AHT2102 · Post-war to contemporary art

Overview

This unit explores post-war and contemporary art from 1945 to the present. You will be introduced to key artists, movements, practices, exhibitions and institutions that have shaped art in local and global contexts. Key topics will include the legacies of war, decolonisation, feminism, conceptual art, performance, installation, new media, globalisation, Indigenous and non-Western art histories, the climate crisis, and the changing role of museums, galleries and public institutions. Throughout the unit, you will develop a critical understanding of the historical, cultural, social, political, environmental and institutional contexts that have shaped post-war and contemporary art. You will also consider how artists, curators, audiences and communities have challenged dominant narratives, expanded the forms and sites of artistic practice, and generated new ways of understanding the value and significance of art in contemporary life.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

100% in-semester assessment

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Identify and describe key artists, movements, practices, institutions and curatorial developments in post-war and contemporary art from 1945 to the present;
2. Apply art historical and curatorial theories, methods and close visual analysis to interpret post-war and contemporary artworks, exhibitions and practices in verbal and written formats;
3. Discuss the relationships between post-war and contemporary art and broader historical, cultural, social, political, economic, environmental and institutional contexts;
4. Engage respectfully in critical discussion about how artists, audiences, curators, institutions and communities shape, contest and redefine the meanings and values of post-war and contemporary art across local, Indigenous, non-Western and global contexts;
5. Critically evaluate the aesthetic, political, social, ethical, environmental and public significance of post-war and contemporary art and curatorial practices;
6. Reflect on emerging art historical, curatorial, cultural and technological contexts to develop and communicate a critically engaged argument.

Workload

12 hours per week including 3 contact hours plus 9 hours of independent study.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.