Arts

47 pages, 37877 KB

Open AccessArticle

Building Shared Histories: Dioramas, Architectural Models, Collaboration, and Transatlantic African American Spaces, 1900–1940

by Emily C. Burns

Arts 2025, 14(6), 127; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14060127 - 23 Oct 2025

Abstract

Between 1900 and 1940, African American participants in transatlantic public exhibitions reclaimed a medium that often oppressed non-White bodies: the diorama. This essay traces a transatlantic conversation among African American artists about how to render Black history in diorama form, leveraging the miniature [...] Read more.

Between 1900 and 1940, African American participants in transatlantic public exhibitions reclaimed a medium that often oppressed non-White bodies: the diorama. This essay traces a transatlantic conversation among African American artists about how to render Black history in diorama form, leveraging the miniature format to make political arguments. In diorama series which circulated on both sides of the Atlantic, such as those designed by Thomas W. Hunster for the Exhibit of American Negroes in the Paris Universal Exposition in 1900 and the Pan-American Exposition in 1901, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller for the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition in 1907, and Charles C. Dawson for the American Negro Exposition in Chicago in 1940, African American makers selectively used architectural models to signify histories of oppression and liberation as they told transatlantic stories about Black migration and enslavement. This essay argues that this set of dioramas is entwined, growing from 9 to 14 to 33, and that Hunster, Fuller, and Dawson all rendered archetypal buildings, such as slave cabins or plantation homes, to designate the wide and encompassing scope of oppression, while they reference singular buildings associated with public institutions from government to universities—the M Street School in Washington DC, Carnegie Library at Howard University, Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia, the Old Massachusetts State House, and the White House—to signify and emplace spaces of Black liberation. Building on research on the layered functions of miniatures and drawing on burgeoning scholarship on entwinements between race and architecture, the article speculates on how architecture style signifies through the models to reinforce what James C. Scott has parsed as dominant narratives and hidden transcripts. Seeking to build Black futurity, all three series facilitated community participation and collaboration to produce an intersocial construction of transatlantic African American history built through mobile models of architecture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Black Artists in the Atlantic World)

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16 pages, 12471 KB

Open AccessArticle

Curating Spaces of Confrontation: African Artists at the Mega-Shows of Contemporary Art in 2017–2025: Documenta, Berlin Biennale, Manifesta, La Biennale di Venezia

by Krzysztof Siatka

Arts 2025, 14(6), 126; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14060126 - 22 Oct 2025

Abstract

The recent years have seen a significantly increased representation of African artists at major recurring shows of contemporary art. This paper looks at works featured in the past few editions of La Biennale di Venezia, Kassel’s documenta, Berlin Biennale, and the European Nomadic [...] Read more.

The recent years have seen a significantly increased representation of African artists at major recurring shows of contemporary art. This paper looks at works featured in the past few editions of La Biennale di Venezia, Kassel’s documenta, Berlin Biennale, and the European Nomadic Biennial Manifesta—events that once stemmed from civilisational transformations and now function as influential art institutions. The way these are organised leaves room for art which deals with pressing, difficult matters; especially our relationship with the Global South is becoming a major concern. Africa’s output is unlike all traditional forms of Western culture, and its most interesting instances are participatory, socially contextualised, and utilitarian; colonial crimes and trauma count among vital subjects. At the same time, various uncompromising approaches challenge our notions about how to conceive of an exhibition and how an art institution should operate: works of art are no longer fetishised simply as appealing manifestations of an unfamiliar aesthetic. Consequently, the art world has no other choice but to adjust the programming of its initiatives, shows, and organisations so that space is made for endeavours firmly rooted in the present day, actually facing its challenges. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Restitution Beyond Repatriation: Rethinking African Tangible Heritage in Twenty-First Century Museums)

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15 pages, 3481 KB

Open AccessArticle

Royal Ideology and Elite Integration in Theban Tombs as Precursors to the Amarna Period

by Melinda K. Hartwig

Arts 2025, 14(5), 125; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050125 - 20 Oct 2025

Abstract

This paper will examine how tomb chapel imagery changed to depict a state of being that marked a theological and cultural shift during the reigns of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. The iconography of the royal kiosk scene reflects the growing influence of [...] Read more.

This paper will examine how tomb chapel imagery changed to depict a state of being that marked a theological and cultural shift during the reigns of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. The iconography of the royal kiosk scene reflects the growing influence of solar theology. At the same time, the king, as the mediator between the gods and humanity, appears as the primary source of the tomb owner’s well-being in the afterlife. Scenes of family life give way to depictions illustrating the tomb owner’s official role in relation to the king. Likewise, many of the so-called innovations in Amarna tomb decoration are already evident, such as the depiction of locality and specificity, setting and action, emotion, and the spontaneity of the here-and-now. At this time in the tomb’s transverse halls and porticos, the king dominates the decoration in the public areas of the chapel, along with depictions of the deceased’s service to him. Family images are gradually relegated to the inner hall of tombs, becoming almost non-existent by the late reign of Amenhotep III. By the reign of his son, all tomb scenes became oriented towards Akhenaten, who alone would provide, along with the Aten, for the deceased’s cult, career, social identity, and eternal survival. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)

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19 pages, 367 KB

Open AccessReview

Unlearning the Colonial Gaze: Grada Kilomba and the Poetics of Disobedience

by Luciana da Costa Dias

Arts 2025, 14(5), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050124 - 20 Oct 2025

Abstract

Since the mid-twentieth century, a profound reconfiguration of the epistemic ground of ‘art’ itself—aesthetic theory—has taken place. This review examines how modern logic and the inseparability of the modernity/coloniality pair have impacted aesthetic thought, revisiting traditional aesthetics through the concept of a decolonial [...] Read more.

Since the mid-twentieth century, a profound reconfiguration of the epistemic ground of ‘art’ itself—aesthetic theory—has taken place. This review examines how modern logic and the inseparability of the modernity/coloniality pair have impacted aesthetic thought, revisiting traditional aesthetics through the concept of a decolonial aisthesis. Methodologically, it mobilises a bibliographic review of decolonial thought in dialogue with feminist theory and undertakes a case-based analysis of Grada Kilomba’s exhibition Poetic Disobediences (2019). This review also forms part of a larger research project on decolonial aisthesis, feminisms, and performance art, with results disseminated in various contexts. Distinctively, it foregrounds Kilomba’s installation The Dictionary (2019) as a central case study, emphasising how it dismantles the grammar of “healing” through language and performance and exploring its implications through the lens of Latina and Black feminisms. The results highlight the need to critically rethink aesthetics: if aesthetics is a modern and thus colonial construct, it must be unlearned and reimagined from within. The review concludes that poetic and epistemic disobedience emerge as insurgent gestures capable of destabilising coloniality in art, pointing not to the abolition of aesthetics, but to its decolonial reconceptualisation as a theoretical and methodological horizon. Full article

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17 pages, 6174 KB

Open AccessArticle

Tracking Change in Rock Art Vocabularies and Styles at Marapikurrinya (Port Hedland, Northwest Australia)

by Sam Harper

Arts 2025, 14(5), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050123 - 11 Oct 2025

Abstract

Track engravings dominate the rock art assemblage across Marapikurrinya (Port Hedland) in Northwest Australia, with social change through time linked to changes in how and when this graphic vocabulary is employed. Discrete styles have been identified within the broader engraving body, which is [...] Read more.

Track engravings dominate the rock art assemblage across Marapikurrinya (Port Hedland) in Northwest Australia, with social change through time linked to changes in how and when this graphic vocabulary is employed. Discrete styles have been identified within the broader engraving body, which is argued to have been produced semi-continuously over the last 7000 years, from the point of sea-level stabilisation in this region. It is proposed that changes in these styles reflect and negotiate environmental, demographic, and social changes. In the most recent stylistic phases, track motifs dominate, and it is argued to reflect change in marking strategy, from localised territorial bounded art to regional social harmonisation. This paper explores the potential functions of track motifs as a vocabulary distinct from other figurative art, using Marapikurrinya as a case study. Full article

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

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28 pages, 6683 KB

Open AccessArticle

Food Labels as Media and Artistic Artifacts—A Case Study of Muszynianka Water Labels

by Patrycja Longawa, Andrzej Adamski and Jacek Wiśniowski

Arts 2025, 14(5), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050122 - 11 Oct 2025

Abstract

Food labels are common elements of everyday life. However, from the point of view of communication researchers (especially visual communication), they are incredibly interesting cultural artifacts, located at the intersection of communication, design, technology, and regulation. This article analyzes the evolution of the [...] Read more.

Food labels are common elements of everyday life. However, from the point of view of communication researchers (especially visual communication), they are incredibly interesting cultural artifacts, located at the intersection of communication, design, technology, and regulation. This article analyzes the evolution of the labels of Muszynianka, a leading mineral water brand in Poland, from the perspective of media archaeology. It treats labels as dual artifacts—media (information carriers, regulatory objects) and artistic (elements of applied art, design). This article emphasizes the importance of materiality, the non-linearity of history and the analysis of the technological–regulatory “archive.” It develops concepts of labels as complex, multimodal messages, especially in a historical context. The authors conducted a visual analysis of the evolution of Muszynianka’s labels, placing them within broader design trends. To explore recurring visual and narrative motifs, a topoi analysis method was used to identify three basic topoi: Topos of Nature/Mountain Origin, Topos of Health/Vitality/Purity, and Topos of Modernity/Technology. Full article

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38 pages, 10645 KB

Open AccessArticle

History and Overview of the Unique Architecture of Pipe Organs in St. Mary Magdalene’s Church in Wrocław (Poland) from the Middle Ages to the Present Day

by Karol Czajka-Giełdon and Krystyna Kirschke

Arts 2025, 14(5), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050121 - 2 Oct 2025

Abstract

The historical pipe organ, an instrument of vast scale and complex construction, has a significant connection to liturgical celebration and to the history of European churches. It is also one of the few musical instruments considered to be a work of architecture. The [...] Read more.

The historical pipe organ, an instrument of vast scale and complex construction, has a significant connection to liturgical celebration and to the history of European churches. It is also one of the few musical instruments considered to be a work of architecture. The evolution of organ building, especially in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, required deep knowledge of musical culture and technology. The significance of this relationship is illustrated by the example of the former and present organs of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Wroclaw (Breslau). The first church organs appeared here in the Middle Ages, and as will be shown, in subsequent eras, their location, form, and décor were changed according to evolving cultural and liturgical mandates as well as changes to the structure of the church architecture. The history of the specific organs of the church of St. Mary Magdalene is the product of a rich history of monumental construction, reconstruction, conservation, and restoration, and it is poised to offer a continuation of this tradition in the present and future of the parish and in music history with proposed restorations and renovations of their historic space and instruments. Full article

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18 pages, 2684 KB

Open AccessArticle

Casa da Arquitectura and the Liminality of Architecture Centers: Archives, Exhibitions, and Curatorial Strategies in the Digital Shift

by Giuseppe Resta and Fabiana Dicuonzo

Arts 2025, 14(5), 120; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050120 - 1 Oct 2025

Abstract

This study explores the evolving role of architecture centers in the digital age by analyzing the case of Casa da Arquitectura (CdA) in Matosinhos, Portugal, a hybrid institution that functions as both archive and museum. Positioned within the broader context of museum digitization [...] Read more.

This study explores the evolving role of architecture centers in the digital age by analyzing the case of Casa da Arquitectura (CdA) in Matosinhos, Portugal, a hybrid institution that functions as both archive and museum. Positioned within the broader context of museum digitization and liminality theory, the research investigates how CdA navigates the spatial, social, and procedural shifts inherent in digital transformation. Drawing on qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews with key personnel and on-site observations, the study examines the institution’s strategies in acquisition, curation, and exhibition design. The findings highlight CdA’s innovative approach to archival visibility, the creation of a multipurpose digital platform (“edifício digital”), and the integration of archival acquisitions with exhibition practices. These practices illustrate a condition of triple liminality of the digital museum concerning its process, position, and place. The study also discusses how digitization reconfigures the museum’s organizational model in terms of accessibility and curatorial complexity. By analyzing CdA’s operational and curatorial choices, the paper discusses how digital museums can act as speculative, process-oriented spaces that challenge traditional boundaries between archive and exhibition, physical and virtual, institutional and public. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Museums in the Digital Age)

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17 pages, 257 KB

Open AccessArticle

From Silos to Synergy: Redefining Collaboration in the Performing Arts and Museum Sectors

by Christos A. Makridis

Arts 2025, 14(5), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050119 - 1 Oct 2025

Abstract

The arts sector—museums, theaters, and orchestras—in the United States and Europe faces increasing financial and operational challenges, from declining attendance to reduced public and private funding. While these organizations have historically pursued their goals independently, their future may depend on fostering collaboration across [...] Read more.

The arts sector—museums, theaters, and orchestras—in the United States and Europe faces increasing financial and operational challenges, from declining attendance to reduced public and private funding. While these organizations have historically pursued their goals independently, their future may depend on fostering collaboration across these traditionally siloed institutions. By pooling resources, expertise, and, most importantly, audiences, cross-disciplinary partnerships can amplify the impact of cultural institutions while addressing shared challenges. For instance, museums and performing arts organizations could collaborate on immersive experiences that integrate visual and performing arts, attracting a broader and more diverse audience base. Similarly, joint programming and shared digital platforms could reduce overhead costs and expand outreach. These partnerships also enable the arts to present a unified case for public and philanthropic support, leading to greater collective societal impact. Drawing on successful examples of cross-sector collaboration, this paper explores practical strategies for fostering synergies among arts institutions. By working together, the arts can not only enhance their resilience in a challenging environment but also redefine how cultural experiences are created and consumed, ensuring their relevance and vibrancy for future generations. Full article

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

24 pages, 2380 KB

Open AccessArticle

Resisting Chauvinist Stereotypes: The Impertinence of Russian Painting at London’s International Exhibition of 1862

by Rosalind Polly Blakesley

Arts 2025, 14(5), 118; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050118 - 30 Sep 2025

Abstract

The Russian empire’s displays of applied and decorative art at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and its immediate successors have long galvanised scholars for their semantic complexity. By contrast, Russia’s first selection of paintings for this fiercely competitive arena, shown at London’s International [...] Read more.

The Russian empire’s displays of applied and decorative art at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and its immediate successors have long galvanised scholars for their semantic complexity. By contrast, Russia’s first selection of paintings for this fiercely competitive arena, shown at London’s International Exhibition of 1862, failed to ignite the public imagination and has largely evaded the historian’s gaze. While the three-dimensional artworks provided a recurrent source of wonderment for their superlative craftsmanship, stupendous materials, and often hyperbolic proportions, the paintings were apparently flat in every sense of the word: derivative, lacklustre, and incapable of capitalising on the opportunity that international exhibitions offered to present a national school. The dismissive comments they attracted set the tone for many later accounts, embedding the idea that Russian painting prior to the twentieth century was of limited consequence—a perception that would prove convenient to those asserting the originality of the avant-garde. Yet renewed consideration of Russia’s display of paintings in 1862 suggests that their critical reception speaks to concerns that went well beyond the pictures’ supposed obligation to represent a national school. Notably, a small but significant number of history and portrait paintings by academically trained and often well-travelled artists challenged notions of Russians as primitive and parochial. The technically adventurous of these parried the belief that Russian art was insufficiently mature to experiment in painterly effect. Most audacious of all, they broached unspoken national boundaries by daring to suggest that Imperial Russian artists could innovate in areas on which the success of British painting rested. The attitudes towards Russian painting in 1862 thus invite fresh scrutiny, revealing as they do a disruptive arena in which aesthetic rivalries and chauvinist sensibilities came to the fore. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue In the Center and on the Periphery: Russian and Soviet Art and Visual Culture)

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23 pages, 6954 KB

Open AccessArticle

Music and Narrative: Philip Glass’s Post-Minimalist Technique in The Hours Interacts with the Structure of the Film

by Bomin Wang

Arts 2025, 14(5), 117; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050117 - 28 Sep 2025

Abstract

This study explores how Philip Glass’s post-minimalist techniques in the film score of The Hours interact with the film’s non-linear narrative structure. By integrating musicological analysis and film narrative theory, the paper examines the use of micro-variations, additive processes, and repetitive harmonic structures [...] Read more.

This study explores how Philip Glass’s post-minimalist techniques in the film score of The Hours interact with the film’s non-linear narrative structure. By integrating musicological analysis and film narrative theory, the paper examines the use of micro-variations, additive processes, and repetitive harmonic structures in Glass’s score. These techniques are shown to not only intensify the emotional resonance of the film but also reinforce its fragmented temporal flow across three interwoven storylines. Case studies of specific scenes illustrate how the music’s subtle evolution parallels the narrative’s thematic continuity and psychological depth. This research contributes to the understanding of post-minimalist film scoring, emphasizing the aesthetic and structural synergies between music and moving image. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Film Music)

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13 pages, 882 KB

Open AccessArticle

Human Skeletons in Motion, Defleshed Animals in Action and Transformation of Species in Northern Tradition Rock Art

by Trond Klungseth Lødøen

Arts 2025, 14(5), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050116 - 25 Sep 2025

Abstract

This paper addresses attention to iconographical expressions in the Northern Tradition rock art of Scandinavia that have received limited awareness. Yet, as it will be demonstrated, this iconography contains valuable insights into past ideas and concepts. This study also examines the background for [...] Read more.

This paper addresses attention to iconographical expressions in the Northern Tradition rock art of Scandinavia that have received limited awareness. Yet, as it will be demonstrated, this iconography contains valuable insights into past ideas and concepts. This study also examines the background for the production of Northern Tradition rock art. Recent dialectic procedures within prehistoric rock art research and studies of archaeological remains, including multidisciplinary methods, dating measures, and demographic analyses, have contextualised Northern Tradition rock art into a more defined reconstructed past social context, at least regarding Western Norway. This has further connected the rock art to demographic changes at the end of the Late Mesolithic period. It is argued that this demographic development triggered the production of rock art, allowing a deeper insight into past world views through iconographical visualisations. Based on this background, it is also argued that the imagery of the Northern Tradition reflects past societal conditions and work as a proxy for insight into Late Mesolithic world views. Full article

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

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13 pages, 221 KB

Open AccessArticle

Wrapping Up “Through the Eyes of Those Who Are No Longer”: Paolo Taviani’s Leonora addio (2022)

by Marco Grosoli

Arts 2025, 14(5), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050115 - 24 Sep 2025

Abstract

The first film signed by Paolo Taviani without his brother Vittorio (who died in 2018) in more than 60 years, Leonora addio (2022) recapitulates and condenses an entire career by recounting the grotesque (real-life) journey of the burial, cremation, exhumation, transfer (from Rome [...] Read more.

The first film signed by Paolo Taviani without his brother Vittorio (who died in 2018) in more than 60 years, Leonora addio (2022) recapitulates and condenses an entire career by recounting the grotesque (real-life) journey of the burial, cremation, exhumation, transfer (from Rome to Sicily) and re-burial of Luigi Pirandello’s corpse over more than ten years, as well as by showing in the last thirty minutes an adaptation for the screen of “The Nail” (“Il chiodo”, the last novella by the renowned Sicilian writer). A quintessential testament film refracting the writer’s death in Vittorio’s (one of the film’s many Pirandello-esque mirror games) and alluding to the intellectual legacies of either, Leonora addio daringly thematizes the exploitation of cultural value as well as its political implications—particularly in the specific Italian context and, implicitly yet unmistakably, in the present day too. My paper will analyse Leonora addio paying particular attention to how this subtext intersects the film’s “testamentary” surface, to Deleuze’s “crystal images” (pervasively informing the structure of Leonora addio), to the film’s many nods to Kaos (a 1984 Pirandello adaptation for the screen by the Taviani, analysed mainly through the lens of Lacanian gaze theory) and to the role of death in both films. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Swan Songs: Philosophical Reflections on Death, Time, and Memory in Testament Films)

26 pages, 6020 KB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Interface Between Orality, Text and Images: An Interplay of Black Drawings and Unfired Clay Figures Within the Depths of the Sierra Mixe of Oaxaca, Mexico

by Leslie F. Zubieta Calvert

Arts 2025, 14(5), 114; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050114 - 23 Sep 2025

Abstract

Drawing on archaeological evidence, early ethnographic accounts, and historical documents, this article offers initial reflections on the possible past uses and meanings of a set of black drawings found deep within a cave in what is now known as the Sierra Mixe of [...] Read more.

Drawing on archaeological evidence, early ethnographic accounts, and historical documents, this article offers initial reflections on the possible past uses and meanings of a set of black drawings found deep within a cave in what is now known as the Sierra Mixe of Oaxaca, Mexico. Following this investigative approach, it explores the role of rock art as an interface between orality, imagery, and text in the context of ancient Mesoamerica. To understand the possible ontological perceptions of the creators of these images in the past, it is suggested that this imagery functioned as inscriptions in a dialogue with spatially related unfired figures modelled in clay, which are exceptionally well-preserved in this subterranean space. An interplay of media on various supports is proposed, wherein two-dimensional images and three-dimensional figures may have been used as a combined system for transmitting and circulating intergenerational cultural knowledge, serving as an anchor for collective memory. In this context, rock imagery played a role in a broader communication system in Mesoamerica. Full article

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

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28 pages, 312 KB

Open AccessArticle

Coming to Turkey—Passing Through Turkey: Migration Routes and Spaces in the Cinema of Emigration

by Şölen Köseoğlu and Merve Kılıçbay

Arts 2025, 14(5), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050113 - 19 Sep 2025

Abstract

International migration is a dynamic phenomenon that shapes urban spaces in Turkey. This study focuses on 18 films that depict the experiences of migrants who see Turkey as a transit country or a temporary stop, offering insights into their journeys and perspectives. Using [...] Read more.

International migration is a dynamic phenomenon that shapes urban spaces in Turkey. This study focuses on 18 films that depict the experiences of migrants who see Turkey as a transit country or a temporary stop, offering insights into their journeys and perspectives. Using a qualitative analysis of cinematic narratives and spatial representations, the study highlights key locations, such as Istanbul, the Aegean coasts, and occasionally the Black Sea, where migrants often find themselves in waiting spaces, like motels, barns, or warehouses, facing uncertainty, violence, and discrimination. By examining these spatial representations and symbolic elements, the study explores how cinema reflects migration’s social and urban impacts, demonstrating its potential as a tool for understanding this complex process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Film and New Media)

22 pages, 347 KB

Open AccessArticle

Race and Space in Rap: Conceptions of (Multi)Racial Identity and Urban Life in Rap Music

by Matthew Oware

Arts 2025, 14(5), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050112 - 18 Sep 2025

Abstract

Existing research focuses on how different actors infuse space and place with social meaning. In this paper, I examine how biracial rap artists Drake, Logic, and J. Cole construct their racial identities and depict urban areas in line with the strong-willed trope prevalent [...] Read more.

Existing research focuses on how different actors infuse space and place with social meaning. In this paper, I examine how biracial rap artists Drake, Logic, and J. Cole construct their racial identities and depict urban areas in line with the strong-willed trope prevalent in rap discourse, drawing on theories and insights regarding the production of space. Specifically, I hypothesize that these artists will affirm a Black male identity and perceive place as a hazardous environment, embracing a specific motif in rap mythology. I conducted a content analysis of 386 songs from 2010 to 2023 and found that not all identify as Black and that two artists portray their surroundings as threatening. Nonetheless, each rapper incorporates their environment as a facet of their rap persona. Focusing on biracial artists enables an exploration of meaning-making at the intersection of racial identity and socio-spatial cultural production, thereby broadening our understanding of place. Full article

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

17 pages, 5614 KB

Open AccessArticle

Marginal Manipulations: Framing Byzantine Devotion Through Gentile Bellini’s Cardinal Bessarion with the Bessarion Reliquary

by Ashley B. Offill

Arts 2025, 14(5), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050111 - 12 Sep 2025

Abstract

In the early 1470s, Venetian artist Gentile Bellini painted Basilios Bessarion kneeling in front of the precious Byzantine reliquary that Bessarion donated to the Venetian Scuola di Santa Maria della Carità. This painting functioned as the cover to the tabernacle where the reliquary [...] Read more.

In the early 1470s, Venetian artist Gentile Bellini painted Basilios Bessarion kneeling in front of the precious Byzantine reliquary that Bessarion donated to the Venetian Scuola di Santa Maria della Carità. This painting functioned as the cover to the tabernacle where the reliquary was stored. Rather than accurately depicting the sacred object, Bellini’s painting reworks the appearance of the reliquary in relation to the figures in the painting and reveals a disjunction between the relic and its cover. The reliquary becomes a somber, monumental object that has more presence as a looming entity than as a combination of parts and histories. This paper positions Bellini’s painted enclosure for the reliquary as a product of the blending of Venetian and Byzantine devotional practices and sacred objects. Bessarion’s reliquary was an aggregate object, and Bellini’s painting continues the reframing of Bessarion’s reliquary to serve as a visual contract of the connection between Bessarion and the Scuola di Santa Maria della Carità and, more broadly, Byzantium and Venice. Bellini’s painting ultimately seeks to capture the sacred mystique associated with Byzantine Orthodoxy while also establishing the reliquary within its Venetian, confraternal present. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renaissance Rhapsody: Miscellany and Multimodality in Early Modern Europe)

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28 pages, 5721 KB

Open AccessArticle

Coexistence of Tradition and Modernity for Cultural Sustainability: The Teochew Opera Approach in Malaysia

by Ziqiao Lin and Mei Foong Ang

Arts 2025, 14(5), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050110 - 12 Sep 2025

Abstract

Traditional cultural practices, increasingly impacted by modernisation and urbanisation, are experiencing diminished transmission and declining interest among younger generations. Teochew opera in Malaysia is no exception, pressured under similar challenges in sustaining its relevance and appeal within contemporary society. Considering these shifts, the [...] Read more.

Traditional cultural practices, increasingly impacted by modernisation and urbanisation, are experiencing diminished transmission and declining interest among younger generations. Teochew opera in Malaysia is no exception, pressured under similar challenges in sustaining its relevance and appeal within contemporary society. Considering these shifts, the sustainable preservation and revitalisation of traditional arts has become a pressing concern for scholars and cultural practitioners alike. This study investigates strategies for sustaining Teochew opera in Malaysia, employing qualitative methods including participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that Teochew opera operates within a sacred and secular framework, serving religious rituals and cultural festivals. This duality allows for continuity through tradition in sacred settings and adaptation through innovation in secular contexts. The coexistence of these realms offers a blueprint for sustainable cultural evolution. While challenges such as low youth engagement and limited institutional support persist, the research underscores the potential of educational initiatives and community-driven efforts to renew interest and ensure continuity. The study contributes valuable insights for policymakers and cultural stakeholders seeking to safeguard intangible cultural heritage in pluralistic, rapidly modernising societies. Full article

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17 pages, 928 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Weight of Silence: Vermeer’s Theater of Stillness

by Yi Wu

Arts 2025, 14(5), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14050109 - 7 Sep 2025

Abstract

As a painter of the Dutch Golden Age and a pivotal figure in the Northern Renaissance, Vermeer’s oeuvre inaugurated a maritime modernity in the wake of the Protestant Reformation through its odes and elegies to quotidian existence. This essay centers on Vermeer’s masterpiece, [...] Read more.

As a painter of the Dutch Golden Age and a pivotal figure in the Northern Renaissance, Vermeer’s oeuvre inaugurated a maritime modernity in the wake of the Protestant Reformation through its odes and elegies to quotidian existence. This essay centers on Vermeer’s masterpiece, Woman Holding a Balance. It scrutinizes and probes the Baroque theater of the soul as depicted by Vermeer through the lens of a post-global, post-colonial Lebenswelt. Grounded in Deleuze’s The Fold, this essay endeavors to furnish a phenomenological and genealogical hermeneutic for Vermeer’s interior scenes. It does so by dissecting Vermeer’s theater of silence, his intrinsic use of light, the female figure behind the fabric, the politics of still life, and the theology and interplay of color. In so doing, this essay aspires to unearth the dialectical, oscillating utopian potential embedded within Vermeer’s imagery. Full article

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