2013
Art History 579
Elvehjem L166
hjdrewal@wisc.edu
M – 6-8pm
Professor Henry Drewal
Office: Elvehjem 229
Phone: 263-9362, 2340/1;
Office hours: T 2-4pm
or by appointment
AH 579 -- Pro/Seminar in African Art: Masquerades and the Senses
This pro/seminar explores the artistry of African and African Diaspora masquerade performances
and the role of the senses in the creative process and in our reception and understanding of these
aesthetic experiences, a theory and method I term sensiotics. Since the focus on the body is
receiving renewed attention, we will together as a group of scholars identify and evaluate the
literature on the present state of our knowledge of the senses, the body-mind (cognitive)
sciences, and their relevance for understanding the arts. This course is part of the Department’s
on-going series entitled “Object, Body, Mind.” Events related to this theme, and those of the Arts
Institute Artist-in Residence -- Faisal Abdu’Allah – may be integrated into this pro/seminar.
We will first consider cultural theories and practices surrounding masquerades -- their
psychological and philosophical foundations in culture and history, and some of the ways to
study masking arts and performance using a variety of sources (written, oral, experiential), and
especially multi-sensorial ones. Then we will critically evaluate these with reference to African
and African Diaspora materials as a prelude to the preparation of individual or collaborative
research projects and presentations by pro/seminar members. Discussions of readings/issues will
be led by students (working in pairs). The first seminar presentations will be done by the
instructor based upon his research in Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America, using
PowerPoint presentations, sound recordings, and film. There may also be guest presenters.
All readings are either in the Seminar Reader (available at Bob’s Copy Shop, 616 University
Avenue, 257-4536) or on Reserve in Kohler Art Library, HCW College Library Reserves, or the
Wisconsin Historical Society.
We will also engage with the masking traditions of Carnival (days leading up to Tuesday
February 12). All seminar members will mask, integrating at least two senses in their
performances, and then submit a 2-page double-spaced meditation (with photos/video) of this
experience for discussion on Monday, February 18.
Being a seminar, the course will be conducted in the following manner:
1) The instructor will make some of the initial presentations. By the third or fourth week,
students will be expected to lead and participate in discussions based on their bibliographic
research, the initial presentations, and course readings.
2) We will arrange special visits to the Chazen Museum of Art to view the masks in the African
art gallery, as well as others in the permanent collection (2-hour sessions to replace our regularly
scheduled, Monday night seminar meeting when the Chazen is closed).
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3) Students should choose tentative topics and bring a brief outline and bibliography (1-2 pages)
by the sixth week of class (2/25) (if not sooner) and come to discuss this with the instructor
during office hours or by appointment. You may work collaboratively and develop joint/team (2person) presentations (i.e., "The Aesthetic Impact of Sounds, Sights, and Smells in Guro
Masking"), or work individually. Ideally, a team should include both a graduate and
undergraduate student, but this will depend on interests. Readings on reserve in Kohler Art
Library (and back issues of African Arts), Helen C. White, Memorial Library, as well as the WI
Historical Society Reserves (sources on Mardi Gras-New Orleans) should be consulted for
choosing research topics. I encourage graduate students to mentor undergraduates in team
research and presentations.
4) By the eleventh week of the semester, students will compile their basic research sources
(images, sensory data, articles, books) and give short (5-minute) progress reports on their
projects. Pro/Seminar members will comment and offer suggestions.
5) Student final presentations will begin in the fourteenth week (4/22) – see details below.
All African and African Diaspora slides in the Department of Art History's Visual Resources
Collection have now been digitized and are available at the “Image Search - InSitu” link of the
Art History Department's website. Others may be scanned from publications and other sources
by you. Jacob Esselstrom, Curator of the Visual Resources Collection, will provide instructions
and guidance on the use of digital images (and/or loan of slides) and/or equipment for
PowerPoint presentations. I prefer that students use the Department’s PCs and load PP
presentations before class, but some may wish to use their own laptops (Mac/Apple with proper
adapters – test these in the seminar room to be sure they work properly – especially if you are
using Keynote). Scanning facilities for PowerPoint presentations are available in Kohler,
Memorial, and College Libraries. Beginning the fourteenth week, students will begin giving full
presentations (30 minutes per student) of their research findings, followed by 20-30 minutes of
discussion – two presentations per class. These could be in innovative forms, such as
performances or the screening of a video, DVD, etc. Pro/seminar members should be prepared to
ask questions and comment on the content, argumentation, performance style/effectiveness, etc.
and offer constructive criticism.
Final research projects (papers, video, etc.) are due by Monday, May 13 at 4pm, but students
are encouraged to submit them earlier if possible. If it is in the form of a research paper, it
should be 15-20 pages for undergraduates and 20-25 pages for graduate students -double-spaced 12 pt. text, plus illustrations, notes, DVD, etc., and bibliography). If the project
takes the form of a performance, video, DVD, multi-sensorial installation, etc., a shorter (10-15
pages) final paper should summarize the research findings and be a thoughtful and critical
account of the objectives, creative process, outcomes, etc.
[Some advice on oral presentations for seminars and conferences:
1) Strong, clear, and active opening statement (and image) of subject/thesis to "hook" your
listening audience.
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2) Brief outline of what you will present.
3) Develop topic/argument and integrate visual and other sensory data into the presentation -- try
to import film clips, sound recordings, etc. into the PowerPoint or Keynote presentation to make
these as seamless/fluid as possible.
4) Give a short, silent pause to alert us that you are coming to the closing.... you can say, "...and
in conclusion..." -- then synthesize and summarize what you have told us, and conclude with a
strong, powerful closing sentence...do NOT say "and that's the end"
And then wait for a standing ovation!!]
Evaluation will be based upon (a) preparation, class participation, 2-page meditation, and quality
of the progress report (30%); (b) quality of the final presentation (30%); and c) the final research
project (40%).
Week 1 – Seminar does not meet – students expected to begin readings/prepare for
discussions – Get reader and read the first 6 selections: Drewal, Ackerman, Johnson,
Taussig (2), and Geurts before week 5.
Week 2 (1/28) -- Introduction – Persons, Personas, Procedures, Expectations, Teams
TO DO for Week 3:
1) 8 teams of 1-2 students - each to research senses :
(1) sight ___________________________, (2) hearing____________________________,
(3) touch___________________________, (4) taste______________________________,
(5) smell___________________________, (6) motion_____________________________,
(7) extra-sensory perception_______________________, and 8) implications of mirror
neurons_____________________________. By next week, each team is to bring a
bibliography (copies to be distributed to seminar) and discuss a) the current literature on our
understandings of how the senses work vis a vis the body and brain and b) the implications of
their findings for studies of the senses in masking/performance arts of Africa and the African
Diaspora.
2) Check course Reader (see Index of African Arts articles on masking, marked M) and
reserve readings for possible research topics. These should be highly-focused, closely
analysed case studies of a single masking tradition in Africa or the African Diaspora.
Look for the absences/silences in descriptions and analyses of the role of the senses in
these masking traditions (creation, performance, reception by audiences) and foreground
them in your projects.
3) General procedure for class – one hour of presentation/discussion by instructor or guest,
followed by a second hour of discussion about presentations/readings.
Read #s 1-7 for discussion in week 4; read #s 8-11 for week 5 [All in Reader]:
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1) Drewal, “Senses in Understandings of Art,” in African Arts, Summer 2005: pp. 1, 4, 88,
96. discussants_________________.
2) Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses, pp. xv-xix, 1-31 plus the “touch” of a hand. –
discussants_________________.
3) Readings from a 30-minute Google search of “cognition and senses” – from highly
academic science to “Tiny Love” – toys to develop sensory talents. [not in Reader, do
your own search and bring to class]
4) Johnson, “Preface,” The Body in the Mind, pp. ix-xxxviii.
discussants_________________.
5) Taussig, My Cocaine Museum, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, pp.31-40. –
discussants_________________.
6) Taussig, “Red Text: Color as Weight,” in What Color is Sacred?,” mss from forthcoming
book, 12pp. (with my liner notes, comments) – discussants_________________.
7) Geurts, Culture and the Senses. “Is There a Sixth Sense?” Berkeley: University of
California Press, 2002, pp. 3-69. – discussants_______________________________.
8) Drewal, "Form-words in Understandings of Art," in Visions of Africa: The Jerome L. Joss
Collection of African Art at UCLA (Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History),
1994, pp. 64-79. [book on reserve] – discussants_________________.]
9) Lamp, “Introduction,” in See The Music, Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at The
Baltimore Museum of Art, (Baltimore and Munich: The Baltimore Museum of Art and
Prestel Verlag), 2004, pp.14-15, 17, 19-27. [Reader, book on Reserve]
discussants_________________.
10) Drewal, “A Spectacle of Miracles: The Yoruba Forest Spirit Mask (Aroni),” and “A
Chorus of Visual Praise Offerings: A Yoruba Staff (ose Shango),” in See The Music,
Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at The Baltimore Museum of Art, Fred Lamp, ed.
Pp. 144-5, 154-55. [Reader, book on Reserve] discussants_________________.
11) Blier, “Ways of Experiencing African Art: The Role of Patina,” in Art of the Senses:
African Masterpieces from the Teel Collection, pp.11-23 and selected illustrations.
[Reader, book on Reserve] discussants_________________.
Week 3 (2/4) – Researching Performance and The Senses – Practice and Theories
1) Reports on the senses (teams), each followed by discussion.
Week 4 (2/11) – Senses and Arts – discussion
1)
2)
3)
4)
Discussion of readings #s1-7 led by discussants.
Jacob Esselstrom speaks about Visual Resources Collection.
Melissa Tedrowe or another to speak about Writing Center.
Staff of Kohler Art Library to discuss research methods.
Read for week 5:
1) Index of African Arts articles on masking, marked M (volume 1-39 -- Reader). Review
volumes 40-45 for recent articles on African masquerades (Kohler Art Library)
2) Discussion of readings #s 8-11 led by discussants.
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Week 5 (2/18) – Senses and Masking
Discussion of masking experience/meditations (2-page paper due)
Read for week 6:
1) Cole, African Arts of Transformation. [On Reserve-Kohler] –
discussant_________________.
2) Cole, I am Not Myself, pp.7-27. [On Reserve-Kohler] Survey selected cultural traditions.
-- discussant_________________.
3) Drewal, M. T. "The Study of Performance in Africa," African Studies Review, 34, 3,
December 1991, pp.1-64. [Reader] -- discussant_________________.
4) Kasfir, West African Masks and Cultural Systems, pp. 1-45. [Reader] -discussant_________________.
5) Picton and Arnaut in Bedu is My Lover, pp.5-8, 23-32. [Reader] -discussant_________________.
"You cannot stand in one place to see [understand] a masquerade" (Igbo saying)
Week 6 (2/25)-- Discussion of readings for this week – Cole, Drewal, Kasfir, Picton
&Arnaut
1) Research project outline and bibliography due for discussion with instructor.
Read for week 7:
1) Thompson, Black Gods and Kings, Chapters I, II. [HCW, RB Afroamer 241 #201]
2) Drewal, Pemberton, Abiodun, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, Ch.
1. [HCW, RB Afroamer 241 #13]
3) Drewal, M. T. Yoruba Ritual, xiii-xix, chaps.1, 2, 6. [HCW, Art History 500]
4) Drewal, H. J. "The Arts of Egungun among Yoruba Peoples," Houlberg, "Egungun
Masquerades of the Remo Yoruba," and "Drewal and Drewal, "More Powerful than Each
Other: An Egbado Classification of Egungun" from African Arts, 11, 3, 1978 (Special
Issue on Egungun ancestral masking). [Kohler Art Library]
5) Fitzgerald, Okediji and Drewal, “Transformation through Cloth,” African Arts, Spring
1995, pp.55-57. [Reader] – [Note: This masquerade and another are in the Helen Allen
Textile Collection-UW-Madison – I encourage seminar students to work on these
ensembles]
Week 7 (3/4) -- Case Study: Yoruba Egungun Masking – Cosmos and the Ancestors
“The outsider/stranger usually sees through the nose.” (Yoruba proverb)
Read for week 8:
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1) Drewal and Drewal, Gelede: Art and Female Power Among the Yoruba. [Reader has
Preface and first chapter on “Yoruba Spectacle,” pp. 1-16.]
2) Ibitokun, B. Dance as Ritual Drama and Entertainment in the Gelede... [On Reserve –
Kohler]
3) Lawal, B. The Gelede Spectacle: Art, Gender, and Social Harmony in an African
Culture. [Intro in Reader, book on Reserve]
4) Babatunde, "The Gelede Masked Dance and Ketu Society," in Kasfir, West African
Masks and Cultural Systems, pp. 45-65. [Reader]
Week 8 (3/11) – Case Study: Yoruba Masking – Gelede: Multiple Perspectives,
Interpretations, and Senses
Read for week 9:
1) Drewal, “Celebrating Water Spirits: Influence, Confluence, and Difference in IjebuYoruba and Delta Masquerades,” in Ways of the River: Arts and Environment of the
Niger Delta (Los Angeles: Fowler Museum), 2002, pp. 193-215, 353. [Reader]
Week 9 (3/18) – Case Study: Flaming Crowns, Cooling Waters: Ijebu-Yoruba Masking for
Water Spirits & Student Multi-Sensorial Masking Experience
SPRING RECESS (3/23—3/31)
Week 10 (3/25) -- Student 5-minute Progress Reports and Discussion
Read for week 11:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Cole, Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos, Foreword, chaps. 1, 5, 6. [On Reserve]
Ottenberg, Masked Rituals of Afikpo. [On Reserve]
Fischer and Homberger, Masks in Guro Culture. [On Reserve]
Phillips, Representing Woman, Introduction and essays 3, 4, 5, and 6. [On Reserve]
Week 11 (4/1) -- Other African and African Diaspora Multi-Sensorial Masking Arts: Igbo,
Guro, Mende, etc.,
Read for week 12 &13:
1) Smith, Mardi Gras Indians, pages marked 239- 258, 268-280. [Wisconsin Historical
Society Reserve shelves]
Week 12 (4/8) -- Afro-Brazilian or Afro-Panamanian carnivals (Drewal)
Week 13 (4/15) -- Mardi Gras Masking – Guest presentation by Angela Richardson
Week 14 (4/22) – Student Presentations begin. (30-minute presentations per student, 20-
7
minute discussion pre presentation, two per week)
1)
2)
Week 15 (4/29)
1)
2)
Week 16 (5/6) Last Student presentations and discussion.
1)
2)
FINAL PROJECTS DUE – MONDAY, MAY 13 by 4pm.
…….
Reserves (on Mardi Gras) at WI Historical Society Reserves Shelf (3-hr loan):
Title/Author: All on a Mardi Gras day: episodes in the history of New Orleans Carnival /
Mitchell, Reid.
Call no.: GT4211 N4 M57 1995
Title/Author: Carnival, American style: Mardi Gras at New Orleans and Mobile / Kinser,
Samuel.
Call no.: GT4211 N4 K56 1990
Title/Author: Lords of misrule: Mardi Gras and the politics of race in New Orleans / Gill, James.
Call no.: GT4211 N4
Title/Author: Mardi Gras Indians / Smith, Michael P.
Call no.: GR111 A47 S65 1994