SEMINAR ANNOUNCEMENT: Antiquarianism in East Asia: History, Theory, and Practice (Fall 2010)

Seminar for graduate students in art history, archaeology, and related disciplines. Instructor: Lothar von Falkenhausen

Fall 2010
Wednesdays 10-1
Dodd 221A

It is often observed that much of Chinese art looks the way it does because of its makers’ intense preoccupation with the material heritage of the past, and the same observation may be applied as well to every one of the other co-traditions of East Asian art history. A host of different variables must be taken into account when one takes the analysis one step further and tries to explain how and why reference to the past was made in any individual instance. Growing from a recent multi-institutional effort to consider antiquarianism in a worldwide comparative perspective, this seminar proposes to look at a series of case studies from different places and epochs in East Asian art history and to trace the emergence, over many centuries, of a (proto-)scientific approach to ancient objects even as they were kept alive in later creative practice.

The seminar is open to graduate students in art history, archaeology, and related disciplines. A reading knowledge of at least one East Asian language is desirable, but if absent can be compensated by other qualifications; for details and a study bibliography, please contact the instructor at lothar@humnet.ucla.edu.

Published: Wednesday, September 22, 2010