Out of Africa: Objects Encountering Theory in Europe
Speaker: Anne Lafont, Directrice d’études, EHESS, l’Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris
Could it be that in the geographical conception of art developed in Enlightenment Europe, the primary role and the function of the so-called Black Continent was one of ornament? Or, on the contrary, did the aesthetic conception elaborated by the European Enlightenment deprive Africa of artistic potentiality? These two opposing hypotheses coexist in eighteenth-century artworks and texts. Lafont’s talk will focus on some objects whose material, form, argument, use, and reception invite us not only to historicize the notion of African art, but also to identify the registers of categorization specific to this pivotal eighteenth-century moment, when both anthropology and aesthetics were invented. African objects, as well as European objects inspired by the African presence in Europe, rub up against the emergence of these two disciplines, which intersected around the importance of the senses and sight, in particular.
About the HESCAH Lecture Program
The Harn Eminent Scholar Chair in Art History (HESCAH) program brings to the University of Florida distinguished scholars whose work represents a range of fields in the history of art. Established by a gift from Dr. David A. and Mary Ann Cofrin, this endowment funds visiting scholars, lecture series and symposia featuring leading art historians, critics, curators and museum professionals. Free and open to the university community and beyond, HESCAH events typically are presented in collaboration with the Harn Museum of Art, and often with other departments and centers on campus. Since 1993, the HESCAH program has offered opportunities to engage with scholars and thinkers on the cutting edge of current scholarship in art history.
Contact: Harn Museum of Art