Art in the Service of Colonialism: French Art Education in Morocco.Art in the Service of Colonialism French Art Education in Morocco [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] By Hamid Irbouh [pounds sterling]45 I B Tauris ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 1-85043-851-X Author Hamid Irbouh throws new light on how the Moroccan French Protectorate protectorate, in international law protectorate, in international law, a relationship in which one state surrenders part of its sovereignty to another. The subordinate state is called a protectorate. (1912-1956) transformed and dominated Moroccan society. He does this by looking at how the arts and crafts arts and crafts, term for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent. as a label for the then-current movement directed toward the revivifying of the decorative arts. were transformed in the colonial period Colonial Period may generally refer to any period in a country's history when it was subject to administration by a colonial power.
The French also introduced Moroccans to industrial life by establishing vocational and fine arts schools. The French archives, Arabic sources and oral testimonies, which Irbouh used, demonstrate the complex relationships between colonial administrators of both genders and their interactions with Moroccan officials, notables and the poor. The French co-opted some locals into joining these educational institutions, which respected and reinforced familiar pre-Protectorate social structures. But Irbouh also focuses on how French women infiltrated the feminine Moroccan milieu to buttress colonial ideology and how, at critical moments, Moroccan women and their daughters rejected traditional passive roles and sabotaged colonial plans. France's legacy in Moroccan arts and crafts provoked a backlash in the post-colonial period. After independence local artists, searching for their own identities, sought to reclaim their authenticity. The struggle to define a pristine visual heritage still rages, and the author, by underlining un·der·lin·ing n. 1. The act of drawing a line under; underscoring. 2. Emphasis or stress, as in instruction or argument. French contributions to Moroccan artistic and craft production, challenges the conclusions of the artists and critics who have argued for the establishment of an unadulterated un·a·dul·ter·at·ed adj. 1. Not mingled or diluted with extraneous matter; pure. See Synonyms at pure. 2. Out-and-out; utter: the unadulterated truth. art devoid of most or even all foreign influences. |
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