Black Mediterranean/ Mediterraneo Nero - Artistic Encounters and Counter-narratives/ Incontri artistici e contronarrazioni

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BLACK MEDITERRANEAN/MEDITERRANEO NERO - ARTISTIC ENCOUNTERS AND COUNTER-NARRATIVES / INCONTRI ARTISTIC E CONTRONARRAZIONI

Black Mediterranean/ Mediterraneo Nero - Artistic Encounters and Counter-narratives / Incontri artistici e contronarrazioni seeks to call the field’s attention to the role played by the African continent in shaping Mediterranean aesthetics during the early modern period (14th - 17th centuries). Projects will include the reception of antiquity in the modern era (a major topic for the African countries that had been part of the Roman empire) and the reception and impact of artworks, crafts and practices of the early modern period created within the Eurafrica space on the modern and contemporary world. Critically revisiting the histories and historiographies of the Mediterranean and placing it as the medial space for artistic interactions, while also focusing on the north-south meridians of longitude, Mediterraneo Nero will capitalize on I Tatti's location in Italy to provide the perfect setting for art historians and cultural historians to address forgotten Afro-Mediterranean narratives. As the project advances, it will build a network among regions and scholars and foster cooperation and exchange among art historians working in various subspecialties.

A joint initiative with Avinoam Shalem, Columbia University, and generously sponsored by the Getty Foundation as part of their Connecting Art Histories initiative, this multi-year project consists of Fellowships, Visiting Professorships, Exploratory Seminars, Workshops, and Masterclasses. Mediterraneo Nero aims to establish cooperation with young and promising scholars from Africa and encourage art historical study in countries where it is as yet an emerging discipline.

Fellowships

I Tatti will offer two residential Fellowships during fall 2022 for scholars from African nations whose work examines exchanges within and between the African continent and the wider Mediterranean world during the early modern period (14th - 17th centuries). Designed for scholars working on African artistic and architectural material (including those working in archaeology and anthropology) and made possible by a generous grant from the Getty Foundation, the fellowships seek to create and promote collaboration between scholars working in African institutions and those working in European and North American institutions. Projects will explore the reception of antiquity in the modern era (a major topic for the African countries that had been part of the Roman empire) and the reception and impact of artworks, crafts and practices of the early modern period created within the Eurafrica space on the modern and contemporary world. We are particularly interested in projects that connect the visual and material histories of Sub-Saharan Africa with those of Italy, North Africa, and the Mediterranean, broadly conceived.

Visiting Professorships

Two Visiting Professors will spend a period of up to four months in Florence each year. Special consideration will be given to mid-career and senior scholars who work on issues related to the major concepts and themes to be covered by Black Mediterranean/Mediterraneo Nero. Applicants must be fluent in English or Italian. For more information, please contact us.

Exploratory Seminars

Exploratory Seminars were launched by I Tatti in 2015 and serve as a forum for scholars to share ideas informally, to talk freely, to brainstorm - and then, ideally, to begin to take the subject toward a more formal embodiment. As part of the Black Mediterranean/Mediterraneo Nero project, these seminars will be held on-site in various locations and followed by a full-fledged conference several months later. Exploratory Seminars will be simultaneously live-streamed to other sites such as departments and museums in Africa.

Workshops

A series of workshops will cente on objects of African origin (pre-1800) in the museum collections of Florence and Rome and in some African collections. Invited scholars will work directly with objects in order to consider questions of authorship, manufacture, presentation, and preservation, with a three-pronged goal of advancing knowledge about understudied artifacts, publishing the findings, and updating interpretive information provided to museum visitors.

Masterclasses

Following the workshops, a series of Masterclasses in method and technique will be filmed and made available as part of the Black Mediterranean/Mediterraneo Nero project. These Masterclasses will then be available on-line and as the project develops, they will eventually form a video library for consulting, discussing and teaching the icons of the Black Mediterranean artistic histories, digitally available anywhere in the world.