Bringing together contributing authors and humanities scholars, this symposium reflects on The Image of the Black in Western Art, a multi-volume book series that explores portrayals of people of African descent across 5,000 years of art in Europe and the Americas, examining the influence of art on perceptions of identity across the globe. Addressing the implications of
such scholarship for future research, the day’s focus on three moments – the Ancient World, Early Modern Europe and 20th Century Art – investigates the multiple meanings of black images throughout the entire field of art history as a world discipline.
The Image of the Black in Western Art
8.30 Registration
9.00 Welcome: Elizabeth Alexander
9.15 Introduction to the series, Prof Emeritus David Bindman, series editor, Fellow, Harvard University
9.30 The Ancient World, Jeremy Tanner, University College London
10.00 Respondent: Emily Greenwood, Classics, Yale University
10.15 Q + A
10.30 Coffee
11.00 Early Modern Europe, Paul Kaplan, SUNY Purhase, New York
11.30 Respondent, Allison Blakeley, Boston University
11.45 Q+A
12.30 Lunch
1.30 Early 20th century Modernism, Suzanne Blier, Harvard University
2.00 Respondent, Katie Trumpener, Comparative Literature, Yale University
2.15 Q+A
2.45 Black Atlantic practices since 1980, Kobena Mercer, Yale University
3.15 Respondent, Kellie Jones, Columbia University
3.30 Q+A
4.00 Tea
4.15 Panel: Redefining Foundations and Futures
Jennifer Brody, Theatre /Performance Studies, Stanford University;
Chika Okeke-Agulu, modern and contemporary African art, Princeton University;
Erica James, Caribbean Art History, Yale university;
Chair, Nell Painter, Artist and Professor Emeritus, Princeton University
5.15 Q+A
6.00 Close
Sponsored by the Dept. of African American Studies and the Yale University Art Gallery