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Anthropology and Art
Art is universal
• People express themselves with imagination, beauty, skill, style
painting
architecture
sculpture
carving
pottery weaving
music song
poetryfolklore
danceperformane
calligraphy
The Earliest Art
• Neanderthal 70 – 35 kya– Burials decorated with ochre– Beads– flutes
• Modern Humans– Venus figures– Cave painting
Characteristics of Art
• Art is a reflection of cultural values• Art uses symbols, different in each culture• In some cultures the art object has spiritual
power so created in a certain way, these cultures have little change in style
• Changes in artistic style can be used to understand history of a culture
Functions of Art
• Ritual• Expression of Cultural Themes• Depiction of Social Structure• Expression of Resistance to the Elite• Recording Cultural History• Personal Expression
Art as Ritual
• Many cultures use art to communicate with spirit world
Painting
artifact
sound
dance
Expression of Cultural Themes
• Arts make cultural themes visible– Godzilla post WWII, awakened by atomic bomb
attacks Tokyo
Depiction of Social Structure
• Power of the ruler depicted in visual arts, stories, performing arts, architecture
Arts and Resistance
• Expression of conflict• Resistance to social structure in stories about
underdog who out smarts bigger, stronger opponent
Recording Cultural History
• Express cultural identity by depicting past• Tell stories of ancestors or clan
Luba of ZaireMemory board
North American Ledger drawings
Personal Expression
• Body art identifies social bonds and status
hennatattoo
piercing
scarification
Representing Others
• Art of the dominant culture may depict and reinforce relationships to other cultures or subcultures
• Insight into the ideas one group has about another
Marketing Cultural Identity Through the Arts
• Role of arts in globally connected economic and cultural system
• Growth of tourism and art collecting
Bali GamelanOrchestra