Splash Biography

Why do people destroy art? How does it happen? How should our study of present and past art be shaped by this? This course will be a history of how art has been destroyed, altered, defaced or reshaped throughout human history. Topics covered will include political action, religious shifts(especially iconoclasm but also changes in doctrine), changes in fashion, public morals, and last but not least art made to be destroyed.

Art is something that almost everyone seems to make and like the minute they can hold a crayon. So why do art galleries too often work against this? We’ll dig into why this is not because “people are too stupid to understand art” but because of where and how we look at it. No interest in art, or knowledge about it is required or expected.

Learn about the beautiful and various arts produced in Islamic lands. We'll look at some common misconceptions about Islamic art before talking about work in a variety of media and from many different times and places. Both religious and secular works will be covered, as well as some art from Jewish and Christian communities under Islam.