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Art and life in ancient Egypt
Art and life in ancient Egypt

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Summary

This week began with a discussion about the concept of art. In particular you will have considered the importance of artistic skill and the autonomy of the artist. Next you explored the paradox of art and cultural products. All human societies have evolved practices and products we can now regard as 'art'. This does not mean there is some transcendent universal – an 'essence' of art that manifests itself in different ways. Only that there is a family of related practices which, in this globalised culture, we have collected under the concept 'art'.

Changing focus, you then studied some practical aspects of decorating tomb walls and considered the skills of the artists and the principal conventions of ancient Egyptian art. As a result you should now be aware that thinking about ancient Egyptian art can help make you be more critically self-conscious about the representational conventions in your own culture.