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Aesthetics, Arts, and Politics in a Global World Also available from Bloomsbury Arts and Aesthetics in a Globalizing World, edited by Raminder Kaur and Parul Dave-Mukherji Beauty and the End of Art, Sonia Sedivy The Bloomsbury Companion to Aesthetics, edited by Anna Christina Ribeiro The Cultural Promise of the Aesthetic, Monique Roelofs The Public Sphere from Outside the West, edited by Divya Dwivedi and Sanil V Aesthetics, Arts, and Politics in a Global World Daniel Herwitz Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc LONDON • OXFORD • NEW YORK • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 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. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. 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

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