No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

No description available.

The Owl House is situated in the Karoo village of Nieu Bethesda, and the person responsible for its creation, Helen Elizabeth Martins (1897-1976), is South Africa's best known Outsider artist. A number of newspaper and magazine articles, television programmes, radio interviews, play, films, short stories, theses and art works have resulted directly from her work. Interest in The Owl House continues to grow, with visitors coming from all over South Africa, and various parts of the world,to visit it. The Owl House was Helen Martins' home for most of her 78 years. During the last 30 or so years of her life she devoted all her time and energy to transforming the interior of her house into a glistening fantasy world of colour and light, using crushed glass stuck to almost every surface, coloured glass pane inserts in the walls, mirrors of many sizes and shapes, and countless paraffin lamps and candles. She called her garden' A Camel Yard', and filled it with over 500 cement statues, structures and bas reliefs. All the labour involved, apart from crushing and sorting the coloured glass, was provided by at least four different men, who assisted her over the years, Johannes Hattingh, Jonas Adams, Piet van der Merwe and Koos Malgas, though Helen Martins was the inspiration and director behind it all. Through a study of Helen Martins' background and life, and their effects upon her psyche, a rigorous attempt has been made to reach some understanding of why she became a recluse, and what caused her to create this unique body of work comprising her entire domestic environment. She became increasingly asocial as her life progressed, and ultimately ended it by committing suicide in 1976. Through the universality of symbolism, the meanings of the subjects, themes and concerns which she chose to depict are studied. Then, together with some knowledge of her life and personal influences, an attempt has been made to deduce what it was that Helen Martins was trying to express and work through in her creations. This study also led to an awareness of the fact that, although each one is unique, there are many examples of Outsider Art throughout the world. Fundamentally, creators of Outsider Art remain asocial in relation to their cultural milieu and cultural context. Some other examples of Outsider Art, both in South Africa as well as in Europe and India, were visited, and are described and compared with The Owl House as well as with one another. The way in which society reacts or responds to Outsider Art and its creators is studied through the comprehensive records of one specific case which caused great controversy in Johannesburg during the 1970s. Ultimately, working alone or with assistance, it is the Outsider artist who is the driving force behind these unique works, and whose indefinable inner fire of passion alone makes it possible to bring them into being. It would seem that the fascination with Outsider Art is that through their work, creators allow others a glimpse into a different sense of reality which is both mysterious and inexplicable.

Este trabalho investiga a produção em fotografia e vídeo de artistas que utilizaram o próprio corpo como objeto de representação nos anos 1970, sob um viés de análise feminista e de gênero. O objetivo principal foi o de destacar se houve ou não a influência do movimento feminista de segunda onda na obra de artistas brasileiras. As artistas Anna Bella Geiger, Anna Maria Maiolino, Iole de Freitas, Lenora de Barros, Regina Vater e Sonia Andrade fazem parte do meu escopo de estudos de caso. O desenvolvimento do trabalho foi fundamentado em entrevistas inéditas com as artistas pesquisadas e a apreciação de suas obras que atendem ao recorte escolhido. A partir da criação de três categorias baseadas no conteúdo dos trabalhos artísticos, foram definidos os seguintes temas: a esfera do privado em oposição à pública, a construção ficcional de si e a estética da violência. Cada um desses núcleos temáticos orientam os três capítulos que constituem a dissertação: “O corpo é a casa”, “O corpo é a camuflagem” e “O corpo é a fissura”, respectivamente. No primeiro capítulo, apresento obras que expõem questões relativas ao espaço doméstico e às funções gendradas vivenciadas por mulheres, por meio da interlocução teórica de Hannah Arendt e Jayne Wark. No segundo, aponto obras que se relacionam com a ideia de identidade fragmentada com base em construções ficcionais de si. Teresa de Lauretis, Donna Haraway, Luiz Sérgio de Oliveira e Janet Wolff foram as contribuições teóricas mais significativas do capítulo. Por fim, no terceiro, abordo obras produzidas no contexto da ditadura militar no Brasil, que confrontam as violências do período decorrente de censuras, torturas e cerceamento das liberdades individuais e coletivas, baseando-me em três autores que se dedicaram sobre o período: Artur Freitas, Claudia Calirman e Margareth Rago. Com o suporte metodológico de uma análise de conteúdo das entrevistas e o parecer teórico-crítico das obras, foi possível inferir que o discurso das artistas sobre os seus trabalhos não possui intenções feministas na maioria das vezes. Todavia, as ideias presentes nos seus trabalhos em fotografia e vídeo indicam preocupações comuns ao feminismo daquele período. A contradição entre o discurso e a prática foi a pergunta que guiou o processo de escrita do trabalho. / This work investigates the photography and video production of artists who used their own body as an object of representation in the 1970s, under a bias of feminist and gender analysis. The main objective was to highlight the possible influence of the second wave feminist movement on the work of brazilian artists. The artists Anna Bella Geiger, Anna Maria Maiolino, Iole de Freitas, Lenora de Barros, Regina Vater and Sonia Andrade are part of my scope of case studies. The development of the work was based on unpublished interviews with the artists researched and the appreciation of their work that meet the chosen cut. From the creation of three categories based on the content of artistic work, the following themes were defined: the private sphere as opposed to the public, the fictional construction of self, and the aesthetics of violence. Each of these thematic nuclei guide the three chapters that constitute the dissertation: "The body is the house", "The body is the camouflage" and "The body is the fissure", respectively. In the first chapter, I present works that expose questions regarding the domestic space and the gendered functions experienced by women, through the theoretical interlocution of Hannah Arendt and Jayne Wark. In the second, I point to works that relate to the idea of fragmented identity based on fictional constructions of self that artists have developed for photography and video. Teresa de Lauretis, Donna Haraway, Luiz Sérgio de Oliveira and Janet Wolff were the most significant theoretical contributions of the chapter. Lastly, in the third, I approach works produced in the context of the military dictatorship in Brazil, which confront the violence of the period resulting from censorship, torture and restriction of individual and collective freedoms, based on three authors who dedicated themselves on the period: Artur Freitas, Claudia Calirman and Margareth Rago. With the methodological support of a content analysis of the interviews and the theoretical-critical opinion of the works, it was possible to infer that the discourse of the artists about their works does not have feminist intentions in the majority of the times. However, the ideas present in their work in photography and video indicate concerns common to feminism during that period. The contradiction between discourse and practice was the question that guided the writing process of the work.

Este trabalho investiga a produção em fotografia e vídeo de artistas que utilizaram o próprio corpo como objeto de representação nos anos 1970, sob um viés de análise feminista e de gênero. O objetivo principal foi o de destacar se houve ou não a influência do movimento feminista de segunda onda na obra de artistas brasileiras. As artistas Anna Bella Geiger, Anna Maria Maiolino, Iole de Freitas, Lenora de Barros, Regina Vater e Sonia Andrade fazem parte do meu escopo de estudos de caso. O desenvolvimento do trabalho foi fundamentado em entrevistas inéditas com as artistas pesquisadas e a apreciação de suas obras que atendem ao recorte escolhido. A partir da criação de três categorias baseadas no conteúdo dos trabalhos artísticos, foram definidos os seguintes temas: a esfera do privado em oposição à pública, a construção ficcional de si e a estética da violência. Cada um desses núcleos temáticos orientam os três capítulos que constituem a dissertação: “O corpo é a casa”, “O corpo é a camuflagem” e “O corpo é a fissura”, respectivamente. No primeiro capítulo, apresento obras que expõem questões relativas ao espaço doméstico e às funções gendradas vivenciadas por mulheres, por meio da interlocução teórica de Hannah Arendt e Jayne Wark. No segundo, aponto obras que se relacionam com a ideia de identidade fragmentada com base em construções ficcionais de si. Teresa de Lauretis, Donna Haraway, Luiz Sérgio de Oliveira e Janet Wolff foram as contribuições teóricas mais significativas do capítulo. Por fim, no terceiro, abordo obras produzidas no contexto da ditadura militar no Brasil, que confrontam as violências do período decorrente de censuras, torturas e cerceamento das liberdades individuais e coletivas, baseando-me em três autores que se dedicaram sobre o período: Artur Freitas, Claudia Calirman e Margareth Rago. Com o suporte metodológico de uma análise de conteúdo das entrevistas e o parecer teórico-crítico das obras, foi possível inferir que o discurso das artistas sobre os seus trabalhos não possui intenções feministas na maioria das vezes. Todavia, as ideias presentes nos seus trabalhos em fotografia e vídeo indicam preocupações comuns ao feminismo daquele período. A contradição entre o discurso e a prática foi a pergunta que guiou o processo de escrita do trabalho. / This work investigates the photography and video production of artists who used their own body as an object of representation in the 1970s, under a bias of feminist and gender analysis. The main objective was to highlight the possible influence of the second wave feminist movement on the work of brazilian artists. The artists Anna Bella Geiger, Anna Maria Maiolino, Iole de Freitas, Lenora de Barros, Regina Vater and Sonia Andrade are part of my scope of case studies. The development of the work was based on unpublished interviews with the artists researched and the appreciation of their work that meet the chosen cut. From the creation of three categories based on the content of artistic work, the following themes were defined: the private sphere as opposed to the public, the fictional construction of self, and the aesthetics of violence. Each of these thematic nuclei guide the three chapters that constitute the dissertation: "The body is the house", "The body is the camouflage" and "The body is the fissure", respectively. In the first chapter, I present works that expose questions regarding the domestic space and the gendered functions experienced by women, through the theoretical interlocution of Hannah Arendt and Jayne Wark. In the second, I point to works that relate to the idea of fragmented identity based on fictional constructions of self that artists have developed for photography and video. Teresa de Lauretis, Donna Haraway, Luiz Sérgio de Oliveira and Janet Wolff were the most significant theoretical contributions of the chapter. Lastly, in the third, I approach works produced in the context of the military dictatorship in Brazil, which confront the violence of the period resulting from censorship, torture and restriction of individual and collective freedoms, based on three authors who dedicated themselves on the period: Artur Freitas, Claudia Calirman and Margareth Rago. With the methodological support of a content analysis of the interviews and the theoretical-critical opinion of the works, it was possible to infer that the discourse of the artists about their works does not have feminist intentions in the majority of the times. However, the ideas present in their work in photography and video indicate concerns common to feminism during that period. The contradiction between discourse and practice was the question that guided the writing process of the work.

Cette thèse de doctorat se propose d’étudier les Salons sous l’ère napoléonienne, connus surtout pour le rôle important qu’ils jouèrent dans le cadre de l’instrumentalisation politique de l’art contemporain. Ainsi, après 1799, le Salon devint rapidement un important outil de la vaste politique culturelle du Consulat et de l’Empire, qui servit à représenter de manière symbolique le système politique. Face à ce changement radical du Salon et de sa politique artistique, les artistes, eux aussi, ont dû se positionner et s’adapter aux nouvelles structures politiques et administratives, tout en réagissant aux nouvelles tendances artistiques et à l’évolution du milieu artistique, afin de s’imposer au Salon. Le succès rencontré par les Salons en ces années-là ne se manifeste pas seulement par le chiffre croissant des exposants et des visiteurs : les diverses formes de la réception du Salon – journaux, brochures, récits de voyage, lettres et œuvres graphiques - témoignent également de l’écho rencontré par l’exposition, et ceci bien au-delà des frontières nationales. Jouxtant les salles du fameux Musée Napoléon qui regroupe les chefs-d’œuvre artistiques les plus importants, saisis par les armées françaises dans des collections de l’Europe, le Salon profite de la forte fréquentation du Louvre entre 1800 et 1815, de la part de visiteurs aussi bien français qu’étrangers. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’analyser l’organisation de l’exposition, le paysage des artistes exposants ainsi que l’écho rencontré par cet évènement sur la scène internationale en tenant compte de cette mutation complexe de la vie artistique parisienne au début du XIXème siècle. Dans cette perspective, le présent travail s’interroge sur les rapports entre la politique artistique, les pratiques artistiques et culturelles ainsi que leur réception. / This doctoral thesis examines the Salons of living artists under the reign of Napoleon I, which are primarily known for the prominent role they played in the context of cultural politics of that time. After 1799, the Salon rapidly became an important instrument of art and cultural politics used by the ruling government to symbolically legitimise and support the political system. Given the major changes to the exhibition in these years, artists had also had to adapt to the new political and administrative structures whilst, at the same time, reacting to new artistic trends in order to stand up to the strong competition at the Salon. The exhibition's success in these years is not only reflected by the rising numbers of exhibiting artists and visitors. Also its wide-ranging coverage in the media, such as newspaper articles, letters, travelogues and graphic anthologies, is further proof of the exhibition's relevance and reach, sometimes even beyond national frontiers. Indeed, the exhibition's close locality to the famous Musée Napoléon, with its large collection of master pieces confiscated from European collections by the French armies, added further attention paid by European travellers to the Salon and the French contemporary art on display there. The aim of this doctoral thesis is to analyse the organisation of the exhibition, the range of participating artists as well as the international response it created whilst taking into consideration the complex transformation of art and the French art scene at the beginning of 19th century. By doing so, the dissertation focuses on the reciprocal relationship between art politics, artistic production and their reception.

Este trabalho investiga a produção em fotografia e vídeo de artistas que utilizaram o próprio corpo como objeto de representação nos anos 1970, sob um viés de análise feminista e de gênero. O objetivo principal foi o de destacar se houve ou não a influência do movimento feminista de segunda onda na obra de artistas brasileiras. As artistas Anna Bella Geiger, Anna Maria Maiolino, Iole de Freitas, Lenora de Barros, Regina Vater e Sonia Andrade fazem parte do meu escopo de estudos de caso. O desenvolvimento do trabalho foi fundamentado em entrevistas inéditas com as artistas pesquisadas e a apreciação de suas obras que atendem ao recorte escolhido. A partir da criação de três categorias baseadas no conteúdo dos trabalhos artísticos, foram definidos os seguintes temas: a esfera do privado em oposição à pública, a construção ficcional de si e a estética da violência. Cada um desses núcleos temáticos orientam os três capítulos que constituem a dissertação: “O corpo é a casa”, “O corpo é a camuflagem” e “O corpo é a fissura”, respectivamente. No primeiro capítulo, apresento obras que expõem questões relativas ao espaço doméstico e às funções gendradas vivenciadas por mulheres, por meio da interlocução teórica de Hannah Arendt e Jayne Wark. No segundo, aponto obras que se relacionam com a ideia de identidade fragmentada com base em construções ficcionais de si. Teresa de Lauretis, Donna Haraway, Luiz Sérgio de Oliveira e Janet Wolff foram as contribuições teóricas mais significativas do capítulo. Por fim, no terceiro, abordo obras produzidas no contexto da ditadura militar no Brasil, que confrontam as violências do período decorrente de censuras, torturas e cerceamento das liberdades individuais e coletivas, baseando-me em três autores que se dedicaram sobre o período: Artur Freitas, Claudia Calirman e Margareth Rago. Com o suporte metodológico de uma análise de conteúdo das entrevistas e o parecer teórico-crítico das obras, foi possível inferir que o discurso das artistas sobre os seus trabalhos não possui intenções feministas na maioria das vezes. Todavia, as ideias presentes nos seus trabalhos em fotografia e vídeo indicam preocupações comuns ao feminismo daquele período. A contradição entre o discurso e a prática foi a pergunta que guiou o processo de escrita do trabalho. / This work investigates the photography and video production of artists who used their own body as an object of representation in the 1970s, under a bias of feminist and gender analysis. The main objective was to highlight the possible influence of the second wave feminist movement on the work of brazilian artists. The artists Anna Bella Geiger, Anna Maria Maiolino, Iole de Freitas, Lenora de Barros, Regina Vater and Sonia Andrade are part of my scope of case studies. The development of the work was based on unpublished interviews with the artists researched and the appreciation of their work that meet the chosen cut. From the creation of three categories based on the content of artistic work, the following themes were defined: the private sphere as opposed to the public, the fictional construction of self, and the aesthetics of violence. Each of these thematic nuclei guide the three chapters that constitute the dissertation: "The body is the house", "The body is the camouflage" and "The body is the fissure", respectively. In the first chapter, I present works that expose questions regarding the domestic space and the gendered functions experienced by women, through the theoretical interlocution of Hannah Arendt and Jayne Wark. In the second, I point to works that relate to the idea of fragmented identity based on fictional constructions of self that artists have developed for photography and video. Teresa de Lauretis, Donna Haraway, Luiz Sérgio de Oliveira and Janet Wolff were the most significant theoretical contributions of the chapter. Lastly, in the third, I approach works produced in the context of the military dictatorship in Brazil, which confront the violence of the period resulting from censorship, torture and restriction of individual and collective freedoms, based on three authors who dedicated themselves on the period: Artur Freitas, Claudia Calirman and Margareth Rago. With the methodological support of a content analysis of the interviews and the theoretical-critical opinion of the works, it was possible to infer that the discourse of the artists about their works does not have feminist intentions in the majority of the times. However, the ideas present in their work in photography and video indicate concerns common to feminism during that period. The contradiction between discourse and practice was the question that guided the writing process of the work.

This dissertation investigates the correlation between semiotic theory and the way that gendered subjectivity is represented in contemporary South African art. The phenomenon of signification is central to the semiotic theories of the Bulgarian semiotician and psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva. Semiotics can be described as the science of the sign that considers the way in which artists express their personal experience in art making. In this investigation I refer mainly to women's artworks, although the concept of gendered subjectivity in the work of male artists is also discussed. This particular research investigates the symbolic relations of culture in gender terms, that explores the apparent contradictions of subjectivity inherent in capitalist patriarchal society. / Art History, Visual Arts & Music / M.A. (Visual Arts)

In view of the scarcity of Indian women in the South African art field, this study investigates how issues of race, class and gender can affect the decision to become and sustain a career as a professional artist. By exploring the historical background of the Indian community and their patriarchal mind set it becomes clear that women's roles in this community have always been prescribed by tradition and cultural values, despite western influence. Moreover the legacy of apartheid created a situation in which black artists, especially women. have not always benefitted in terms of career opportunities. The research is based on case studies of five Indian women who have received due recognition as artists: Lalitha Jawahirilal, Usha Seejarim, Sharlene Khan, Simmi Dullay and Reshma Chhiba. These artists' lives, careers and artistic output are closely studied, documented and critically interpreted using key concepts such as orientalism, black feminism and post colonialism. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / M.A. (Art History)

Ma Shouzhen (1548-1604) was a cultured courtesan who lived in the famous pleasure quarter along the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, the southern capital of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). She was talented in dance and music, painting and poetry, and surprisingly for her time, she was also a playwright. Although she was a celebrity of the prolific Nanjing cultural milieu and there is a good corpus of extant material by and about her, the particular contribution of Ma Shouzhen - her character and her work - have been marginalised, or even neglected, by the previous scholarship. This thesis is a cross-disciplinary study of Ma Shouzhen and is the first in-depth scholarly investigation into the entirety of her activities. It employs material and methods traditionally pertaining to the disciplines of sinology, history, art history, literary and drama studies. The thesis has a dual aim: first, to provide a nuanced understanding of the courtesan, her cultural production and social practice; second, to reclaim the agency and legacy of her character within the cultural milieu of late Ming Nanjing and beyond. These aims will be achieved through two main research objectives: (1) recovering and re-evaluating visual and written sources by and about the courtesan; (2) investigating those sources in order to comprehend her modes of self-representation and strategies of self-fashioning, analysed especially through the lens of gender. The main body of the thesis is composed of an introduction, five core chapters, and an epilogue; the chapters are structured so as to provide as complete a picture of Ma Shouzhen as possible. Chapter Two explores the space of the pleasure quarter, Ma’s biography and its entwinement within the complexities of the historical moment. Chapter Three focuses on her painting, Chapter Four considers her poetry, and Chapter Five explores her theatre practice; Chapter Six extends the investigation to focus on the construction of Ma’s historical character in later decades. In its content and aims, this thesis contributes to women’s and gender history, as well as to studies in visual culture and literature.