Manisha Sharma

8.28 Discursive Shifts: The Janus-face of Oppressive Histories and Aesthetic Beauty in Turkish and Indo-Saracenic Architecture (Paper) – virtual 

Manisha Sharma – University of North Texas, Denton, USA – virtual

Abstract:

Referencing images from our (separate) visits to Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, two art educators discuss the unexpected implications of the aesthetics of colonization in India and Turkey respectively. Starting with the influences of Persian art and aesthetic elements in the palace, we analyse the construction of the spaces (placemaking) within the palace, and take the visual references elsewhere, while engaging in a dialogue about anti-colonial multicultural art education curriculum. We locate our paper in a conceptual questioning of belonging (being and becoming stranger/visitor/ at home) in two separate contexts: one presenter unpacks representations of gender and sexuality to present a complicated reading of aesthetics within the Harem, while the other presenter traces the evolution of Indo-Saracenic style as a hybrid aesthetic, in consideration of contemporary discourse of whether the Mughals in India were invaders/settlers based on their cultural contributions in the region. 

In this dialogue, we travel from an initial location of the aesthetic form and influence of Persian art and architecture, into two distinct realms of conceptual and physical evolution of aesthetic form and function, namely gender (in the Turkish harem) and ethnicity (in India), due to colonizing actions. In doing so, we discuss the complex relationship between the ugly processes of oppression and the production of beautiful (art) forms. The relevance of this paper, to art educators, is in contexts of teaching to critical multiculturalism, global aesthetics, and anti-colonial discourse, because through this paper, we examine: How might we acknowledge complexities of ‘multiculturalism’ in anti-colonial art curriculum? and How might we acknowledge the complexity of aesthetic perceptions in art teaching, by juxtaposing invisible cultural processes in teaching with visual aesthetics forms of objects and spaces?

9.3 A Dialogue on Our Journeys to Embody the Spirit and Practice of Decolonization (Panel)

Chair:

Rebecca Bourgault – Boston University, College of Fine Arts, USA

Panellists:

Manisha Sharma – University of North Texas, Denton, USA  – virtual

Amanda Alexander – Miami University of Ohio, USA

Abstract:

This paper proposal includes Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of a 3-session proposal. In Part 1: Sharing our journeys, we will present our collaboration, which explores how, as three artists, educators, and scholars, we have experienced writing about, theorizing, reading, and practicing ways to contribute to decolonizing the art education discipline and disrupt the colonial dominance that continues to be dependent on legacies of inequity to operate. Broaching the topic from our different cultural, racial, and class contexts and acknowledging the shifting grounds and discursive changes taking place in our research and discipline, the presentation will take the form of three brief contemplative and conversational papers that account for our evolving individual perspectives on the topic and aim at sharing the trials and tribulations that such research and investigation bring forth. We share these stories from the lens of artists and community educators who have worked in various spaces, regionally, in the US, and internationally. In Part 2 of the dialogue: Inviting co-travellers, we will expand our reflections and experiences presented in Part 1 by extending it to the audience and engage them in a broader conversation by identifying questions from our texts that meet at the crossroads of our inquiry. Through this dialogue, we aim to evoke narratives of audience journeys toward embodying the spirit and practice of decolonization. In Part 3: Considering destinations of this paper, we will invite our audience to engage in brainstorming and mapping potential applications of this understanding in their various venues of practice (K-12 and higher ed classrooms, community, and museum venues) in contexts of curriculum and pedagogy.