ZainulAbedin1971

Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) by Bangladeshi artist Zainul Abudin, who helped form the Faculty of Fine Arts at Dhaka University.

Reader Question: "I come up from Bangladesh and find that Western art history doesn't practise much to aid understand the creative traditions where I'thousand from – how is this addressed in your report of Fine art History? Is information technology addressed at all?"

Western art history – or at least mainstream Western art history – really does very little to address the artistic traditions of not-Western countries. Many people detect this perfectly adequate, arguing that Western art history is about Western countries and shouldn't have to accost anything beyond that. For me, there are three problems with this point of view that should push us towards a more inclusive art historical mainstream.

Commencement of all, Western art history very much positions itself just equally "art history", without qualifying itself equally specifically "Western", and is often causeless to be a more than or less universal study of the subject. Secondly, Western countries practice non but contain people whose roots lie but in these countries. Its inhabitants and its artists vest to hundreds of dissimilar cultures, and always accept. Thirdly, white Western art historians exercise actually engage with not-Western art, merely ofttimes practise it in a way that does non take into consideration their ain position as a white person. To exist able to empathize art, and art history, we therefore need to engage with a report of fine art that is as inclusive equally possible.

Quamrul_Hassan_-_Uki

Uki past Bangladeshi artist Quamrul Hassan, who also designed the national flag.

Saying this, all the same, we need to exist careful near what this "inclusivity" looks like. It should not await like white art historians talking almost non-Western art with little or no awareness of their part in a historically racist power dynamic that privileges their voices, and that allows them to advisable and steal from other cultures with little upshot. It should not look like Western fine art museums taking or displaying stolen artifacts, or similar art museums taking non-Western artifacts and decontextualizing them to put them into a Western art historical context. As white Western art historians, we need to be mindful of how our status may be privileged, and of how much more seriously our voices may be taken.

And so what should inclusivity in the fine art historical world look like? It should await like inclusivity not only of non-Western art but of not-Western people. It should expect like Western art historians researching, talking and writing well-nigh non-Western art in a way that is aware and mindful of cultural context. It should look similar major art historical institutions employing and listening to non-Western artists and art historians. It should look like drastically reformulating our concepts of art and artistic genius, which today applies mainly to white male artists.

novera-sculpting-wb_0

Photograph of Bangladeshi sculptor Navera Ahmed in her studio, 1960. Photo from nirmanblog.com

I've had experiences in my professional life where I've had to face up this problem head on. I've oftentimes worked with not-Western art, and take been assigned tasks where I've been represented as the authoritative figure on the subject. This includes works that have long and important histories and meanings that I cannot understand due to my position every bit a cultural outsider. These situations take highlighted to me how piece of cake it is to assume that, equally a white person, I am automatically entitled to stand for another civilization's art, even when I have just researched the topic for a few months.

In other situations, I've experienced artistic institutions where People of Colour are completely pushed aside and remain about invisible when it comes to representation. White artists remain vastly overrepresented in Western art museums, university courses and history books. The way that they're represented differs, too – white artists are the geniuses of history, the innovators, and the basis of our understanding of art.

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Unnamed painting past Dilara Begum Jolly (2014), a Bangladeshi creative person known for her feminist fine art practice. Image from dilarajolly.blogspot.com

This is why, ultimately, being inclusive of non-Western art means existence inclusive of non-Western art historians and artists. Art historical institutions, but similar institutions of motion picture, music and literature, need to strive towards diversity amidst their employees and consultants in a fashion that isn't just tokenistic.

Your question and so highlights a direction that Western art history needs to take. Western art history needs to consider all artistic traditions, and move across a canon that places white male artists at the forefront of the historical narrative of fine art. Being inclusive of Bangladeshi art, withal, does not mean repeating past patterns of decontextualizing and removing its artifacts, excluding Bengali art historians and speaking every bit unchallenged authorities on the subject field. Information technology means beingness mindful and aware of cultural context when nosotros write and speak about Bangladeshi art, and it means listening to Bangladeshi artists and art historians and being inclusive of their voices.