Religion 343 - Popular Arts in Modern India

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

Art History, Asian Studies In India one sees them everywhere: bright, wideeyed Hindu deities, in poster form, perched above cash registers, glued to the dashboards of taxis and buses, and framed on the walls of temples and home shrines. These mass-produced chromolithographs or "god posters" occupy acentral place in the visual landscape of modern India, but until recently they have not received scholarly attention. This seminar explores the world of Indian god posters, considering iconographic features, stylistic developments, political and religious significations, and devotional responses to these popular commercial prints. Students examine the way artists have adapted their visual practices within commercial structures of production, and how they have directed their arts toward devotional needs. This pervasive genre is also studied in relation to other modern forms of South Asian visual arts, such as tribal and folk arts, pilgrimage paintings, Parsi theater, and especially Bollywood cinema.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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