A survey of nontraditional forms of twentieth century African art which have developed in response to the colonial and missionary experience, urbanization and the intrusion of foreign patronage. One of the goals of the class will be to understand how visionary ideas influence the realities of the built environment, and how the utopian has informed modern architectural thinking. Conservation issues related to permanent and temporary exhibitions, storage, examination, treatments and agents of deterioration will be covered. The conservation and preservation of objects such as wood, textiles, works of art on paper, paintings, metals, stone and composite objects will be presented. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of how an object is handled once it becomes part of a museum collection.
Course includes lectures, slide presentations, lab sessions and field trips to other museums.
Class presentation on conservation related topic required.