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

Journal Description

Arts

Arts is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal promoting significant research on all aspects of the visual and performing arts, published bimonthly online by MDPI.

Open Access— free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
High Visibility: indexed within ESCI (Web of Science), and other databases.
Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 37.3 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 6.8 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the first half of 2025).
Recognition of Reviewers: reviewers who provide timely, thorough peer-review reports receive vouchers entitling them to a discount on the APC of their next publication in any MDPI journal, in appreciation of the work done.

Impact Factor: 0.3 (2024)

Imprint Information Journal Flyer Open Access ISSN: 2076-0752

Latest Articles

30 pages, 11977 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Specifics and Forms of Art in Contemporary Healthcare Facilities—European Trends

by Rafal Strojny and Natalia Przesmycka

Arts 2025, 14(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040093 - 11 Aug 2025

The development of scientific research related to the impact of the built environment on people in recent decades has changed the way healthcare facilities are designed in the 21st century. The ideal approach is characterized by research-based design and the creation of a [...] Read more.

The development of scientific research related to the impact of the built environment on people in recent decades has changed the way healthcare facilities are designed in the 21st century. The ideal approach is characterized by research-based design and the creation of a therapeutic environment. An integral component of the hospital environment is art, the positive impact of which on hospital users has been proven by many scientific studies. The purpose of this research was to determine the specifics and forms of art in contemporary hospitals. The qualitative study included 91 hospitals in 18 European countries. Based on scientific literature, acquired data on the surveyed facilities, and study visits to 20 hospitals, 12 forms of art were identified. In addition to traditional art forms, art reflecting the achievements of 21st-century science and technology can often be seen in contemporary hospitals. The best example is interactive graphics using digital techniques and tools. This is art whose base is created by the artist, but at the same time, it is a form that responds to the environment and movement, engaging the viewer to interact. Full article

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20 pages, 2422 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Legacy of Helga de Alvear: The Gallery, the Collection, the Museum—A Curatorial and Museographic Approach

by Marta Perez-Ibanez

Arts 2025, 14(4), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040092 - 7 Aug 2025

This article examines the significant contributions of Helga de Alvear as a gallerist, collector, and patron, a pivotal figure in the evolution of the Spanish and international contemporary art market. Her legacy is particularly notable through the establishment of the Helga de Alvear [...] Read more.

This article examines the significant contributions of Helga de Alvear as a gallerist, collector, and patron, a pivotal figure in the evolution of the Spanish and international contemporary art market. Her legacy is particularly notable through the establishment of the Helga de Alvear Museum in the city of Cáceres, intended to share her vast collection of over 3000 works and foster exhibition, research, conservation, and education. The study analyzes her art collection, highlighting its substantial international minimalist art component, contextualizing its development with her personal and professional journey. Furthermore, it explores the institutionalization of her legacy, from the Helga de Alvear Foundation to the creation and evolution of the museum, its innovative architecture and museography, and its impact on Cáceres’s urban landscape. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active Women in the Art Market: 1950–2020. Mapping Gallerists, Collectors, Maecenas, Auctioneers, Curators in Emerging Markets)

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19 pages, 3864 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Through Winter’s Window: The Modernist Potential of Ice, Frost, and Snow in Late Imperial Russian Art

by Louise Hardiman

Arts 2025, 14(4), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040091 - 7 Aug 2025

In 1913, the Fabergé workshops in St Petersburg produced the most expensive of their famed Imperial egg commissions, the so-called “Winter Egg,” designed by Alma Pihl. Fashioned from translucent rock crystal and decked in a glittering array of gemstones, the egg followed several [...] Read more.

In 1913, the Fabergé workshops in St Petersburg produced the most expensive of their famed Imperial egg commissions, the so-called “Winter Egg,” designed by Alma Pihl. Fashioned from translucent rock crystal and decked in a glittering array of gemstones, the egg followed several other designs on winter themes by the highly respected jeweller. In this article, Fabergé’s winter-themed creations are the starting point for an exploration of how ice, frost, and snow were portrayed by Russian artists of the late imperial period. Such works both reflected and realised many of the shifts in the art world from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, for example, the renewed focus on making art “national,” the rise of artistic opportunities for women, the erasure of boundaries between fine and applied art, the influx of such European movements as Impressionism and Symbolism, and the development of modernist approaches to content and style. The principal focus is on works by artists associated with the Abramtsevo artistic circle (Abramtsevskii khudozhestvennyi kruzhok). How did representations of ice, snow, and frost participate in the emerging dynamic between the national idea and the decorative, which in turn fed into the move towards abstraction? Why did these subjects appear frequently in art by women? Why was winter often presented through the lens of the imagined and the ludic? These works evidence a new subjectivity that arose from Abramtsevo artists’ greater freedom to render lived experience. The paths open to them when working outside the Academic system permitted creativity to range freely in the forging of a national modern style. 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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15 pages, 13698 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Relationship Between Mural Content and Its Illumination: Two Alternative Directions for Design Guidelines

by Zofia Koszewicz, Rafał Krupiński, Marta Rusnak and Bartosz Kuczyński

Arts 2025, 14(4), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040090 - 7 Aug 2025

As part of contemporary urban culture, murals support place making and city identity. While much attention has been paid to their role in activating public space during daylight hours, their presence after dark remains largely unexamined. This paper analyzes how mural content interacts [...] Read more.

As part of contemporary urban culture, murals support place making and city identity. While much attention has been paid to their role in activating public space during daylight hours, their presence after dark remains largely unexamined. This paper analyzes how mural content interacts with night-time illumination. The research draws on case studies, photographs, luminance measurements, and lighting simulations. It evaluates how existing lighting systems support or undermine the legibility and impact of commercial murals in urban environments. It explores whether standardized architectural lighting guidelines suit murals, how color and surface affect visibility, and which practices improve night-time legibility. The study identifies a gap in existing lighting strategies, noting that uneven lighting distorts intent and reduces public engagement. In response, a new design tool—the Floodlighting Content Readability Map—is proposed to support artists and planners in creating night-visible murals. This paper situates mural illumination within broader debates on creative urbanism and argues that lighting is not just infrastructure, but a cultural and aesthetic tool that extends the reach and resonance of public art in the 24 h city. It further emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and a multi-contextual perspective—encompassing visual, social, environmental, and regulatory dimensions—when designing murals in cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aesthetics in Contemporary Cities)

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102 pages, 29310 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“We Begin in Water, and We Return to Water”: Track Rock Tradition Petroglyphs of Northern Georgia and Western North Carolina

by Johannes H. Loubser

Arts 2025, 14(4), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040089 - 6 Aug 2025

Petroglyph motifs from 23 sites and 37 panels in northern Georgia and western North Carolina foothills and mountains are analyzed within their archaeological, ethnographic, and landscape contexts. The Track Rock Tradition comprises 10 chronologically sequenced marking categories: (1) Cupules/Meanders/Open Circles; (2) Soapstone Extraction [...] Read more.

Petroglyph motifs from 23 sites and 37 panels in northern Georgia and western North Carolina foothills and mountains are analyzed within their archaeological, ethnographic, and landscape contexts. The Track Rock Tradition comprises 10 chronologically sequenced marking categories: (1) Cupules/Meanders/Open Circles; (2) Soapstone Extraction cars; (3) Vulva Shapes; (4) Figures; (5) Feet/Hands/Tracks; (6) Nested Circles; (7) Cross-in-Circles; (8) Spirals; (9) Straight Lines; and (10) Thin Incised Lines. Dating spans approximately 3800 years. Early cupules and meanders predate 3000 years ago, truncated by Late Archaic soapstone extraction. Woodland period (3000–1050 years ago) motifs include vulva shapes, figures, feet, tracks, and hands. Early Mississippian concentric circles date to 1050–600 years ago, while Middle Mississippian cross-in-circles span 600–350 years ago. Late Mississippian spirals (350–200 years ago) and post-contact metal tool incisions represent the most recent phases. The Track Rock Tradition differs from western Trapp and eastern Hagood Mill traditions. Given the spatial overlap with Iroquoian-speaking Cherokee territory, motifs are interpreted through Cherokee beliefs, supplemented by related Muskogean Creek ethnography. In Cherokee cosmology, the matrilocal Thunderers hierarchy includes the Female Sun/Male Moon, Selu (Corn Mother)/Kanati (Lucky Hunter), Medicine Woman/Judaculla (Master of Game), and Little People families. Ritual practitioners served as intermediaries between physical and spirit realms through purification, fasting, body scratching, and rock pecking. Meanders represent trails, rivers, and lightning. Cupules and lines emphasize the turtle appearance of certain rocks. Vulva shapes relate to fertility, while tracks connect to life-giving abilities. Concentric circles denote townhouses; cross-in-circles and spirals represent central fires. The tradition shows continuity in core beliefs despite shifting emphases from hunting (Woodland) to corn cultivation (Mississippian), with petroglyphs serving as necessary waypoints for spiritual supplicants. Full article

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

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14 pages, 1950 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ancient Ritual Behavior as Reflected in the Imagery at Picture Cave, Missouri, USA

by Carol Diaz-Granados and James R. Duncan

Arts 2025, 14(4), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040088 - 6 Aug 2025

Since 1992, we have promoted the use of descriptions from ethnographic data, including ancient, surviving oral traditions, to aid in explaining the iconography portrayed in pictographs and petroglyphs found in Missouri, particularly those at Picture Cave. The literature to which we refer is [...] Read more.

Since 1992, we have promoted the use of descriptions from ethnographic data, including ancient, surviving oral traditions, to aid in explaining the iconography portrayed in pictographs and petroglyphs found in Missouri, particularly those at Picture Cave. The literature to which we refer is from American Indian groups related linguistically and connected to the pre-Columbian inhabitants of Missouri. In addition, we have had on-going conversations with many elder tribal members of the Dhegiha Sioux language group (including the Osage, Quapaw, and Kansa (the Ponca and Omaha are also part of this cognate linguistic group)). With the copious collections of southern Siouan ethnographic accounts, we have been able to explain salient features in the iconography of several of the detailed rock art motifs and vignettes, and propose interpretations. This Midwest region is part of the Cahokia interaction sphere, an area that displays western Mississippian symbolism associated with that found in Missouri rock art as well as on pottery, shell, and copper. Full article

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

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18 pages, 13042 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Visuality of the Invisible: The Image of Medjed in Sources of the 21st Dynasty

by Mykola Tarasenko

Arts 2025, 14(4), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040087 - 6 Aug 2025

This paper discusses iconographic features of the deity or “demon” Medjed (Mḏd). The specific and unusual image of this character is only found during the 21st Dynasty and is unknown in the funerary art of the New Kingdom and Late Period. [...] Read more.

This paper discusses iconographic features of the deity or “demon” Medjed (Mḏd). The specific and unusual image of this character is only found during the 21st Dynasty and is unknown in the funerary art of the New Kingdom and Late Period. Only oneYe coffin and nine papyri are known in which the image of Medjed is depicted. Eight are in the context of Spell 17 of the Book of the Dead. In the text of Spell 17, Medjed is described in lines 71–72 of Grapow’s Urk. V Abschnitt 24. The “invisibility” of this “demon” is evidently the reason for his unusual iconography: Medjed has a conical shaped body, with human legs. Although he does not have a true head, his eyes are indicated, and he wears a belt. Equally the deity could be depicted as a figure covered entirely in a conical cover except for the eyes and feet, which are visible. This curious treatment can be understood as an attempt by Egyptian artists to depict an invisible being. 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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15 pages, 915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Armenian Architectural Legacy in Henry F. B. Lynch’s Travel Writing

by Martin Harutyunyan and Gaiane Muradian

Arts 2025, 14(4), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040086 - 4 Aug 2025

The study of historical monuments within both architectural and literary frameworks reveals a dynamic interplay between scientific observation and artistic interpretation—a vital characteristic of travel writing/the travelogue. This approach, exemplified by British traveler and writer Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch (1862–1913), reflects how factual [...] Read more.

The study of historical monuments within both architectural and literary frameworks reveals a dynamic interplay between scientific observation and artistic interpretation—a vital characteristic of travel writing/the travelogue. This approach, exemplified by British traveler and writer Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch (1862–1913), reflects how factual detail and creative representation are seamlessly integrated in depictions of sites, landscapes, and cultural scenes. This case study highlights Lynch as a pioneering explorer who authored the first comprehensive volume on Armenian architecture and as a writer who vividly portrayed Armenian monuments through both verbal description and photographic imagery, becoming the first traveler to document such sites using photography. Additionally, this paper emphasizes the significance of Lynch’s detailed accounts of architectural monuments, churches, monasteries, cities, villages, populations, religious communities, and educational institutions in vivid language. The careful study of his work can contribute meaningfully to the investigation of the travelogue as a literary genre and to the preservation and protection of the architectural heritage of historical and contemporary Armenia, particularly in regions facing cultural or political threats. Full article

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19 pages, 6637 KiB

Open AccessArticle

IP Adaptation Strategies in Film: A Case Study of Ne Zha 2 (2025)

by Aixin Chen and Haodong Gu

Arts 2025, 14(4), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040085 - 31 Jul 2025

Ne Zha 2 (Ne Zha: Mo Tong Nao Hai, 哪吒之魔童闹海, 2025) is a prime example of the modernization of traditional literary intellectual property (IP). It has achieved the highest box office gross in Chinese cinematic history and ranks among the top [...] Read more.

Ne Zha 2 (Ne Zha: Mo Tong Nao Hai, 哪吒之魔童闹海, 2025) is a prime example of the modernization of traditional literary intellectual property (IP). It has achieved the highest box office gross in Chinese cinematic history and ranks among the top five highest-grossing films globally. This article uses a case study approach to examine the adaptation strategies of Ne Zha 2 (2025), offering strategic insights for future film adaptations. The analysis focuses on four key dimensions—character, plot, theme, and esthetics—to explore how these elements contribute to the film’s adaptation. The findings reveal that the film strikes a balance between intertextuality and innovation, achieved through multidimensional character development, narrative subversion, contemporary thematic reinterpretation, and sophisticated esthetic techniques. By maintaining the emotional connection to the classical IP, the adaptation not only delivers stunning visual spectacles but also provides a culturally immersive experience, revitalizing traditional mythology with contemporary relevance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Detailed Study of Films: Adjusting Attention)

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32 pages, 6341 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Visual Culture in Architecture: Virgil Abloh’s Cross-Disciplinary Design Language

by Albert Topić, Dejan Ecet, Igor Maraš, Ivana Maraš, Miljan Janjušević and Jelena Atanacković Jeličić

Arts 2025, 14(4), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040084 - 31 Jul 2025

This paper investigates the integration of Virgil Abloh’s Personal Design Language (PDL) within the broader context of architectural methodology. Through a series of workshops, architecture students and professionals engaged with Abloh’s principles to examine how subtle aesthetic and functional adjustments, grounded in artistic [...] Read more.

This paper investigates the integration of Virgil Abloh’s Personal Design Language (PDL) within the broader context of architectural methodology. Through a series of workshops, architecture students and professionals engaged with Abloh’s principles to examine how subtle aesthetic and functional adjustments, grounded in artistic disciplines, can produce transformative effects on iconic 20th-century architectural forms. These workshops underscored the potential of Abloh’s interdisciplinary approach to enhance architectural discourse by introducing a novel lens through which contemporary design methodologies can be evaluated. The findings reveal that employing weighted coefficients for less commonly utilized design principles enabled novel evaluation processes, fostering creative experimentation and innovation. Additionally, this research highlights discrepancies that may arise when employing differing evaluation methodologies in the assessment of architectural work, thereby initiating a critical discussion on the public acceptance of architectural designs and the implications of varied grading frameworks in professional practice. Full article

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

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28 pages, 20978 KiB

Open AccessArticle

From Painting to Cinema: Archetypes of the European Woman as a Cultural Mediator in the Western genre

by Olga Kosachova

Arts 2025, 14(4), 83; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040083 - 23 Jul 2025

The Western genre has traditionally been associated with American identity and male-dominated narratives. However, recent decades have seen increasing attention to female protagonists, particularly the European woman as a cultural mediator within the frontier context. This study aims to identify the archetypes of [...] Read more.

The Western genre has traditionally been associated with American identity and male-dominated narratives. However, recent decades have seen increasing attention to female protagonists, particularly the European woman as a cultural mediator within the frontier context. This study aims to identify the archetypes of the European woman in the Western genre through a diachronic and comparative analysis of the visual language found in European painting from the late 17th to early 19th centuries and in 20th–21st century cinema. The research methodology combines narrative, visual, and semiotic analysis, with a focus on intermedial and intertextual parallels between visual art and film. The study identifies nine archetypal models corresponding to goddesses of the Greek pantheon and traces their transformation across different aesthetic systems. These archetypes, rooted in artistic traditions such as Baroque, Classicism, Romanticism, and others, reappear in Western films through compositional, symbolic, and iconographic strategies, demonstrating their persistence and ability to transcend temporal, medial, and geographical boundaries. The findings suggest that the woman in the Western genre is not merely a central character, but a visual sign that activates cultural memory and engages with deep archetypal structures embedded in the collective unconscious. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is ‘Art’ Cinema?)

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30 pages, 5311 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ancient Earth Births: Compelling Convergences of Geology, Orality, and Rock Art in California and the Great Basin

by Alex K. Ruuska

Arts 2025, 14(4), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040082 - 22 Jul 2025

This article critically considers sample multigenerational oral traditions of Numic-speaking communities known as the Nüümü (Northern Paiute), Nuwu (Southern Paiute), and Newe (Western Shoshone), written down over the last 151 years. Utilizing the GOAT! phenomenological method to compare the onto-epistemologies of Numic peoples [...] Read more.

This article critically considers sample multigenerational oral traditions of Numic-speaking communities known as the Nüümü (Northern Paiute), Nuwu (Southern Paiute), and Newe (Western Shoshone), written down over the last 151 years. Utilizing the GOAT! phenomenological method to compare the onto-epistemologies of Numic peoples with a wide range of data from (G)eology, (O)ral traditions, (A)rchaeology and (A)nthropology, and (T)raditional knowledge, the author analyzed 824 multigenerational ancestral teachings. These descriptions encode multigenerational memories of potential geological, climatic, and ecological observations and interpretations of multiple locations and earth processes throughout the Numic Aboriginal homelands within California and the Great Basin. Through this layered and comparative analysis, the author identified potential convergences of oral traditions, ethnography, ethnohistory, rock art, and geological processes in the regions of California, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau, indicative of large-scale earth changes, cognized by Numic Indigenous communities as earth birthing events, occurring during the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene to Middle and Late Holocene, including the Late Dry Period, Medieval Climatic Anomaly, and Little Ice Age. Full article

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

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19 pages, 4665 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Territorial Ambiguities and Hesitant Identity: A Critical Reading of the Fishing Neighbourhood of Paramos Through Photography

by Jorge Marum and Maria Neto

Arts 2025, 14(4), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040081 - 22 Jul 2025

This article offers a critical reading of the fishing neighbourhood of Paramos, located on the northern coast of Portugal, through a methodological approach that combines documentary photography and cognitive cartography. The study investigates the relationships between identity, landscape, and power within a territory [...] Read more.

This article offers a critical reading of the fishing neighbourhood of Paramos, located on the northern coast of Portugal, through a methodological approach that combines documentary photography and cognitive cartography. The study investigates the relationships between identity, landscape, and power within a territory marked by spatial fragmentation, symbolic exclusion, and functional indeterminacy. By means of a structured visual essay supported by field observation and interpretive maps, Paramos is examined as a liminal urban enclave whose ambiguities reveal tensions between memory, informal appropriation, and control devices. Drawing on authors such as Lefebvre, Augé, Hayden, Domingues, Foucault, and Latour, the article argues that the photographic image, used as a critical tool, can unveil hidden territorial logics and contribute to a more inclusive and situated spatial discourse. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Visual Arts)

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24 pages, 1367 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Buades Gallery: A Tube of Oil Paint Open to the World Mercedes Buades and Her Support for Spanish Conceptualism, 1973–1978

by Sergio Rodríguez Beltrán

Arts 2025, 14(4), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040080 - 21 Jul 2025

The Buades Gallery (1973–2003) was not merely a commercial space in Madrid. In the history of art in Spain, it served as a professional and political node for Spanish conceptualism, an art form which, due to its idiosyncrasies, required its own channels of [...] Read more.

The Buades Gallery (1973–2003) was not merely a commercial space in Madrid. In the history of art in Spain, it served as a professional and political node for Spanish conceptualism, an art form which, due to its idiosyncrasies, required its own channels of distribution. This article seeks to examine the trajectory of Mercedes Buades in alignment with this movement, re-evaluating her role from a feminist perspective and highlighting the importance of certain agents who have traditionally been invisibilised. To this end, a theoretical approach is adopted, following the sociology of art and the social history of art, paying particular attention to the contributions of Enrico Castelnuovo, Pierre Bourdieu and Núria Peist. These frameworks enable an analysis of the role of the gallerist as a structuring agent within the artistic field, capable of generating symbolic capital and establishing dynamics of production, circulation and consumption in the context of post-Franco Spain, a country that lacked a consolidated museum infrastructure at the time. Even so, Mercedes Buades established a model of gallery practice that, beyond its commercial dimension, contributed decisively to the symbolic configuration of contemporary art in Spain and formed part of a network of artistic visibility that promoted experimental art. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active Women in the Art Market: 1950–2020. Mapping Gallerists, Collectors, Maecenas, Auctioneers, Curators in Emerging Markets)

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12 pages, 229 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Difficulties of Difference

by Rachel Cecília de Oliveira

Arts 2025, 14(4), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040079 - 21 Jul 2025

This article examines the persistent conceptual and structural obstacles that pluralism faces within the Euro-United-Statesian art system, particularly in the fields of criticism, art history, and aesthetics. The study situates its inquiry within broader debates around the politics of difference and the decolonization [...] Read more.

This article examines the persistent conceptual and structural obstacles that pluralism faces within the Euro-United-Statesian art system, particularly in the fields of criticism, art history, and aesthetics. The study situates its inquiry within broader debates around the politics of difference and the decolonization of knowledge, aiming to understand how theoretical frameworks historically incorporated plurality in ways that ultimately neutralize its disruptive potential. Methodologically, the article combines philosophical analysis with a critical rereading of canonical texts by figures such as Clement Greenberg and Arthur Danto, juxtaposed with insights from Indigenous, Black, and decolonial thinkers. The findings suggest that pluralism, while rhetorically embraced, is frequently rendered compatible with a teleological and universalizing narrative that privileges Western aesthetic trajectories. As a result, forms of difference are tolerated only insofar as they can be translated into hegemonic terms. The article concludes by advocating for critical practices that sustain rather than resolve difference, calling for frameworks capable of embracing dissonance, incommensurability, and multiple ontologies without collapsing them into sameness. In doing so, it repositions the contemporary struggle over meaning in art not as a problem to be overcome, but as a necessary symptom of epistemic plurality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Visual Arts)

23 pages, 11210 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Conversations with the Ancestors: Pursuing an Understanding of Klamath Basin Rock Art Through the Use of Myth, the Ethnographic Record, and Local Artistic Conventions

by Robert James David

Arts 2025, 14(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040078 - 17 Jul 2025

Past archaeological practices have resulted in a distorted history of Native American cultures based upon western-biased research. This has been especially apparent in the rock art of the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California. In response to this, Native and non-Native [...] Read more.

Past archaeological practices have resulted in a distorted history of Native American cultures based upon western-biased research. This has been especially apparent in the rock art of the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California. In response to this, Native and non-Native scholars are striving to develop a counter-discourse that both challenges and replaces western constructs in research on Native American communities. The result of this approach is a growing trend within the discipline that has come to be called “Indigenous Archaeology.” Critical to this approach is that Native voices are transported from the margins of the research to its center, where they are intended to replace the Western colonialist narrative. Unfortunately, Native American tribal communities have been the targets of federal assimilation policies for the past few centuries, and as a result, much of their cultural knowledge unwittingly carries forward this distorted past. In this paper I explore a framework built upon ethnographic accounts of shamanism and rock art, along with a robust familiarity with local myth, and how this provides a foundation of traditional cultural knowledge against which to compare and evaluate the interpretive statements made in contemporary tribal members about rock art and other sacred material culture. Full article

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

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27 pages, 1803 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mural Painting Across Eras: From Prehistoric Caves to Contemporary Street Art

by Anna Maria Martyka, Agata Rościecha-Kanownik and Ignacio Fernández Torres

Arts 2025, 14(4), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040077 - 16 Jul 2025

This article traces the historical evolution of mural painting as a medium of cultural expression from prehistoric cave art to contemporary street interventions. Adopting a diachronic and interdisciplinary approach, it investigates how muralism has developed across civilizations in relation to techniques, symbolic systems, [...] Read more.

This article traces the historical evolution of mural painting as a medium of cultural expression from prehistoric cave art to contemporary street interventions. Adopting a diachronic and interdisciplinary approach, it investigates how muralism has developed across civilizations in relation to techniques, symbolic systems, social function, and its embeddedness in architectural and urban contexts. The analysis is structured around key historical periods using emblematic case studies to examine the interplay between materiality, iconography, and socio-political meaning. From sacred enclosures and civic monuments to post-industrial walls and digital projections, murals reflect shifting cultural paradigms and spatial dynamics. This study emphasizes how mural painting, once integrated into sacred and imperial architecture, has become a tool for public participation, protests, and urban storytelling. Particular attention is paid to the evolving relationship between wall painting and the spaces it inhabits, highlighting the transition from permanence to ephemerality and from monumentality to immediacy. This article contributes to mural studies by offering a comprehensive framework for understanding the technical and symbolic transformations of the medium while proposing new directions for research in the context of digital urbanism and cultural memory. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Applied Arts)

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13 pages, 3767 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Analysis of Audio Information Streaming in Georg Philipp Telemann’s Sonata in C Major for Recorder and Basso Continuo, Allegro (TWV 41:C2)

by Adam Rosiński

Arts 2025, 14(4), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040076 - 14 Jul 2025

This paper presents an analysis of G. P. Telemann’s Sonata in C Major for Recorder and Basso Continuo (TWV 41:C2, Allegro), with the aim of investigating the occurrence of perceptual streams. The presence of perceptual streams in musical works helps to organise [...] Read more.

This paper presents an analysis of G. P. Telemann’s Sonata in C Major for Recorder and Basso Continuo (TWV 41:C2, Allegro), with the aim of investigating the occurrence of perceptual streams. The presence of perceptual streams in musical works helps to organise the sound stimuli received by the listener in a specific manner. This enables each listener to perceive the piece in an individual and distinctive manner, granting primacy to selected sounds over others. Directing the listener’s attention to particular elements of the auditory image leads to the formation of specific mental representations. This, in turn, results in distinctive interpretations of the acoustic stimuli. All of these processes are explored and illustrated in this analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sound, Space, and Creativity in Performing Arts)

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10 pages, 264 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Кoнец фильма: Ruins, Remnants, and Remains of the USSR Army in Borne Sulinowo as an Inspiration for Performance Artists

by Małgorzata Kaźmierczak

Arts 2025, 14(4), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040075 - 11 Jul 2025

This article analyzes the significance of the ruins and remnants of the Soviet Army in Borne Sulinowo, a former secret Soviet military base in Western Pomerania (Poland), as a source of inspiration for performance artists. This study draws from a variety of theoretical [...] Read more.

This article analyzes the significance of the ruins and remnants of the Soviet Army in Borne Sulinowo, a former secret Soviet military base in Western Pomerania (Poland), as a source of inspiration for performance artists. This study draws from a variety of theoretical frameworks, including performance art theory, new materialism, and the thing theory. Additionally, it draws from the ideas of Carl Lavery, Richard Gough, Ann Laura Stoler, and Georg Simmel. This text delves into the notion that the transient character of performance art mirrors the fleeting nature of power, particularly in the context of the dissolution of the Soviet regime. Following the Polish reacquisition of the site in the early 1990s, artists such as Władysław Kaźmierczak and Brian Connolly transformed found objects and the decaying environment into performance art. This article analyzes performances such as Kaźmierczak’s кoнец фильма (The End of the Movie) and Connolly’s Frieze Frame. It discusses how these works captured the emotional and intellectual responses to the remnants of military occupation. The performances demonstrate the interplay between decay, memory, and historical consciousness, employing the ruins as a medium for reflecting on the collapse of Soviet influence in Poland and the shifting geopolitical landscape. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Visual Culture in Conflict Zones and Contested Territories)

22 pages, 14066 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spinners as Signifiers: Eve, Mary, Sardanapalus, and Hercules

by Carlee A. Bradbury

Arts 2025, 14(4), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040074 - 10 Jul 2025

Analyzing how spinners are represented in art is a way to understand the role of women’s work in the medieval and premodern periods. What do spinners signify? How is this work depicted? Who are spinners? Using a selection of imagery from northern European [...] Read more.

Analyzing how spinners are represented in art is a way to understand the role of women’s work in the medieval and premodern periods. What do spinners signify? How is this work depicted? Who are spinners? Using a selection of imagery from northern European medieval manuscripts and premodern prints from the 14th to the 17th centuries allows us to see how pervasive the spinner was as a symbolic device. Characters such as Eve, Mary, Sardanapalus, and Hercules are unified by their spinning. As they work with the spindle and distaff, they are makers in addition to being religious or mythological figures. Though spinning does not always (if at all) appear in their textual narratives, it is part of the established iconography for each and persisted as a way to communicate or demean the value of women’s domestic enterprises. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Early Modern Global Materials, Materiality, and Material Culture)

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