Week 5 The creative process

Introduction

To fully appreciate the paintings in Nebamun’s tomb-chapel, we need to do more than look at them closely. We need to look further into the questions of how they were actually made, and beyond that, to try to see what is at stake in the practice of Egyptian art. This includes a grasp of how different that practice was from what we understand by the idea of ‘art’ today.

This week begins with some thoughts on modern thinking about art and what defines ‘art’, and then examines the paradoxical question of whether an item is a work of art or a cultural product. Next you will explore some of the practical aspects of the creative process in relation to tomb-chapel art.