Arts | June 2025 - Browse Articles

29 pages, 32864 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Indigenous Archaeology, Collaborative Practice, and Rock Imagery: An Example from the North American Southwest

by Aaron M. Wright

Arts 2025, 14(3), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030053 - 18 May 2025

While ethnography has held an essential place in the study of Indigenous rock imagery (i.e., petroglyphs and pictographs) in the United States for the past century and a half, rarely are Tribes and other descendant communities involved throughout the entire research program—from conception [...] Read more.

While ethnography has held an essential place in the study of Indigenous rock imagery (i.e., petroglyphs and pictographs) in the United States for the past century and a half, rarely are Tribes and other descendant communities involved throughout the entire research program—from conception to publication. This contrasts with recent developments within more traditional “dirt” archaeology, where over the past 30 years, Tribes have assumed greater roles in decision-making, fieldwork, artifact curation, data management, interpretation of results, and repatriation of ancestral belongings. In concert with these changes, Indigenous archaeology has emerged as a domain of theory and practice wherein archaeological research and cultural heritage management center the voices and interests of Indigenous communities. Collaboration among researchers and Indigenous communities has proven to be an effective means of practicing Indigenous archaeology and advancing its goals, but research into rock imagery all too often still limits Indigenous engagement and knowledge to the interpretation of the imagery. This article highlights a case study in Tribal collaboration from the North American Southwest in the interest of advancing an Indigenous archaeology of rock imagery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Rock Art Studies)

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26 pages, 2680 KiB

Open AccessArticle

AI: An Active and Innovative Tool for Artistic Creation

by Charis Avlonitou and Eirini Papadaki

Arts 2025, 14(3), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030052 - 15 May 2025

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Abstract

This article aims to critically examine AI as both an active and innovative tool in artistic creation, investigating its evolving role in shaping artistic practices, expanding creative possibilities, and redefining the boundaries of human–machine collaboration. The study traces the historical, conceptual, and technological [...] Read more.

This article aims to critically examine AI as both an active and innovative tool in artistic creation, investigating its evolving role in shaping artistic practices, expanding creative possibilities, and redefining the boundaries of human–machine collaboration. The study traces the historical, conceptual, and technological integration of generative AI in art, particularly in relation to Modernism’s challenge to traditional norms. It also examines the ethical, social, and philosophical implications of AI art, focusing on issues such as authorship, legitimacy, and AI’s role in the cultural landscape. Through the analysis of two representative works—Refik Anadol’s Unsupervised and Anna Ridler’s Mosaic Virus—one mainstream and the other critically engaging with AI art’s social impact, the study examines the balance between technical innovation and conceptual depth, emphasizing transparency, originality, and human-centered approaches. Employing an extended literature review across chapters, the study synthesizes diverse sources to critically engage with ongoing debates. Ultimately, it advocates for human–AI collaboration, emphasizing responsible integration to enhance creativity without losing the human essence of art. The article offers highly valuable insights into the current debates surrounding AI in art and effectively guides the integration of AI into future creative practices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Art and Visual Culture—Social, Cultural and Environmental Impacts)

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35 pages, 12755 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predation, Propitiation and Performance: Ethnographic Analogy in the Study of Rock Paintings from the Lower Parguaza River Basin, Bolivar State, Venezuela

by Kay Tarble de Scaramelli and Franz Scaramelli

Arts 2025, 14(3), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030051 - 5 May 2025

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Abstract

Rock art sites located in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples offer extraordinary opportunities for interpretation using ethnographic analogy. Nonetheless, we must examine the pertinence of a direct historical approach when dealing with sequences of rock art that may extend back several millennia. Recent [...] Read more.

Rock art sites located in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples offer extraordinary opportunities for interpretation using ethnographic analogy. Nonetheless, we must examine the pertinence of a direct historical approach when dealing with sequences of rock art that may extend back several millennia. Recent decades have witnessed increasingly sophisticated ethnographic analyses that reveal the intimate relations between human and non-human entities and the generative role of myth, music, dance, artifacts, and physical settings in the enactment of creative contexts of lowland South America. This literature has led to a reassessment of the meaning of rock art images, the significance of context, and the place of sites in the landscape. In the pictographs found in several rock shelters on the lower Parguaza River of Venezuela, depictions of a wide variety of human and non-human figures offer insight into the relations between predation, propitiation, food, illness, and the different paths to spiritual knowledge that prevail in the myths and practices of local indigenous populations to this day. In this contribution we explore the promise and limits of ethnographic analogy in the study of sites from this area and offer an analysis of the development of the sites through time, with an eye on both disruption and continuity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Rock Art Studies)

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21 pages, 4375 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Navigating Class, Gender, and Urban Mobile Spaces: Dissecting Iranian Car Social Spaces in Cinematic Narratives

by Nasim Naghavi

Arts 2025, 14(3), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030050 - 5 May 2025

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Abstract

This study scrutinizes the active role of mobile urban spaces in shaping and generating social space. It explores the depiction of car spaces in two Iranian films in their cinematic narratives, symbolic meanings, and influence on the perceptions of urban mobile space, often [...] Read more.

This study scrutinizes the active role of mobile urban spaces in shaping and generating social space. It explores the depiction of car spaces in two Iranian films in their cinematic narratives, symbolic meanings, and influence on the perceptions of urban mobile space, often referred to as third spaces in the urban studies literature. This interdisciplinary paper investigates the socio-cultural manifestations of the car interiors in two hybrid docufiction films: Ten, directed by Abbas Kiarostami, and Taxi, by Jafar Panahi. Built on the new mobilities paradigm’s perspective on the mobile space of cars wherein social space is inevitably produced and re-produced, this paper reveals the socio-cultural dynamics of the car space in the films’ representations. The car space produces subjectivities, exhibits socio-cultural foundations, offers a sense of belonging and place-making, and provides opportunities for informal social interactions, while embodying power dynamics. The central aim is to revise our conceptualizations of mobility spaces by examining spatial practices that revolve around the car spaces. The paper integrates cinematic representation as a resource for planners and social scientists to conceptualize mobility spaces, introducing diegetic cabinography filmmaking style. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Arts and Urban Development)

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22 pages, 4594 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Restoring Authenticity: Literary, Linguistic, and Computational Study of the Manuscripts of Tchaikovsky’s Children’s Album

by Evgeny Pyshkin and John Blake

Arts 2025, 14(3), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030049 - 1 May 2025

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Abstract

This research contributes to the studies on the origins and transformations of Tchaikovsky’s Children’s Album, Op. 39 using the linguistic methods of discourse, metaphor, and comparative analysis to explore a number of connected questions and their impact on how the audiences and scholars [...] Read more.

This research contributes to the studies on the origins and transformations of Tchaikovsky’s Children’s Album, Op. 39 using the linguistic methods of discourse, metaphor, and comparative analysis to explore a number of connected questions and their impact on how the audiences and scholars perceive and understand the compositions. These methods are supported by the technology provided by computational linguistics, such as large language models along with music analysis algorithms based on signature pattern elicitation. This article examines how artificial intelligence technologies can shed light on the differing views on the Children’s Album. The meanings and implications of the published reordering of the pieces are explored. The influence of Schumann’s Album for the Young and the broader pedagogical and cultural significance of editorial transformations is investigated. Through this interdisciplinary approach, this study offers new insights into the compositional intent and interpretive possibilities of Tchaikovsky’s work. The presented results of the musicology, literary, computational, and linguistic analyses complement the few scholarly studies aimed at unveiling the intriguing metaphors and connections of the Children’s Album, which tend to remain in the shadows of his larger-scale piano and symphonic works. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Musical Arts and Theatre)

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23 pages, 21870 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Adoption of Eastern Models in Jewelry from Al-Andalus During the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries: Propaganda and Images of Power

by Alicia Carrillo-Calderero

Arts 2025, 14(3), 48; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030048 - 28 Apr 2025

Viewed by 202

Abstract

The production and creation of jewelry in al-Andalus must be understood as a phenomenon having to do with images signifying power; not only that of rulers, but also of families boasting high socio-economic status. This study aims to highlight the adoption of Middle [...] Read more.

The production and creation of jewelry in al-Andalus must be understood as a phenomenon having to do with images signifying power; not only that of rulers, but also of families boasting high socio-economic status. This study aims to highlight the adoption of Middle Eastern models in the design of some pieces, as can be appreciated in the examples studied, dated between the end of the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th. To undertake this study, it was necessary to consult written sources that reveal the use of jewelry as images of power, and its importance in the society of al-Andalus. Rulers used jewels as symbols of personal authority, but also as gifts for other leaders and prominent members of their families and members of the social elite. It was necessary to formally study all the treasures preserved and dated between the end of the tenth century and the beginning of the eleventh, which made it possible to establish formal parallels with pieces of Eastern jewelry, from Fatimid Egypt and Iraq, dating from the same time. These artistic parallels manifest the adoption of Eastern models in al-Andalus jewelry, through the commercial relationships maintained with the East, especially as of the ninth century. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue History of Medieval Art)

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23 pages, 1899 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Māori Identity and Reflexive Ethnography in Research on HORI’s Art

by Elżbieta Perzycka-Borowska

Arts 2025, 14(3), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030047 - 24 Apr 2025

Viewed by 436

Abstract

This article presents a multidimensional analysis of the work of the Māori artist Hori from postcolonial, cultural, and autoethnographic perspectives. Drawing on the researcher’s experience as a visitor in Ōtaki, Aotearoa/New Zealand, an environment deeply rooted in Māori heritage, the text demonstrates how [...] Read more.

This article presents a multidimensional analysis of the work of the Māori artist Hori from postcolonial, cultural, and autoethnographic perspectives. Drawing on the researcher’s experience as a visitor in Ōtaki, Aotearoa/New Zealand, an environment deeply rooted in Māori heritage, the text demonstrates how Hori’s art becomes a field of negotiation over identity, visual decolonization, and dialogue with global currents of socially engaged art. Particular attention is given to Matariki, the Māori New Year, as a context for cultural renewal, community strengthening, and the emphasis on values such as whakapapa (genealogy) and whenua (land). Through the author’s autoethnographic reflexivity, interpretation emerges as a relational process that takes into account local meanings, universal experiences of resistance, as well as the ethical and epistemological challenges involved in researching Indigenous cultures. In effect, Hori’s work appears as a transnational visual language in which aesthetics intertwines with politics and local epistemologies engage with global discourses on power, memory, and identity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Visual Arts)

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19 pages, 1536 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ar(c)tivism and Policing: Unveiling the Theatrics of Justice and Resistance in Nigeria’s S

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by Friday Gabriel and Taiwo Afolabi

Arts 2025, 14(3), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030046 - 23 Apr 2025

Viewed by 398

Abstract

The S

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-Sókè movement, sparked by Nigeria’s 2020 #EndSARS protests, represents a pivotal stand against systemic injustice, with its Yoruba rallying cry “S

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-sókè” (“Speak Up” or “Speak Louder”) capturing the collective demand [...] Read more.

The S

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-sókè” (“Speak Up” or “Speak Louder”) capturing the collective demand to end police brutality, notably, by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). This study employs Digital Artivism as its theoretical lens to investigate the fusion of art and activism within the movement, analyzing how creative and performative expressions amplified its message and mobilized diverse populations. Applying Feldman’s Model of Art Criticism, it dissects the theatrical elements of selected protest artworks, revealing their role in inciting resistance and fostering solidarity in the pursuit of justice. By situating S

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-Sókè within global discourses on art and social justice, this research underscores its significance as a model of artivism’s power to challenge oppressive systems and inspire collective action. The critique of these artworks illustrates their lasting influence on Nigeria’s socio-political landscape and their resonance with worldwide struggles against systemic violence and inequality. Highlighting the transformative potential of theatrical activism, this study advances understanding of how digital artivism can unite voices, elevate causes, and drive societal change. Full article

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18 pages, 509 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Applied Musicology and the Responsibility for Shaping the Cultural Scene in Serbia: On the Experience of Working for the Serbian Ministry of Culture

by Ivana Medić

Arts 2025, 14(3), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030045 - 22 Apr 2025

Viewed by 254

Abstract

This article presents the first discussion of a musicologist’s work as a member of the commission appointed by the Serbian Ministry of Culture to select cultural projects in the field of contemporary music creation and performance for annual funding. The analysis draws from [...] Read more.

This article presents the first discussion of a musicologist’s work as a member of the commission appointed by the Serbian Ministry of Culture to select cultural projects in the field of contemporary music creation and performance for annual funding. The analysis draws from the disciplines of applied musicology and autoethnography. My appointment at the Serbian Ministry of Culture lasted five years, from 2018 to 2022, during which I observed first-hand the inner workings of the Serbian cultural scene and associated policies; more importantly, I utilized my musicological expertise to influence the very same cultural scene. The article also presents the legislative and practical challenges of working in a country that allocates less than 1% of its annual budget for culture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied Musicology and Ethnomusicology)

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