The course is suitable for art history students, for those working on the field of arts and for everyone interested on the theme. The course is taught in English.

Lectures do not repeat basic knowledge or concepts of art history, students are recommended to repeat their own concepts if necessary.

The aim of this course is to provide the student an understanding of how colonialism, postcolonial discources and current decolonization processes have shaped arts and their role in public spaces. The main objectives are:

* to identify the main historical phases and changing characterisations of 'public art' and 'public sphere'

* to comprehend how the intricate power relations in public space are renegotiated (through gender, ethnicity, class etc)

* to apply the knowledge obtained for analyzing art works, events and projects

In this course we examine the manifold artistic and creative practices emeging in the urban public space worldwide, from performance to street art and projections to social movements. Currently growing decoloization of arts, privatization of space and gentrification have inevitably changed how we perceive, practice and evaluate arts and their 'publicness' in cities. Yet postcolonial dicourses along with local sociopolitical parameters continuously reconstruct the intricate artification processes and valorization of arts asserting novel challenges for scholars, artists and activists alike. Through a comparative and transcultural approach this course highlights the diversified -- and occasinally even incompatible -- understadings of art and public space.

Active attendance to the seminars and assignments, some of which are based on independent work (e.g. in pairs): oral and written small exercises during the seminars; and a written essay on your chosen artist / art collective. The course will also use Moodle learning platform and, if needed, zoom seminars.

Detailed information will be confirmed and instructions with suggeted reading list provided in the beginning of the course.

Literature will be announced at the beginning of the course.

the scoring (0-5) is based on the essay (60%) and the smaller assignments (40%)

Lecture course. The details are specified on the course page of the degree program.

The course is organized in co-operation with the Degree Program in Cultural Studies, University of Helsinki. Cultural Studies arranges the course in which the Open University students (max 5 students) attend. They registrate themselves via Open University's study programme (Enrol).

The course is part of the thematic studies of art history.