How Art and Objects of Different Cultures can Enrich our Understanding of History
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Art refers to intuitions, thoughts, emotions, and desires expressed visually using mechanisms such as sculptures and paintings. It has existed for a long time, even before the introduction of formal education. During the primeval times, art was used for different purposes such as frightening enemies, appeasing the gods, compelling people, and it was also used to distinguish between different cultures. Art was also used for personal and economic importance. Each of the art pieces in the museum has a personal history behind it, and an art student can easily identify and interpret.[1] However, when you are just visiting the museum without any knowledge about art history, the objects will only be pleasing to the eye, but you will not understand what that piece of art means. Therefore, you should probably consider having a tour guide who will explain the meaning of the different pieces of art.
People who have good in-depth knowledge about art history can interpret the different artworks and relate them to a certain historical period. The artworks and paintings are arranged in an orderly manner, which represents different times in history. The order also shows a transition in the history of a particular culture or people. Identifying such aspects in these art pieces may be difficult for a person who does have any knowledge about art history before his/her visit to the museum.[2] Therefore, art history is crucial in understanding the relationship between arts and the history of a particular country or group of people.
Art takes us through different histories; it can either be politically, economically, and even culturally. For example, when we look at American political history, many posters have been created to help understand the USA’s political history and criticize it. The USA has had to make a couple of changes in the voting system as it is not considered reliable. The voting system only allows a few people to vote from which the few people only choose the president. Therefore the people have been campaigning for the freedom to vote, which they feel deprived of. Recently, designer Steven Heller reminded the people of the four freedoms of President Roosevelt. [3]He emphasized that people have to make a decision and avoid responsibility by voting. This is the only way they would achieve the four freedoms of President Roosevelt.
The four freedoms of President Roosevelt was an artwork designed by Norman Rockwell. It was a gift to The Wolfsonian from a collector and philanthropist Leonard Lauder. Norman Rockwell related the four freedoms posters to leading Americans to be a kinder and gentler country. [4]The four freedoms portrayed an idealized society and represented the Americans’ core aspirations: freedom from want, freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom from fear. The posters of the four freedoms act as a reminder to the Americans that they should not forget their responsibility in ensuring the country has adopted a better leadership system by protesting for the implementation of these four freedoms. The image below shows the posters for the four freedoms of President Roosevelt.
Posters, The Four Freedoms, 1943. Norman Rockwell, designer. The Wolfsonian-FIU, Gift of Leonard A. Lauder.
In this year’s upcoming election, things seem to have gotten out of hand. The country is in the middle of a recently declared global pandemic, and there are reports of the rigging of the elections. Despite that, there are also reports that Russia and China are planning to interfere with the USA’s election. Mirko Ilić and Bonnie Siegler are two other designers who have created posters fighting for the freedom to vote. They have expressed their feelings about the freedom of voting through their posters.
Mirko Ilić emphasizes the importance of voting, no matter how weak and insignificant one’s vote seems. [5]He is furious about an election being won by a few extra votes. On the other hand, Bonnie Siegler criticizes polling stations’ closing, the manipulation of districts, and the reduction of operating hours and considers them a crime against America. He says that the Voting Rights Act was the only defense Americans had against these crimes, but the supreme court has changed the Voting Rights Act. [6]He, therefore, urges the Americans to demand the full reinstatement of the Act. The following images are the posters of both Bonnie Siegler and Mirko Ilić.
Poster, Freedom to Vote (and make it count), 2016. Mirko Ilić, designer.
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Poster, Freedom to Vote (and not wait in a line), 2016. Bonnie Siegler, Eight and a Half, Designer.
Objects such as sculptors can also be used to better our understanding of history. The history of a country includes its religion. [7]Certain sculptures explain the religious history of a country. This applies mostly to countries that worship idols. For example, in ancient Greece, the statue of Zeus at Olympia served as a reminder of the gods. It is still being used today. The Egyptians also used sculptures to represent their gods and were present in their temples. Though most of the objects do not still exist, there is evidence of their impact on society. The image below shows the statue of Zeus:
Bibliography
Communications, Florida. 2020. “Vote For America.” Wolfsonian.Org. https://wolfsonian.org/blog/2020/26/.
Freedman, Kerry. “Social perspectives on art education in the US: Teaching visual culture in a democracy.” Studies in art education 41, no. 4 (2000): 314-329.
Desai, Dipti. “Imaging difference: The politics of representation in multicultural art education.” Studies in Art Education 41, no. 2 (2000): 114-129.
Vlachidis, Andreas, Antonis Bikakis, Daphne Kyriaki-Manessi, Ioannis Triantafyllou, Joseph Padfield, and Kalliopi Kontiza. “Semantic representation and enrichment of cultural heritage information for fostering reinterpretation and reflection on European history.” In Digital Cultural Heritage, pp. 91-103. Springer, Cham, 2018.
Rice, Danielle. “Vision and culture: The role of museums in visual literacy.” The Journal of museum education 13, no. 3 (1988): 13-17.
Rice, Danielle. “Vision and culture: The role of museums in visual literacy.” The Journal of museum education 13, no. 3 (1988): 13-17.
Boetzkes, Amanda, ed. Heidegger and the Work of Art History. Routledge, 2017.
[1] Danielle, Vision and culture, 13-17
[2] Amanda, Heidegger and the Work of Art History
[3] Dipti, Imaging difference, 114-129
[4] Andreas et al., Semantic representation and enrichment of cultural heritage information for fostering reinterpretation and reflection on the European history, 91-103
[5] Florida Communications, “Vote for America,” Last modified 2020, https://wolfsonian.org/blog/2020/26/.
[6] Ibid
[7] Kerry, Social perspectives on art education in the US, 314-329