Die Kunst der Ndebele bezeichnet geometrische Wandmalereien und Perlenarbeiten, die von indigenen, in ländlichen Kontexten lebenden Schwarzen Südafrikanischen Frauen gefertigt werden. Dieses Seminar bietet einen vertieften Einblick in die Geschichte und Entwicklung der Südlichen Ndebele-„Künstlerinnen“, die in Südafrika leben und arbeiten. Ab den 1940er-Jahren wurden ihre Arbeiten fotografisch dokumentiert. Die Seminarteilnehmer:innen werden Schlüsseltexte lesen, darunter Ausstellungskataloge und Artikel, die das populäre Verständnis dessen, wer die Ndebele sind und was sie machen, entscheidend geprägt haben. Im Seminar werden zudem kritische Theorien behandelt, die auf den Erkenntnissen des französischen Anthropologen Claude Lévi-Strauss und dessen Figur des „Bricoleur“ beruhen. Dies soll es erlauben, die Wandmalereien und Perlenarbeiten der Ndebele als ein Art „invented tradition“ oder Kultureigenschaft zu verstehen, die sich auch im Kontakt mit „Europäer:innen“ entwickelte. close

Changuion, Paul. The African Mural. London: New Holland, 1989. Courtney-Clarke, Margaret. Ndebele: The Art of an African Tribe. New York: Rizzoli, 1986. Danilowitz, Brenda. “Constance Stuart Larrabee’s Photographs of the Ndzundza Ndebele: Performance and History Beyond the Modernist Frame:” In Between Union and Liberation: Women Artists in South Africa, 1910-1994, edited by Marion Arnold and Brenda Schmahmann, 71-93. London: Ashgate, 2010. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. The Savage Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. Peffer, John. Art and the End of Apartheid. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Schneider, Elizabeth Ann. “Ndebele Mural Art.” African Arts 18, no. 3 (May 1985): 60-66. Schneider, Elizabeth Ann. “Art and Communication in Ndzundza Ndebele Wall Decorations in the Transvaal.” In African Art in South Africa: From Tradition to Township, edited by Anitra Nettelton and W. D. Hammond-Tooke, 103-22. Johannesburg Ad. Donker, 1989. Van Wyk, Gary. “Through the Cosmic Flower: Secret Resistance in the Mural Art of Sotho- Tswana Women:” In Secrecy: African Art that Conceals and Reveals, edited by Mary H. Nooter and Wande Adimbola, 81-99. New York: Museum for African Art, 1993. History and Change of Artistic Bricolage among the Ndebele > in South Africa Ndebele art refers to geometric murals and beadwork made by indigenous Black South African women living in rural contexts. This seminar offers an in-depth look at the history and changes that Southern Ndebele “artists” living and working in South Africa have undergone. Since the early twentieth century Ndebele murals have been documented in photographs. Students will look at key texts, exhibition catalogues and short articles that have formed the popular understanding of who the Ndebele are and what they make. Critical theories following French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss and his figure of the bricoleur will also be integrated into this seminar. This is aimed at understanding Ndebele murals and beadwork as a kind of “invented tradition” or custom that arises out of contact zones with “Europeans”. Changuion, Paul. The African Mural. London: New Holland, 1989. Courtney-Clarke, Margaret. Ndebele: The Art of an African Tribe. New York: Rizzoli, 1986. Danilowitz, Brenda. “Constance Stuart Larrabee’s Photographs of the Ndzundza Ndebele: Performance and History Beyond the Modernist Frame:” In Between Union and Liberation: Women Artists in South Africa, 1910-1994, edited by Marion Arnold and Brenda Schmahmann, 71-93. London: Ashgate, 2010. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. The Savage Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. Peffer, John. Art and the End of Apartheid. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Schneider, Elizabeth Ann. “Ndebele Mural Art.” African Arts 18, no. 3 (May 1985): 60-66. Schneider, Elizabeth Ann. “Art and Communication in Ndzundza Ndebele Wall Decorations in the Transvaal.” In African Art in South Africa: From Tradition to Township, edited by Anitra Nettelton and W. D. Hammond-Tooke, 103-22. Johannesburg Ad. Donker, 1989. Van Wyk, Gary. “Through the Cosmic Flower: Secret Resistance in the Mural Art of Sotho- Tswana Women:” In Secrecy: African Art that Conceals and Reveals, edited by Mary H. Nooter and Wande Adimbola, 81-99. New York: Museum for African Art, 1993. close