Art Education in Colonial India: Implementation and Imposition

Kantawala, Ami

doi:10.1080/00393541.2012.11518864

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…We further speculate that Indian participants assigned overall higher ratings because they have more experience with both Indian and Western paintings (compared to Western participants for whom the content and style of the Indian paintings is relatively less familiar; 67 ). It is however also possible that overall higher ratings for Indian paintings by both Indian and Western participants can also be a result of more openness toward Indian culture by Western participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…It is possible that Indian participants are more familiar with the representative content of both Indian and Western paintings to a greater extent because of their exposure to Western culture in mainstream media 7 . Further, Western art forms a major part of the syllabus for art education in India, whereas exposure to Indian art and culture may be more limited in Western art education 67 . Indian participants may consequently report higher ratings for representational paintings from both Indian and Western painters compared to Western participants if we assume that higher familiarity with a painting leads to higher aesthetic ratings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of expertise and culture in visual art appreciation

Darda

Cross

2022

Sci Rep

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Is art appreciation universal? Previous evidence suggests a general preference for representational art over abstract art, and a tendency to like art originating from one’s own culture more than another culture (an ingroup bias), modulated by art expertise. However, claims about universality are difficult given that most research has focused on Western populations. Across two pre-registered and statistically powered experiments, we explore the role of culture and art expertise in the aesthetic evaluation of Indian and Western paintings and dance depicting both abstract and representational content, by inviting expert and art-naïve Indian and Western participants to rate stimuli on beauty and liking. Results suggest an ingroup bias (for dance) and a preference for representational art (for paintings) exists, both modulated by art expertise. As predicted, the ingroup bias was present only in art-naïve participants, and the preference for representational art was lower in art experts, but this modulation was present only in Western participants. The current findings have two main implications: (1) they inform and constrain understanding of universality of aesthetic appreciation, cautioning against generalising models of empirical aesthetics to non-western populations and across art forms, (2) they highlight the importance of art experience as a medium to counter prejudices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of expertise and culture in visual art appreciation

Darda

Cross

2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We further speculate that Indian participants assigned overall higher ratings because they have more experience with both Indian and Western paintings (compared to Western participants for whom the content and style of the Indian paintings is relatively less familiar; Kantawala et al, 2012). It is however also possible that overall higher ratings for Indian paintings by both Indian and Western participants can also be a result of more openness toward Indian culture by Western participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…It is possible that Indian participants are more familiar with the representative content of both Indian and Western paintings to a greater extent because of their exposure to Western culture in mainstream media (Bao et al, 2016). Further, Western art forms a major part of the syllabus for art education in India, whereas exposure to Indian art and culture may be more limited in Western art education (Kantawala, 2012). Indian participants may consequently report higher ratings for representational paintings from both Indian and Western painters compared to Western participants if we assume that higher familiarity with a painting leads to higher aesthetic ratings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Unifying Model of Visual Art Appreciation: The Role of Expertise and Culture

Darda

Cross

2022

Preprint

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Is art appreciation universal? Previous evidence suggests a general preference for representational art over abstract art, and a tendency to like art originating from one’s own culture more than another culture (an ingroup bias), modulated by art expertise. However, claims about universality are difficult given that most research has focused on Western populations. Across two pre-registered and statistically powered experiments, we explore the role of culture and art expertise in the aesthetic evaluation of Indian and Western paintings and dance depicting both abstract and representational content, by inviting expert and art-naïve Indian and Western participants to rate stimuli on beauty and liking. Results suggest an ingroup bias (for dance) and a preference for representational art (for paintings) exists, both modulated by art expertise. As predicted, the ingroup bias was present only in art-naïve participants, and the preference for representational art was lower in art experts, but this modulation was present only in Western participants. The current findings have two main implications: 1) they inform and constrain understanding of universality of aesthetic appreciation, cautioning against generalising models of empirical aesthetics to non-western populations and across art forms, 2) they highlight the importance of art experience as a medium to counter prejudices.

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“…These schools of 'industrial art' were opened with purely economic motivations to preserve and improve traditional art industries, through the imposition of British aesthetics and methods of instruction (Kantawala, 2012). These schools were meant to impart the skills necessary to improving the quality of Indian manufactured goods for the British market.…”

Section: Histories Of Academic Policingmentioning

confidence: 99%