ARTH 369 Studies in Middle Eastern Art and Architecture: Contemporary Art of West Asia in the 21st century

• Instructor: Somayeh Rashvand

This course introduces students to contemporary art practices from West Asia and its diasporas since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Focusing on a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video, performance, and digital art, we will explore the ways in which artists engage with some of the most urgent issues of our time. In particular, the course highlights how the aesthetic realm can become a site of alternative knowledge production in the face of planetary crises such as war, forced displacement, climate change, ecological destruction, surveillance, and the ongoing impacts of colonialism and resource extraction beyond the prism of scientific discourse. Emphasis will be placed on the relationship between local histories and transnational artistic movements, and on how contemporary art from West Asia participates in broader global conversations on decolonization and social and ecological justice. Each session will include close readings of artworks and exhibitions through the lens of critical scholarship in art history and the humanities. By the end of the course, students will gain foundational knowledge of contemporary art from West Asia and its diasporas as well as skills for critically engaging with artworks and writing about contemporary art.