Multiculturality, Materiality and Contemporary Art, Yolaine Escande et Johanna Liu (dir.), Revue Universitas, N°54, mars 2022.

The theme of this special issue is “Multiculturality, Materiality and Contemporary Art”. Multiculturality is a new concept in contemporary art and aesthetic research, following the established concepts of internationalism, transnationality, multiculturalism, hybridity and interculturality. The concept of multiculturality aims to highlight the various forms and manifestations of cultural pluralism that we all share in the contemporary context of globalisation. The question of multiculturality in contemporary art and aesthetics is above all different from Charles Taylor's view of multiculturalism as a political support of identity. The aesthetic significance of multiculturality in the work of an artist or artwork is that it seeks to transcend the limits of the monoculture presented by established civilisations and to set up the possibilities of cultural pluralism through its creation. Thus, multiculturality is distinct from questions of cultural identity or nationalism, and focuses on the scope of the artistic experience.

Furthermore, in contemporary aesthetics, among the many artistic practices that address multiculturality, the aesthetic question of materiality has received attention, in particular, the anthropological interest in material culture. This is different from the materialist perspective of modern materialism. The significance of the materiality of a work of art is not only the materiality of the form of the artwork. The materiality of the object is not a fixed property of matter, but a process and a relationship. The materiality of the object is also different from the objective object of study of modern physics. Not only do different disciplines have different understandings and interpretations of the materiality of objects, but the materiality of objects is the basis of artistic creation in different cultural regions. The materiality of objects is also a rich source of information silently transmitted across different cultures, revealing by default the multiculturality of objects and artists.

Table des matières

Special Issue: Multiculturality、Materiality and Contemporary Art
Introduction: Multiculturality、Materiality and Contemporary Art - Johanna Liu, Yolaine Escande

The Materiality of Artworks and Aesthetic Experience - Jean-Marie Schaeffer
Artistic Reification and the Bodily Self - Mathias Obert
Individual Career Paths and Multiple Connections. Portraits of Three Arrangers and Sound Engineers in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) - Emmanuelle Olivier
Non-object, Absence of Narrativity, and “Disapparition”: Multiculturality through Szeto Lap’s Painting - Yolaine Escande
Stone and Cloud: Materiality and its Transformation in Landscape - Kuan-Min Huang
Multiculturality in the Curatorial Practice: Towards the Openness in the Exhibition Visiting Experience - Chi-Ming Lin
Garden, Text, Materiality: A Reading of Poems and Paintings on the Summer Resort in Early Qing - Ya-hui Yang

Special Topic Book Reviews
Tim Ingold, Correspondences - Johanna Liu

L'ouvrage est issu des deux derniers colloques organisés par l' International Project on Arts and Aesthetics (IPAA) sur le thème "Multiculturality & Materiality in Arts and Aesthetics" (2019 et 2021).