Mural

About: Mural is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1144 publications have been published within this topic receiving 5050 citations.

Mural Painting of the Three Livings and the Three Dead In England

Abstract: (1942). Mural Painting of the Three Livings and the Three Dead In England. Journal of the British Archaeological Association: Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 31-40.

The Lost Mural of Bruno Schulz: A Critical Legal Perspective on Control, Access to and Ownership of Art

Abstract: When a forgotten mural painted by the Jewish-Polish artist Bruno Schulz was rediscovered in 2001 a string of legal issues were unravelled. Who could rightfully claim ownership to this work of art? Was it the Holocaust museum Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, because Schulz was a Jew killed by the Nazis, and because it is a museum that has the means, experience and know-how to restore and preserve the work properly? Or Ukraine on whose sovereign soil it had been found? Or Poland whose citizen Schulz had been? When five fragments of the newly discovered mural, which had already been restored to a certain extent by Polish conservationists, were taken to Israel by Yad Vashem representatives it resulted in political outrage. The incident illustrates how certain artistic works fall through the cracks in the law especially when it comes to the multi-faceted needs of the artworks in a globalised world. This article illustrates the weaknesses in various legislations dealing with ownership and access to art, mainly intellectual property law. It is argued that current regulation is sometimes ineffectual and must be discussed in order to cater for all the various aspects and needs of art and the public interest in it.

modern Buddhist murals in northern Thailand: a study of religious symbols and meaning1

Abstract: We draw attention to the importance of visual symbols in the anthropological investigation of religion and cultural values and analyze a recent efflorescence in monastic mural paintings in the city of Chiengmai in northern Thailand in order to discover the iconographic code which might reveal underlying meanings and values. The popularity of certain Buddhist symbols found in the murals is established by means of a quantitative methodology. The results are analyzed in terms of traditional Buddhist explanations of the symbols and then compared with informants' accounts of why the murals were popular. The opinions of the artists and monks and laity involved are considered in reference to cultural changes in values taking place in a modernizing society. The murals are an assertion of certain core values expressed in ancient Buddhist symbols as a defense of the totality of the religious system against perceived threats from competing modern values. An unexpected result of the research was the discovery that the Thai religious symbolic system incorporates into a broad continuum a host of legends and symbols that are not just “folk” beliefs but are central to an adequate anthropological understanding of Theravada Buddhism itself.

Carelessness or Curatorial Chutzpah?: Controversies Surrounding Street Art in the Museum

Abstract: My paper discussed two controversies surrounding the exhibition Art in the Streets, which was shown at the MOCA in Los Angeles April 17th - August 8th 2011. One focal point was the reaction of conservative American commentators to the exhibition in general; another the reactions of agents within the street art world to the removal of one specific artwork. Contrary to the session chairs’ suggestion that there is a tendency for art museums to “avoid contentious topics”, MOCA actively decided to bring non-institutional art into the museum, creating a show of what the curators deemed the most prolific graffiti writers and street artists from the 1960s onward. The show did not sit well with American conservative commentators. For instance, contributing editor of City Journal Heather Mac Donald called it a “shallow, abominably irresponsible show” which “assiduously ignores the moral and civic issues raised by any glorification of graffiti”. There is an interesting debate on the role of the museum here: On the one hand, it could be seen as reprehensible for museums (as socially responsible institutions) to sanction as art what is commonly perceived as vandalism. On the other hand, it could be argued that MOCA is living up to its role as a museum by engaging with the public and problematising our commonsense understanding of art and society through a conscious use of controversy. Apart from conservative criticism of the show, the removal of an artwork by the Italian artist BLU also sparked debate within the street art world itself. The removal has been seen as a failure to bring a non-institutional art form into the institutional confines of the museum. However, it could be argued that the controversy provided the mural, the artist and Art in the Streets with more attention among a core audience of street art aficionados than might otherwise have been forthcoming. BLU is well-known for his political murals, and it is hard to believe that the curators were unaware of this when they assigned a high-profile outer wall to him. It is unlikely that the mural controversy was a conscious construction used as a means to increase attention for Art in the Streets. However, the fact remains that it did raise the profile of the show within the street art world, and that it here sparked a debate on institutionalisation, gentrification, commercialisation and the very nature of street art, which in itself can be seen as one of the most significant outcomes of the exhibition. (Less)

Portinari e a arte social

Abstract: The interest in mural painting has resulted in many decision-makings in the 20th Century, among them the defense of large scale broadcasting of images shot through with the commitment of the artist with his own time and people. In the set of “economical cycles”, Portinari demonstrates that it is possible to “narrate a story” without the attachment to the official version, presenting a critical view of the Brazilian society from the nuclear theme of work.