Arts

13 pages, 8252 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ephemeral Art as Political Commentary: Russia’s Financial Woes and French Satirical Postcards, 1905–1907

by Alison Rowley

Arts 2025, 14(3), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030066 - 6 Jun 2025

This article looks at the ways in which satirical postcards provided political commentary at a pivotal moment in the Franco-Russian alliance. Often overlooked as a medium of communication, turn-of-the-20th-century postcards reflected contemporary cultural values and were an important art form. Here, the focus [...] Read more.

This article looks at the ways in which satirical postcards provided political commentary at a pivotal moment in the Franco-Russian alliance. Often overlooked as a medium of communication, turn-of-the-20th-century postcards reflected contemporary cultural values and were an important art form. Here, the focus is on postcards created by Orens and Mille, two of the best caricaturists of the day, as their work offered scathing critiques of Russia’s constant need for financial assistance from its ally and point to the ways in which the public was growing weary of these demands. Closely examining some of their postcards shows how such sentiments were expressed in visual form while also revealing the power of ephemeral materials as historical sources. 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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13 pages, 217 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Museums in Dispute: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Culture, and Critical Curation

by Priscila Arantes

Arts 2025, 14(3), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030065 - 4 Jun 2025

Abstract

Museums in Dispute: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Culture, and Critical Curation analyzes contemporary debates in the museum field through the lens of tensions between technology, digital culture, and political and epistemological disputes. Structured in three parts, the article develops a critical approach that, in [...] Read more.

Museums in Dispute: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Culture, and Critical Curation analyzes contemporary debates in the museum field through the lens of tensions between technology, digital culture, and political and epistemological disputes. Structured in three parts, the article develops a critical approach that, in the first section, revisits critiques of the modernist museum model, highlighting how discourses from New Museology, institutional critique, and decolonial perspectives challenge the idea of neutral, universal, and Eurocentric museums. The second part explores the shift from temple-like museums to interface-museums, focusing on the analysis of practices such as digitization, immersive exhibitions, and gamification. It argues that while these technologies may expand access, their uncritical use can reproduce inequalities and render plural and inclusive narratives invisible. The third part addresses the emergence of hyperconnected museums and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in curatorial, mediating, and reconstructive processes, analyzing collaborative and artistic projects such as Demonumenta and Curationist that critically reinterpret collections. Throughout the article, the concept of meta-algorithmic curation is developed, which is understood as a practice that makes algorithms visible, open to critique, and reconfigurable as cultural and political devices. Methodologically, the article combines critical theoretical review with analysis of institutional and artistic case studies, highlighting practices that appropriate the supposed neutrality of data to develop a critical pesrpective and advocate for more inclusive, distributed, and politically engaged curatorial narratives. Full article

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

37 pages, 5617 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Signalling and Mobility: Understanding Stylistic Diversity in the Rock Art of a Great Basin Cultural Landscape

by Jo McDonald

Arts 2025, 14(3), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030064 - 31 May 2025

Abstract

This paper explores Great Basin arid-zone hunter–forager rock art as signalling behaviour. The rock art in Lincoln County, Nevada, is the focus, and this symbolic repertoire is analysed within its broader archaeological and ethnographic contexts. This paper mobilises an explicitly theoretical approach which [...] Read more.

This paper explores Great Basin arid-zone hunter–forager rock art as signalling behaviour. The rock art in Lincoln County, Nevada, is the focus, and this symbolic repertoire is analysed within its broader archaeological and ethnographic contexts. This paper mobilises an explicitly theoretical approach which integrates human behavioural ecology (HBE) and the precepts of information exchange theory (IET), generating assumptions about style and signalling behaviour based on hunter–forager mobility patterns. An archaeological approach is deployed to contextualise two characteristic regional motifs—the Pahranagat solid-bodied and patterned-bodied anthropomorphs. Contemporary Great Basin Native American communities see Great Basin rock writing through a shamanistic ritual explanatory framework, and these figures are understood to be a powerful spirit figure, the Water Baby, and their attendant shamans’ helpers. This analysis proposes an integrated model to understand Great Basin symbolic behaviours through the Holocene: taking a dialogical approach to travel backward from the present to meet the archaeological past. The recursive nature of rock art imagery and its iterative activation by following generations allows for multiple interpretive frameworks to explain Great Basin hunter–forager and subsequent horticulturalist signalling behaviours over the past ca. 15,000 years. Full article

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

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21 pages, 16644 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Ancient miḥrāb of the Friday Mosque in Ronda (Malaga, Spain): Historical Evolution and Future Perspective

by María Marcos Cobaleda and Sergio Ramírez González

Arts 2025, 14(3), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030063 - 30 May 2025

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the material remains of the ancient miḥrāb of the Friday Mosque in Ronda (Malaga, Spain), preserved in the present-day church of Santa María de la Encarnación la Mayor, and to propose preservation and [...] Read more.

The aim of this article is to analyse the material remains of the ancient miḥrāb of the Friday Mosque in Ronda (Malaga, Spain), preserved in the present-day church of Santa María de la Encarnación la Mayor, and to propose preservation and valorisation measures to bring these remains to light. After the Christian conquest of Ronda, the church of Santa María de la Encarnación la Mayor was built on the site of the former Friday Mosque. In the 16th century, an altarpiece featuring niches and wall paintings was built, covering the plasterworks of the ancient miḥrāb. The primitive altarpiece was replaced by a Baroque one in the 17th century (El Sagrario altarpiece). At the beginning of the 20th century, the remains of the ancient miḥrāb and the 16th-century altarpiece were discovered while preparing the space for burial sites. Since then, a section of the plasterworks was recovered, although part of them remains covered by the 17th-century altarpiece. In this article, we analyse in detail the remains of the Islamic plasterworks that covered the qibla wall and the ancient miḥrāb, and propose a series of preservation and valorisation measures aimed at restoring these remains, without damaging the 17th-century altarpiece. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Islamic Art and Architecture in Europe)

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18 pages, 12506 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rock Imagery and Acoustics at the White River Narrows (WRN), Lincoln County, Nevada

by Margarita Díaz-Andreu, Lidia Alvarez-Morales, Daniel Benítez-Aragón, Diego Moreno Iglesias and Johannes H. N. Loubser

Arts 2025, 14(3), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030062 - 30 May 2025

Abstract

This study explores the archaeoacoustics of rock imagery at Site 26LN211, the northernmost petroglyph site in the White River Narrows (WRN) Archaeological District, Nevada, USA. The research examines the relationship between rock writing placement and acoustic properties, considering their potential significance to indigenous [...] Read more.

This study explores the archaeoacoustics of rock imagery at Site 26LN211, the northernmost petroglyph site in the White River Narrows (WRN) Archaeological District, Nevada, USA. The research examines the relationship between rock writing placement and acoustic properties, considering their potential significance to indigenous groups such as the Southern Paiute and Western Shoshone. Fieldwork conducted in 2024 employed impulse response recordings to analyze sound behavior in various spatial configurations, including near and distant measurements. The results indicate that, unlike other WRN sites with strong echoes and reverberation, Site 26LN211 exhibits clear sound transmission with limited acoustic reflections. This suggests its suitability for oral storytelling, song recitatives, and ritual practices rather than sound-enhanced ceremonial performances. Additionally, the presence of vision quest structures above the site implies spiritual significance, although the results do not show a significant acoustic relationship between them and the petroglyph zone. Comparative studies with other indigenous sites reinforce the role of acoustics in shaping cultural landscapes. These findings contribute to broader discussions on the interplay between rock writing, sound, and indigenous traditions, emphasizing the need for preservation. Full article

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

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27 pages, 15985 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Representation of Suffering, Destruction, and Disillusion in the Art of Marcel Janco

by Alexandru Bar

Arts 2025, 14(3), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030061 - 29 May 2025

Abstract

This article examines Marcel Janco’s Holocaust drawings, positioning them within the broader discourse of Holocaust representation, trauma, and avant-garde aesthetics. Created in response to the Bucharest Pogrom of January 1941, these works resist both forensic realism and pure abstraction, instead embodying rupture, instability, [...] Read more.

This article examines Marcel Janco’s Holocaust drawings, positioning them within the broader discourse of Holocaust representation, trauma, and avant-garde aesthetics. Created in response to the Bucharest Pogrom of January 1941, these works resist both forensic realism and pure abstraction, instead embodying rupture, instability, and fragmentation. Janco’s grotesque distortions neither document events with the precision of testimony nor dissolve into conceptual erasure; rather, they enact the instability of Holocaust memory itself. This essay argues that Janco’s Holocaust works, long overshadowed by his modernist and Dadaist contributions, challenge dominant frameworks of remembrance. Through comparative analysis with artists, such as David Olère, Anselm Kiefer, and George Grosz, it situates Janco’s approach at the limits of witnessing, exploring how his figures embody violence rather than merely depict it. While Olère reconstructs genocide through forensic detail and Kiefer engages with the material traces of memory, Janco’s grotesque forms share an affinity with Grosz’s politically charged distortions—though here, fragmentation serves not as critique but as testimony. Furthermore, the study interrogates the institutional and critical neglect of these works, particularly within Israeli art history, where they clashed with the forward-looking ethos of abstraction. By foregrounding Janco’s Holocaust drawings as both aesthetic interventions and acts of historical witnessing, this article repositions them as crucial yet overlooked contributions to Holocaust visual culture—demanding recognition for their capacity to unsettle, resist closure, and insist on the incompleteness of memory. Full article

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34 pages, 43550 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ancestral Pueblo and Historic Ute Rock Art, and Euro-American Inscriptions in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado, USA

by Radoslaw Palonka, Polly Schaafsma and Katarzyna M. Ciomek

Arts 2025, 14(3), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030060 - 26 May 2025

Abstract

In the central Mesa Verde region, rock art occurs on canyon walls and on boulders that are frequently associated with other archaeological remains. Moreover, rock art, together with architecture and pottery, is actually a primary source of archaeological information about the presence of [...] Read more.

In the central Mesa Verde region, rock art occurs on canyon walls and on boulders that are frequently associated with other archaeological remains. Moreover, rock art, together with architecture and pottery, is actually a primary source of archaeological information about the presence of various cultures in the area. It includes paintings and petroglyphs of ancestral Pueblo farming communities, images and inscriptions made by post-contact Ute and possibly Diné (Navajo) people as well as historical inscriptions of the early Euro-Americans in this area. This paper presents the results of archaeological investigations at four large rock art sites from Sandstone Canyon, southwestern Colorado, within the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (CANM). Methods of rock art recording included advanced digital photography, photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), hand tracing, and consultations with members of indigenous societies and rock art scholars. Geophysics and sondage excavations were conducted at one site revealed important information about archaeology, environment, and geology of the area. Analysis of rock art and other material evidence aims to help reconstruct and understand the mechanisms and nature of cultural changes, migrations, and human–environmental interactions and later cross-cultural contacts between indigenous peoples and Anglo-American ranchers and settlers in pre-contact southwestern Colorado and the US southwest. Full article

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

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16 pages, 6328 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spectrophotometry of Chromatic Variability in the Rock Paintings of Tecsecocha, Ccorca, Cusco

by Carlos Guillermo Vargas Febres, Ana Torres Barchino, Juan Serra, Edwin Roberto Gudiel Rodríguez and Ernesto Favio Salazar Pilares

Arts 2025, 14(3), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030059 - 26 May 2025

Abstract

This communication presents an approach to the chromatic study of rock painting scenes in the Tecsecocha sector, Ccorca district, Cusco, Peru, through the application of color spectrophotometry using Capsure by XRite, considered a portable device that facilitates reference measurements of color codes belonging [...] Read more.

This communication presents an approach to the chromatic study of rock painting scenes in the Tecsecocha sector, Ccorca district, Cusco, Peru, through the application of color spectrophotometry using Capsure by XRite, considered a portable device that facilitates reference measurements of color codes belonging to the visible spectrum (400–700 nm). It is evident that this methodology does not perform the physicochemical characterization of the pigments present in the rock paintings, which are cataloged as artistic heritage of the nation, making it unfeasible to extract physical samples or significantly alter the rock paintings. Therefore, the NCS color notation system allowed for the non-invasive recording of color tones. The results showed a predominance of white and red tones with variations in their shades; among the most frequent codes, S2030-Y70R and S3010-Y40R stand out, indicating yellow tones with red influences of 70% and 40%, respectively. In the anthropomorphic figures, a slight variation in the proportion of red was identified, suggesting differences in the application of pigments, while in the representations of camelids, the tones varied from S3005-Y20R (yellow with 20% red) to S2030-Y70R (greater red influence). Full article

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22 pages, 3210 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Construction Processes of the Military Orders in the Kingdom of Castile (12th–15th Centuries)

by David Gallego Valle and Jesús Manuel Molero Garcia

Arts 2025, 14(3), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030058 - 22 May 2025

Abstract

Military Orders in the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages were greatly involved in both the processes of conquest and subsequent transformation of the territories seized from Islamic rule. Evidence of this involvement is still visible today through solid and long-lasting buildings raised [...] Read more.

Military Orders in the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages were greatly involved in both the processes of conquest and subsequent transformation of the territories seized from Islamic rule. Evidence of this involvement is still visible today through solid and long-lasting buildings raised in response to the new needs of the dominant Christian society. The most significant were fortresses, and all their variants, followed by the temples of various sizes and categories. However, there were also other lesser-known constructions including mills, hospitals, houses of the commandery, and houses of agricultural domains. This study, based on written and archaeological sources, focuses on the constructions linked to the Military Orders, especially those of the Orders of Santiago, Calatrava, and St. John throughout the Kingdom of Castile between the 12th and 15th centuries. This analysis thus delves into the temporal sequence and regional variations of these features that not only led to a transformation of the landscape but also reflected changes in the framework of a particular type of society affected by power relations, technological evolution, available resources and wealth, as well as by its mentality and identity. Founded on data gleaned through basic research, this study thus attempts to reconstruct, among other aspects, this historical development by identifying the operational sequence which began with the procurement of raw materials, passing through the construction processes, and the application of different techniques. The study has likewise placed a special emphasis on the alarifes and the final results of their duties by analysing their choices of construction techniques and their functions. Full article

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

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43 pages, 21483 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Surviving New Kingdom Kings’ Coffins: Restoring the Art That Was

by Kathlyn M. Cooney

Arts 2025, 14(3), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030057 - 22 May 2025

Abstract

This article examines the material data preserved in king’s coffins used to bury and/or rebury five different kings, which represent the surviving material evidence we have of the art produced to manufacture divinized kingship during the New Kingdom: Seqenenre Taa, Kamose, Thutmose I/Panedjem [...] Read more.

This article examines the material data preserved in king’s coffins used to bury and/or rebury five different kings, which represent the surviving material evidence we have of the art produced to manufacture divinized kingship during the New Kingdom: Seqenenre Taa, Kamose, Thutmose I/Panedjem I, Thutmose III, and Ramses II. All of them were removed from their original 17th and 18th Dynasty sepulchers, stripped of valuable materials, modified, and reused in later cache burials of the 20th, 21st, and 22nd Dynasties by 20th and 21st Dynasty High Priests of Amen, who used these recrafted coffins as a means of claiming their political and ideological legitimacy. Supported with detailed evidence of the five surviving king’s coffins as objects of social and political value and sometimes relying on the coffins recovered from Tutankhamun’s tomb for comparison, this article attempts to reconstruct some of the original material state of this art as a tool of power. 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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20 pages, 21160 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Shamans, Portals, and Water Babies: Southern Paiute Mirrored Landscapes in Southern Nevada

by Kathleen Van Vlack, Richard Arnold and Alannah Bell

Arts 2025, 14(3), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030056 - 22 May 2025

Abstract

Delamar Valley is a unique landscape located in southern Nevada that contains places associated with ceremony and Southern Paiute Creation. This ceremonial landscape is composed of volcanic places, a large Pleistocene Lake, and an underground hydrological system that allows for the movement of [...] Read more.

Delamar Valley is a unique landscape located in southern Nevada that contains places associated with ceremony and Southern Paiute Creation. This ceremonial landscape is composed of volcanic places, a large Pleistocene Lake, and an underground hydrological system that allows for the movement of spiritual beings known as water babies between Delamar Valley and neighboring Pahranagat Valley. Paiute shamans traveled to Delamar Valley to interact with the portals along a volcanic ridge that allowed them to travel to a mirrored ceremonial landscape in another dimension of the universe. While in this mirrored landscape, shamans engaged with elements of Creation. This essay examines the ways in which Paiute shamans interacted with various components of the physical and spiritual landscapes. Full article

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

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18 pages, 284 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How the New York Secession, the 1913 Armory Show, Became the Prototype for the Contemporary Art Fair

by Jeffrey Michael Taylor

Arts 2025, 14(3), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030055 - 21 May 2025

Abstract

The 1913 Armory Show has long been celebrated as the moment when America was introduced to modern art. This formalistic understanding of the event, though, would miss another equally important development which would only be observed through a historical materialist methodology that would [...] Read more.

The 1913 Armory Show has long been celebrated as the moment when America was introduced to modern art. This formalistic understanding of the event, though, would miss another equally important development which would only be observed through a historical materialist methodology that would see it as a response to a crisis of over-supply in the art market. It remains the single primary exhibition staged by the short-lived Association of American Painters and Sculptors (AAPS), a secession from the National Academy of Design. Though they would not succeed in creating a long-term alternative to their rival, their exhibition expanded upon innovations by the 1912 Sonderbund exhibition in Cologne. Through an archival examination of the Armory Show’s sourcing methods, a paradigm shift can be observed leading away from the nineteenth-century salon model by changing the system of artists submitting works to a jury, to one of marketing artworks provided by dealers. This new role for dealers would lead the way to the contemporary art fair model where galleries are the key exhibition decision-makers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Art Market)

67 pages, 33228 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hybrid Forms, Composite Creatures, and the Transit Between Worlds in Ancestral Puebloan Imagery

by Matthew F. Schmader

Arts 2025, 14(3), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030054 - 20 May 2025

Abstract

Rock imagery in the Puebloan region of the American Southwest often combines elements from different animal, human, plant, and natural sources. Blended elements may depict or refer to other-wordly states of existence or to creation narratives. Beings with combined elements can shift from [...] Read more.

Rock imagery in the Puebloan region of the American Southwest often combines elements from different animal, human, plant, and natural sources. Blended elements may depict or refer to other-wordly states of existence or to creation narratives. Beings with combined elements can shift from shapes familiar in the present world and transport the viewer’s frame of reference to the spirit world. Puebloan belief in layering worlds below and above the present world is an important underlying social construct. Other worlds, especially those below, refer to past mythical times when animals and humans existed in primordial forms or were not fully formed, or may refer to the land of the dead or the underworld. Certain animal forms may have been selected because they are spirit guides, have specific powers, or were guardian-gods of cardinal directions. Some animals, such as birds, were chosen as messengers of prayers or offerings, while others (such as bears) had healing powers. The placement of images on the landscape or in relation to natural features imparts added power to the imagery. Ambiguity and multiple meanings also enhance these powers and incorporate concepts of emergence and transformation. Some images refer to the transformation that occurs when dancers wear kachina masks and then assume the attributes of those kachinas. Examples will be presented from images dating to the pre-European contact period (1300 to 1540 AD) found at Petroglyph National Monument, in the central Rio Grande valley of New Mexico. Comparisons to painted wall murals in kivas (ceremonial rooms) made during the same time period are presented. Full article

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

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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

Abstract

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, 2672 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

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. It traces the historical, conceptual, and technological integration [...] 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. It 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 discussion synthesizes diverse sources to critically engage with ongoing debates. Ultimately, the article advocates for human–AI collaboration, emphasizing responsible integration to enhance creativity without losing the human essence of art. It 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

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

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

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

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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