An anthropological, cross-cultural understanding of visual and material cultures is crucial to anyone that works in the creative industries, such as those in curatorial roles. Explore the convergances between art and anthropology, and develop your understanding of non-Western artistic cultures, placing them in their proper cultural, historical and socio-economic contexts. This course will enable you to contextualise implicit value systems, challenging Western style models and aesthetics.

This course is ideal for you if you are working or studying in fields related to the arts, anthropology, design, photography, film and museums, or even if you’ve a keen interest in any of these areas and would like to find out more. Hosted by our Department of Anthropology, this course will challenge conventional Western value systems, placing them in a wider context underpinned by the latest theories in the field of anthropology. In challenging the hierarchy of the Western tradition, we’ll explore artistic cultures as diverse as Islamic, Precolumbian, Tribal, Chinese, Indian, African and others beyond European boundaries. We’ll develop your critical and analytical tools, drawing on the vast discourse of anthropology of art studies, enabling you to evaluate objects and visual expressions using a cross-cultural comparative framework. The understanding of artistic cultures in an anthropological context feeds into a wide range of professional areas. These include, but are not limited to, artists, artisans, craft practitioners, tour guides, art gallery personnel, journalists, auctioneers, art consultants, museum volunteers, as well as those looking to enter these fields, or to use this course in your ongoing professional development.