Aesthetics, Arts, and Politics in a Global World

209 Pages·2017·4.156 MB·English

by  Daniel Herwitz

Aesthetics, Arts, and Politics
in a Global World
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Aesthetics, Arts, and Politics
in a Global World
Daniel Herwitz
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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First published 2017
© Daniel Herwitz, 2017
Daniel Herwitz has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the Author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4742-9966-4
ePDF: 978-1-4742-9967-1
ePub: 978-1-4742-9969-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Herwitz, Daniel Alan, 1955- author.
Title: Aesthetics, arts and politics in a global world / Daniel Herwitz.
Description: London, UK ; New York, NY, USA : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint
of Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc, [2016] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016039280| ISBN 9781474299664 (hb) | ISBN 9781474299671
(epdf) | ISBN 9781474299695 (ePub)
Subjects: LCSH: Postcolonialism and the arts. |
Arts, Modern–21st century–Themes, motives.
Classification: LCC NX180.P67 H47 2016 | DDC 700.9/045--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016039280
Cover design: Catherine Wood
Cover image © Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, Peabody Essex Museum
Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.
Contents
List of Figures vi
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction 1
2 Postcolonial Modernism: The Case of M.F. Husain 25
3 Postcolonial Critique: Frida and Amrita 55
4 Preparing Art for Freedom in the New South Africa 69
5 Aboriginal, Abstract, and Isi-Tsonga 103
6 Post-Postcolonial: Figaro South of the Zambesi 125
7 Xu Bing’s Archive of the Past 149
8 The Persistent Witness: George Gittoes 161
Notes 177
Bibliography 185
Index 189
List of Figures
1.1 Diego Rivera, La Grand Tenochititlan, Palacio Nacional, Wikipedia
in the Public Domain. 5
2.1 M.F. Husain, Arjuna with Chariot, Mahabarata 15, 1971, Oil, canvas,
75 × 48 in, Gift of the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection; Gift of
the Davida Herwitz Fine Arts, Trust, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem,
Massachusetts, reproduced courtesy of the M.F. Husain Estate. 33
2.2 India, Tamil Nadu, Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), Chola
period, c. tenth/eleventh century, Bronze, 69.3 × 61.8 × 24.1 cm (27
1/4 × 24 1/4 × 9 1/2 in), Kate S. Buckingham Fund, 1965.1130, The Art
Institute of Chicago. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago. 34
2.3 M.F. Husain, Ganga Jamna or Mahabarata 12, 1971, Oil, canvas, H:
70 in, W: 120.5 in, Gift of the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection;
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, reproduced courtesy
of the M.F. Husain Estate. 40
2.4 M.F. Husain, Maya or Tribal Girl, 1977, Oil, canvas, H: 76.5 in, W:
44.5 in, Gift of the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection; Gift of
the Davida Herwitz Fine Arts, Trust, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem,
Massachusetts, reproduced courtesy of the M.F. Husain Estate. 42
2.5 M.F. Husain, Cyclonic Silence, 1977, Oil, canvas, ¼ × 96 in, Gift of the
Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection; Peabody Essex Museum,
Salem, Massachusetts, reproduced courtesy of the M.F. Husain Estate. 49
2.6 M.F. Husain, Dacoit, made c. 1980–1983, Oil, canvas, 69 × 36 in,
Gift of the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection; Peabody Essex
Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, reproduced courtesy of the M.F.
Husain Estate. 52
3.1 Nalini Malani, Frida and Amrita: Old Arguments on Indigenism, 1989,
Oil, canvas, acrylic, 36 × 48 in, Gift of the Chester and Davida Herwitz
Collection, Peabody Essex Museum. 57
3.2 Nalini Malani, In Celebration of Birth, 1988, Oil, canvas, 36 × 36 in,
Gift of the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, Peabody Essex
Museum. 65
List of Figures vii
4.1 Dumile Feni, In Respect of the Dead, the Living and the Unborn,
charcoal, Pretoria Art Museum, photo by Coen C. Oosthuysen,
rights courtesy of Marriam Diale. 80
4.2 OMM Architects, Constitutional Court from the Front, photo
courtesy of David Krut Publications. 94
4.3 OMM Architects, Constitutional Court from the Side, photo
courtesy of David Krut Publications. 95
4.4 OMM Architects, Constitutional Court in Braamfontein, photo
courtesy of David Krut Publications. 96
4.5 Walls of the Old Fort Prison, photo courtesy of David Krut
Publications. 97
4.6 Lobby, Constitutional Court, photo courtesy of David Krut
Publications. 98
4.7 Lobby with Bricks from Old Fort Prison, photo courtesy of
David Krut Publications. 99
5.1 Clyfford Still, Ph-401, 1957, Clyfford Still Museum, rights courtesy
of Artists Rights Society. 105
5.2 Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Tim Tjapaltjarri, Warlugulong,
1976, Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, rights courtesy of
Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited. 106
5.3 Owen Ndou, Gentleman’s Game, Private Collection. 115
5.4 Artist unknown, Job Seeker, Collection of Daniel Herwitz and
Lucia Saks, photo by Peter Smith. 116
5.5 Owen Ndou, Recent Sculpture, Private Collection. 122
5.6 Judy Watson, Our Bones in Your Collections, 1997, etching and chine
colle, 29.4 × 20.5 cm, 30.0 × 21.1 cm platemark, 40.0 × 27.2 sheet,
Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art,
Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1998, rights courtesy of Artists
Rights Society. 124
7.1 Xu Bing, Background Story 7 Frontal View, photo courtesy of Shinyi
Yangart. 151
7.2 Xu Bing, Background Story 7 from the Back, photo courtesy of Shinyi
Yangart. 152
7.3 Bushman Diorama, Iziko Museums, Cape Town, photo by
Pippa Skotnes. 154
viii List of Figures
8.1 George Gittoes, Eyewitness, drawing from Rwanda diaries, 1994,
photo and rights courtesy of the artist. 167
8.2 George Gittoes, Blood and Tears, 1995, photography by Silversalt,
image and rights courtesy of the artist. 168
8.3 George Gittoes, Tony Mullingully, 1983, photography by Silversalt,
rights courtesy of the artist. 171
8.4 George Gittoes, Fear.com, New York City 2002, photo and rights
courtesy of the artist. 173
8.5 George Gittoes, Ice Cream Boys Staring Up at Poster of Snow Monkey,
2015, photo and rights courtesy of the artist. 174
8.6 George Gittoes, Still from Snow Monkey, Steel with Guns, 2015,
photo and rights courtesy of the artist. 175
8.7 George Gittoes, Still from Snow Monkey, GulMinah on the Street,
2015, photo and rights courtesy of the artist. 175
8.8 George Gittoes, Still from Snow Monkey, Steel and Shazia, 2015,
rights courtesy of the artist. 176
Acknowledgments
This book was written in the past three years but is really the work of three
decades. My first venture in publishing was a monograph on the Indian artist
M.F. Husain, written in the late 1980s, and I have been thinking about modern
and contemporary art and culture outside of Europe and the United States ever
since, while observing the great events of decolonization and nation building
give way to the globalization of markets and also of minds. This book is set
between those events. I would not have been able to write it without support
from the University of Cape Town, which offered me first a Mellon Visiting
Fellowship (2010), second a Fellowship to its Humanities Center (2013), and
third an ongoing Honorary Research Position (since 2011). Equally important
was my stay at WISER (Wits Centre for Economic and Social Research) in
Johannesburg (2015), and at the National Humanities Centre, Canberra (2013).
Chapter 7 arose on account of a speaking engagement on the Chinese artist Xu
Bing at the Inside-Out Museum, Beijing (2013). Without the gracious support
of Carolyn Hamilton, Deborah Posel, Shamil Jeppe, Sarah Nuttall, Tim Murray,
Shinyi Yang, and Debjani Ganguly, none of these writing and speaking visits
could have taken place. I am grateful to these friends and colleagues.
Early versions of the chapters of the book were read out at the University
of Stellenbosch, Stanford University, and the University of Michigan, leading
to all manner of improvements in the thought and writing. The University of
Michigan, where I teach, offered me research money on which I lived in South
Africa during the fall of 2015, during which time I more or less whisked this book
to conclusion. The University of Michigan also awarded me a subvention grant
toward the cost of color plates. I thank my home institution for these monies.
Persons too numerous to mention over a quarter century have helped with
and sometimes prompted the ideas in this book. I will highlight a few of these
persons, hoping that they stand in for those not mentioned. First and foremost
I want to thank Akeel Bilgrami, who has written on secularism and politics
with a trenchant clarity, passion, and cultural knowledge (of India, Europe,
and the United States) in my view unequalled in philosophy and politics today.
Bilgrami grew up embroiled in the dilemmas of Indian nationalism and brings
deep familiarity with the politics of secularism, identity, and disenchantment