جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه "anthropology of art" در نشریات گروه "هنر و معماری"

One of the most important examples related to the representation of death in art is a genre in the history of photography called "Postmortem photography". In this type of photograph, deceased people realistically return to their families, as if they are alive and close to other family members. The preparation of these photos was a time-consuming and expensive process, during which the deceased person was put on makeup and prepared to be photographed in a staged place. The peak and decline of this genre is parallel to one of the most important British political and cultural eras, which is known as the "Victorian Era" and was especially popular in the second half of the 19th century in England and some other countries, including America. In this genre, photography of the dead had become widespread and became a custom in the mourning of this era. Now the issue here is how this genre was formed and in what artistic tendencies was it rooted?Historically, the recording of the face and body of the dead has an ancient background in which the mummy tradition of the ancient Egyptians is undeniable, which, due to the connection with the Roman Empire, played an important role in transferring the image of the afterlife to Christian Europe. Among the most important of them were the decorated plaster death masks. A tradition that continued until BC; But the transfer of the tradition of the death mask to Europe was not only through Egypt, and in some regions of Greece, the death mask was also one of the ceremonial requirements of funeral and religious ceremonies. After the Greeks, the Romans also depicted death abundantly and in various ways, a tradition that can be identified in connection with the Egyptian death mask tradition in the Fayum portraits. In the Middle Ages, a new form of the image of death became popular, which was the result of the widespread plague in Europe known as the "Black Death". Further, with the weakening of the church and the power of religion, a new era of scientism and humanism was formed, which also affected the representation of death in art. Once again, death masks appeared in 15th century Florence, and gradually a new form of the image of death became popular in Europe, including England. In the 18th century, the post-mortem image became increasingly popular in England, and English privileged families used the image of their ancestors, including post-death or mourning portraits. In the 19th century, the theory of phrenology greatly influenced the genre of photography of the dead. Proponents of phrenology theory believe that death masks reveal the external characteristics and inner truth of a person. As a result, it can be said that there is a significant connection between the photography of the dead and the pictorial tradition of mummies, death masks, death dance and Renaissance mourning portraits in Europe and after. This shows how beliefs persist in the form of artistic media over time.

Nomadic handicrafts are the most important manifestation of indigenous and tribal art and represent a set of social and cultural characteristics of nomadic life. In the Qashqai tribe, hand-woven chambers are one of the practical products of the women of the tribe. With the change in the structure of tribal life, the settlement of tribes and nomads, and the continued migration of large numbers of nomads to rural and urban areas and the replacement of cheap goods to suit the needs of life, the production of many functional fabrics has become obsolete. The aim of this study was to identify the structural and functional characteristics of this type of handicrafts in the Qashqai tribe and to study these products based on the anthropology of art. The data collection of this research is field and library. The research findings were presented by descriptive-analytical method. Container weaves in various sizes in accordance with the needs of tribal life have been defined as an indicator of women artists and the choice of weaving style of these handicrafts in proportion to their function. The index is a strong sign of the artist's creative performance and expresses the artist's agency and the headline expresses the artist's position. As an indicator, these handicrafts play a central role, which is also the heritage of the tribal community and a factor for the continuation of the light weaving process that has remained to this day.

The Armenian carpet is one of the artistic products of the native culture of this country and the oldest weaving system in the geography of the Caucasus, which has had a lively life since the past in the plateau of ancient Armenia. It was woven and presented based on the imagination and taste of Armenian weavers and the use of ritualistic, mythological, and religious symbolic concepts. The motifs in this carpet have been formed and continued over time in the cultural context and fabric of Armenian clothing. On this basis, any analysis and understanding of the Armenian carpet’s functional dimensions or its aesthetic and semantic concepts should consider the context of the culture in which it was created. Therefore, to achieve such a goal, The first stage is to look upon the study of the Armenian carpet with an anthropological approach to art to identify and analyze its forms and meaning.Anthropology of art is a comprehensive approach that is desirable and value-oriented in studying and understanding the art of native societies and their cultural background. This research tries to answer the question: What characteristics and indicators do Armenian carpets have, based on the anthropological approach of art and from the aesthetic and semantic point of view? And how can one understand the meaning and symbolic and aesthetic concepts of motifs based on the cultural context of Armenian society? The summary of the findings of the research includes the existence and presence of various plants, animal motifs, various geometrical and human shapes, and calligraphy in the text of the carpets, which, in addition to being created to fill with patterns and decorate the space of the carpets, they have an implicit mission as well, that is the symbolic and meaningful aspectof motifs, reminders, and cultural and religious messages that each of them has in their existence. Some of them include the dragon, the tree of life (Yasi), the cross, the altar and the church, and the bergamot, each of which has its meaning that has been formed over time and on the cultural background of Armenian society. This research is of a qualitative and developmental type, and the descriptive-analytical research method and the data collection is through library research.

The art of “Zoroastrian needlework” is a sort of traditional needlework clothing design, belonged to Zoroastrian ladies, dating back to pre-Islamic Iran. Majority of the Zoroastrian needlework motives contain some meanings and roots from religious culture and aesthetics point of view which are not explained so far and identification of these motives can reveal their meanings which some believe they are just simple designs without any hidden meaning.

This study attempts to assess and understand the ornamental motifs of the Zoroastrian needlework from cultural and social point of view of the artists.

This anthropological study of art tries to answer the following question: what is the cultural iconography, aesthetic items and function of the motifs of the Zoroastrian Needlework? In order to answer this question based on anthropology of art views, the motifs of the Zoroastrian Needlework were studied using descriptive-analytical method by considering their iconography, aesthetic, and functions.

The results show that based on iconography analysis, many of these motifs remind us of old archetype such as mother and trees, and using them on wedding dresses is a symbol of goddess of fertility. This shows a relation between concept and application. In addition, based on aesthetic analysis, the structure of color, form, texture and composition are according to their sewing patterns and poses balance, difference and rhythm. In function analysis, motives were used mostly for women’s clothing, especially their wedding dress which is exactly according to its function and shows view of Zoroastrian religion in which living happily is the human mission.

Pottery as a handmade originated from humans’ thoughts goes back to Neolithic period. It has always provided a ground for demonstrating thoughts and beliefs of pottery craftsmen and women; and, it is consideredas best cultural material and guidance for deeper recognition of lifestyle and thoughts of its manufacturer.
Kalpouregan is one of the places known for its potteries, and traditional way of making them still being continued. Pottery making activity in the region is just done by craftswomen, through usage of very simple tools and their intrinsic motifs. These women have learned the art from their ancestors and maintained it, with no change. This adherence to traditions and not being effected by related traditions of other regions are among the most important characteristics of these potteries which makes them distinguished from other samples. Studying culture, traditions and custom of the region in past and present may help us to identify these motifs, which undoubtedly are based on culture of the region.
Kalpouregan pottery is a handmade originated from thoughts of Balouch craftswomen; while, accommodating an extended material and spiritual scope of Balouch culture, in itself. Studying motifs may demonstrate important dimensions of the culture and studying the culture on the other hand may help better understanding of the motifs carved on potteries. The paper has been prepared to the aim of such understanding through an approach to anthropology of art, to answer the following question: “Motifs carved on Kalpouregan potteries are of what meaning for their creators?” This descriptive-analytical method of research has been performed as a field study through making interviews, photography, filming, and participant observation, to collect data. The author has tried to study and analyze the motifs based on framework of Balouch society, through “art theory” as a semantics system from among various theories based on anthropology of art. In anthropology of art, there is no theory or theoretical system specifically provided about art. Those existing are merely very general opinions or descriptive theories stated in works of those anthropologists dealing with art, according to their specific field experiences. These opinions may be used as sensitizer theories. Mainprinciple of anthropology is method or shape, and the subject will be explained and analyzed in relation to its much expanded background as the method of analysis, i.e. culture of Kalpouregan region. Therefore, no theory provided by a specific anthropologist has been considered as the basis for analysis and conclusion in the paper; and, some of very general opinions stated by some of them have been used.
After shape and style analyses of motifs to represent meaning through shapes, the author has referred to other artistic works of the region like needlworks, Kilim, and etc. to decrypt shapes and designs.
The results show that: 1- The motifs represent customs, beliefs and traditions and in general, various levels of pottery making in culture of Kalpouregan culture; and, 2- Craftswomen of the region are occupied with carved potteries to maintain, continue, reproduce, and transfer the culture.

Body painting has been practiced in the wide variety of cultures which includes Tattooing, Marking, and Ink Painting. In this study, we have explored whether tattoos should be counted as art and if they should, their aesthetic characteristics have been extracted based on the Franz Boas analytical method in anthropology of art.
In this study, we attempted to investigate two issues about tattooing: 1) How the common aesthetic characteristics in art theories could be understood in tattoo as an artwork, And 2) According to the fact that, in addition to the aesthetic features, tattoo is also associated with social and cultural dependencies, we sociologically attempted to look for the tattoo’s functions in the contemporary social and cultural structures. Furthermore, considering the similar features of tattooing art in the world, the cultural style of this art has been studied in our society. According to the observations in this study, tattoo not only has aesthetic value in a cultural context, but also has symbolic meaning which influences and is influenced by individual and social leaning.

More than 200 million people live today out of their countries, and the majority of them are originated from the third world countries while only a minority of them had the chance to be accepted in developed countries, where different mechanisms are used to open the doors only for well educated and elites coming from poor countries. Anyway, no matter where these populations are situated, their first concern after finding the elementary conditions of life is how to find a way to conserve or reproduce and even develop their original culture as a means to have their identities preserved. In recent years the melting pot theory shows more and more its appropriateness for analyzing the immigrated communities, this is in opposition to theories which argue that the reconstruction of communities in the host country is not a problem for their integration, but a path to their prosperity at least in the cultural domain. The art, in all its forms, especially in developed countries is one of the best ways to produce and reproduce the original cultures. In this paper the author, has based his argument on a theoretical framework on the art as a means of community construction identity, giving examples in Iranian and some other diasporic communities. Nevertheless the argument concerns about a risk of deviation and development of a sort of exotic approach to the others’ culture.

In western African societies, there is a close relationship between the world of the living and the world of ancestors which is provided through infinite ritual relationships. This relationship makes it possible for the living to perceive and accept transition to the other world through representational tools which are defined as “artistic” for us. Sculptures which are placed in holy altars and are representations of ancestors can be considered as some of these tools. Today, photographic portraits replace these tools. The image of human being in sculptures and today in portraits can be considered as a kind of relationship with a holy “couple” which in these people’s beliefs accompany human beings till their death and will rejoin them after their death and the period of separation. It can be stated that in this period human beings move from the world of the living to the world of the dead and become ancestors. In this article, the author describes this situation, mentioning its instances in western Africa and analyzes this situation in representational forms, sculpture and photography.