The Ends of Modernism: Understanding the Political Uses of Modernist Art among Muslim Intellectuals in Bangladesh since 1952.

后殖民时代的政治运动经常将艺术家与知识分子、学生和工人一起带到街头。埃及艺术家艾哈迈德·巴西奥尼（Ahmed Basiony）死于解放广场安全部队之手就是一个令人痛心的例子。2011年威尼斯双年展（Venice Biennale）上，巴西奥尼的去世给他身后的埃及馆增添了紧迫感，在那里，这件艺术品衡量了行动的代价。但是我们如何理解美术在政治运动和政治行动中的作用呢？我们如何理解艺术家和艺术品在创造政治意识或刺激社会运动中可能发挥的作用？艺术对象或审美环境如何使政治希望或愿望具体化，并在观众中产生情感反应？在后殖民社会的艺术家们通常在政治压迫的背景下，以何种方式转向视觉和造型艺术来追求具体的政治目标？本研究项目从社会科学的角度探讨现代主义艺术在政治运动中的应用。现代主义艺术通常被认为是自主的，不受社会约束。它的实践者和评论家认为，它鼓励人们以新的方式看待世界，给观众带来革命性的新感觉和新视野。前卫现代主义艺术家想象的与过去的彻底决裂造就了具有政治颠覆性的艺术作品。作为一种全球性的艺术形式，现代主义艺术在世界许多地方都具有争议性和开创性。在孟加拉国，现代主义者的梦想是创造一些全新的东西，这一梦想一直是解放、发展和改造孟加拉这一地区的各种尝试的主题。现代主义者对进步和普遍原则的梦想是当代孟加拉国社会和政治的核心。从捐赠者的政治立场和艺术家的政治立场上都可以很容易地看出这一点。该项目特别关注艺术家和现代主义艺术实践在重建东巴基斯坦/孟加拉国政治中的作用。自1947年脱离英国独立以来，这个地区的艺术家一直站在东巴基斯坦（1971年成为孟加拉国的新国家）重要而激进的政治运动和斗争的最前沿。在东巴基斯坦/孟加拉国，现代主义艺术作品和艺术家一直受到各种形式的审查制度的重大国家镇压。与此同时，政治家们将现代艺术的公共作品作为提高自己合法性的一种手段。孟加拉国的国际组织同样将艺术与政治目标联系起来，例如歌德学院或英国文化协会与当地艺术家的接触。在世界的这一地区，现代艺术一直是为政治目的而寻求的。为了了解艺术在孟加拉国被用作政治斗争工具的方式，我将采访达卡画廊、艺术组织、大学和非政府组织的艺术家、艺术学生和政策制定者。重要的孟加拉国档案档案工作将探索关键的东孟加拉知识分子和艺术家的原创作品。我也会去一些重要的大学和艺术学院观摩艺术课，和学生一起探讨他们是如何学会欣赏、理解和创作艺术的。我将观察重要的现代主义建筑和结构周围的公共空间的使用。结合起来，这些方法将阐明现代主义艺术和艺术家在后殖民时期的东巴基斯坦/孟加拉国的政治竞争中的一部分方式。这个研究项目将有助于我们理解当今世界文化与政治之间的联系。

Political movements in the postcolonial world often bring artist out into the streets along with intellectuals, students and workers. The death of Egyptian artist Ahmed Basiony at the hands of security forces in Tahrir Square is a poignant case in point. Basiony's death added great urgency to his posthumous Egyptian Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale in which the work of art measured the costs of action. But how can we understand the role of the fine arts in political movements and political action? How can we understand the roles artists and objects of arts may play in creating political awareness or spurring social movements? How do objects of art or aesthetic environments make political hope or aspiration tangible and produce affective responses in viewers? And in what ways do artists in postcolonial societies turn to the visual and plastic arts to pursue concrete political goals, often in contexts of political repression?This research project investigates the uses of modernist art in political movements from a social science perspective. Modernist art is often considered to be autonomous and free from social constraint. Its practitioners and critics believe it encourages new ways of seeing the world, presenting viewers with revolutionary new sensations and visions. The radical break with the past that avant-garde modernist artists imagine makes for politically subversive works of art. As a global art form, modernist art has been controversial and groundbreaking in many parts of the world.In Bangladesh, the modernist dream of creating something radically new has been a leitmotif in the various attempts to liberate, develop and transform this part of Bengal. The modernist dream of progress and universal principles is at the heart of contemporary Bangladeshi society and politics. It can be discerned as easily in the politics of donors as in that of its artists . This project focuses specifically on the role of artists and modernist art practices within the politics of remaking East Pakistan/Bangladesh. Since independence from Britain in 1947, artists from this part of the world have been at the forefront of important and radical political movements and contests in the new state of East Pakistan that in 1971 became Bangladesh. Modernist works of art and artists have been at the receiving end of significant state repression in various forms of censorship in East Pakistan/Bangladesh. At the same time, politicians have embraced public works of modern art as a means to increase their own legitimacy. International organizations in Bangladesh have similarly linked the arts to political goals, such as the engagement with local artists by the Goethe Institute or British Council. Modern art has consistently been sought out for political ends in this part of the world.To understand the ways in which the arts are used as tools for political contestation in Bangladesh, I will interview artists, art students and policy makers in Dhaka's galleries, arts organisations, universities and NGOs. Archival work in significant Bangladeshi archives will explore the original writings of key East Bengali intellectuals and artists. I will also observe arts classes at important universities and arts institutes and explore with students how they learn to appreciate, understand and make art. I will observe the uses of public space around important modernist buildings and structures. Combined, these methods will illuminate the ways in which modernist art and artists have been part of the political contests of post-colonial East Pakistan/Bangladesh. This research project will contribute to our understanding of the links between culture and politics in the world today.