Instructor:
Does it matter where a cultural artifact is encountered? Does moving a work from one place to another alter its value, meaning, or function? From early twentieth-century theories of artistic “autonomy,” which claim that works of “fine art” should maintain their value and significance across time and place, to current legal and policy debates regarding the repatriation of looted objects to their cultures of origin, we will study practical and theoretical approaches to the value of being in and out of place in a global context. We will consider these various theories of place in relation to our immediate surroundings, thinking about the placement and framing of cultural objects and historical sites on Grounds and throughout Charlottesville, as well as visiting several local collections such as the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, and the Fralin Museum of Art.