Introduction to Ethiopian Arts and Visual Culture

The course is designed to discuss the History of Ethiopian Visual and Performing Arts; that is very fundamental to enable students to familiarize themselves with the basic production areas of tangible and intangible cultural heritages of the country. As a preemptive idea for the major discussion, the course begins by dealing with the definition, elements, and principles of art. Types of art, interrelationship of arts as well as the traditional division into art and craft will be the focus of the introductory part. Basically, however, students will be able to internalize the visual and performing arts of Ethiopia periodically from Pre-Aksumite to the end of the second millennium, and thematically it comprises from the intangible performing arts to the traditional house architecture of the various ethnic groups of the country. As such mural and rock paintings; architectural values of historic cities; church and mosque architectures; traditional house architecture; city development and the emergence of modern architecture; monuments and sculpture; handcraft products and practitioners are the major topics that the course deals with.