Freeborn Odiboh

The project contextualizes the issues of decolonizing knowledge from African perspectives. It does so by examining Eurocentric curricula in modern African art history. Art history as a discipline developed its concepts in relation to Western art and culture, yet African art history developed within the discipline of anthropology. Thus, anthropological perspectives and methods have been critical to discussions within African art history. As a result, the same lack of perception that dogged the early Western study of traditional African art remains in the study or (non-study) of modern African art. The work develops a new curriculum for a modern African art history program at the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree levels, following a methodology that emphasizes historical content. The curriculum revolutionizes the study of African art history and situates it within global art-historical studies.