ARTH 389 - Issues In Ethnocultural Art Histories: Gender Representations In Contemporary Pakistani Art

• J - 15:00-17:30
• EV-1.605
• INSTRUCTOR: KANWAL SYED

This course focuses on the representations of female subjectivities in contemporary Pakistani art as a response or reaction to Euro-American gendered visual and media discourse surrounding the Muslim majority countries after the significant event of 9/11 and the consequent War on Terror in Muslim South Asia (Afghanistan/Pakistan). Theoretically informed by post-colonial feminist theory and cultural studies, the thematic lectures would investigate conceptual issues in transnational as well as regional gender representational politics, such as Islamophobia, politics of ethnic apparel, fixed gender identities, and cultural taboos. Furthermore, the course will analyze the role of (not exclusively) Pakistani artists as feminist activists, and the creation, reception, and diffusion of selected artworks that speak to evolving gendered religio-cultural practices.