Book Description
This wide-ranging survey has established itself as the best single-volume introduction to Andean art and architecture. Now fully revised, it describes the strikingly varied artistic achievements of the Chavín, Paracas, Moche, Chimú, and Inca cultures, among others. Their impressive cities, tall pyramids, shining goldwork, and intricate textiles constitute one of the greatest artistic traditions in history.
For the second edition, Rebecca Stone-Miller has added new material covering the earliest mummification in the world at Chinchorros, wonderful new Moche murals and architectural reconstructions, the latest finds from the Chachapoyas culture, and a greater emphasis on shamanism. Throughout, Stone-Miller demonstrates how the Andean peoples adapted and refined their aesthetic response to an extremely inhospitable environment. 185 illustrations, 35 in color.
Customer Reviews:
Balanced and Astute.......2004-07-08
This book stands out, among many others, for the quality of insight that Rebecca Stone-Miller brings to her study of Andean art. Not content with simple typology and iconography, her account is illuminated by the cultural constants - "duality, reciprocity, hierarchy, and embeddedness in nature" (p. 218) that she finds in the underlying Andean cultures. Art history, in these terms, becomes an exploration of meaning, both of the art that is produced and of the culture that produces it. It's rare to find so much insight in an introductory book; I highly recommend it.
Another strength of the book is the nicely-judged balance of attention that the author pays to the multitude of cultures (including the Chavin, Nasca, Moche, Wari, Tiwanaku, Chimu, and Inca, to name just some) that weave together into the Andean tapestry. The author also provides balanced coverage of all the arts -- metalwork, tapestry, featherwork, stone working, and architecture, in addition to the ever-popular ceramics (pottery).
With so much ground to cover, there are relatively few individual ceramic examples in the book; this unfortunately gives a too-restricted an idea of the range of form, beauty, and variety of Pre-Columbian pottery from South America. I recommend a book such as "Ceramics of Ancient Peru," by Christopher B. Donnan, as a supplement to Rebecca Stone-Miller's study.
A small number of errors have made it through the second edition. For example, the distance from Quito to Santiago is quoted as 3400 miles, rather than the correct 3400 kilometers. A bothersome number of specialized terms were left out of the index. A glossary would have been helpful, and one wishes that more of the photos had been printed in color rather than black and white.
In summary, "Art of the Andes" is a balanced and insightful survey that should appeal to a wide variety of readers. It's the kind of book that doesn't just sit on the shelf after one reading, but gets picked up again, thumbed through, and read more than once.
Excellent historical overview of native Andean art........2000-09-23
This is an excellent overview of native Andean artform the earliest perod through Chavin, Paracas, Nasca, Moche, Tiwanaku, Wari, to Incan. Covers architecture, textiles ,pottery and metallic arts. Looks at the main themes of religious and secular art in these various mediums. Text is accompanied by many black and white photographs, drawings and plans. Some photographs are in colour.
I found this work most interesting for the way it brings out the Andean worldview through the artistic artifacts remaining of those cultures. The work is also reasonably priced and up to date.
Book Description
This five-part collection of poems ranges from highly political to gently playful and personal.
Book Description
Bilingual (Spanish/English)
José Guadalupe Posada (1851–1913), one of Mexico’s most important graphic artists, influenced the generation who lived through and pictured the Mexican Revolution. His powerful and visually arresting newspaper illustrations and woodcut broadsides––whose subjects range from news to religion, from corridos (escapades of bandits and heroes) to calveras (skeletal figures associated with the Day of the Dead)––reflect indigenous folk-art traditions. In these graphically powerful penny handbills, Posada responded to the political and social issues of his day, addressed cultural ills, and spread moral ideas.
Focusing on the Art Institute of Chicago’s impressive and previously unpublished collection of prints by Posada, this handsome book examines his work and places it in the larger context of Mexican printmaking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With beautiful reproductions of Posada’s forceful and lively prints, as well as fascinating technical analyses of these works, the book is essential to anyone interested in the graphic arts of Latin America.
Book Description
Of Arawak descent, the Taino - whose ancestors migrated to the Caribbean from the Amazon Basin in South America during the 6th century - were the first people encountered by Christopher Columbus. Although they ceased to exist as an autonomous society within 60 years of the arrival of Spanish colonizers, the Taino - skilled agriculturists and navigators and accomplished weavers, potters, and carvers - developed a complex political, religious, and social system, and made a substantial contribution to the biological, cultural, and linguistic makeup of large areas of the Caribbean. To this date, Caribbean communities in the Antilles and in New York and other large American cities exhibit the survival of Taino practices in their worldviews, religious beliefs, language, music, and food.
Customer Reviews:
Great work, but outdated in some respects.......2007-06-27
"Taíno: Pre-Columbian Art and Culture from the Caribbean" is a great collection of some of the most beautiful objects of the Caribbean Taíno. It is a necessity for any who is interested in Greater Antillean Pre-Columbian history for this reason.
Still, for the more specialized audience some of the papers will appear to be a bit outdated and therefore it is not a recommended read for archaeologists that hope to abstract some information that can be of help in a wider archaeological debate from its pages. On the other hand, even over a decade after its initial publication, there are not yet any works that are so widely available that give such a good introduction to Taíno culture.
Taino Bible.......2005-09-02
This book was an incredible read. The pictures are absolutely riveting. As a Dominican, I am proud of my culture and reading this book will do the same from you. I refer to this book so often just to look at the beautiful images, I guarantee that you will do the same.
Excellent!!!.......2001-06-28
I consider this book the most complete on the Taino's art and crafts. The collection presented here was gathered from all over the world and represents all the islands of the Greater Antilles. Yet, it is not merely a "coffee table book" full of great pictures. The authors of the essays included represent some of the most important researchers of the Caribbean. Ricardo E. Alegría's essay "An Introduction to Taino Culture and History" is the best summary of this ancient people's way of life. This was a real achievement for the Museo del Barrio and Monacelli Press.
Exquisite detailing of a people and their culture!.......1998-11-03
Here, the interested reader will find an unparalleled account of a great people sadly wiped out by greed. This book is the foremost reference on the people and culture from the carribean. Nowhere can there be found a more complete account. No other book can compare to what one can learn from this book. This is by far the best book I have found on the subject of precolumbian culture in the Carribean!
Fantastic!!!!!!.......1998-08-27
The book is based on El Museo del Barrio which resurrected the Taino culture for native New Yorkers in the late 1970's. It is a must read on the Taino people and culture. The color prints of the artifacts and the English translation of archive material brings one closer to what the Taino people were.
Book Description
Here is one of the most important surviving works of pre-Columbian civilization, Rabinal Achi, a Mayan drama set a century before the arrival of the Spanish, produced by the translator of the best selling Popol Vuh. The first direct translation into English from Quiche Maya, based on the original text, Rabinal Achi is the story of city-states, war, and nobility, of diplomacy, mysticism, and psychic journeys. Cawek of the Forest People has been captured by Man of Rabinal, who serves a ruler named Lord Five Thunder. Cawek is a renegade, a warrior who has inflicted much suffering on Rabinal. Yet he is also the son of the lord of the allied city of Quiche--a noble who once fought alongside Man of Rabinal. The drama presents the confrontation between the two during the trial of Cawek, who defies his captors and proudly accepts death by beheading. Dennis Tedlock's translation is clear and vivid; more than that, it is rooted in an understanding of how the play is actually performed. Despite being banned for centuries by Spanish authorities, it survived in actual practice, and is still performed in the town of Rabinal today. Tedlock's photographs and diagrams accompany the text, capturing nuances not apparent in the dialogue alone. He also provides an introduction and commentary that explain the historical events compressed into the play, the Spanish influence on the Mayan dramatic tradition, and the cultural and religious world preserved in this remarkable play. Rabinal Achi ranks as a classic of Mayan literature--and a rare window on a world that had yet to be invaded by Europeans. Dennis Tedlock brings this drama to life in all its richness.
Customer Reviews:
A Cultural Treasure.......2004-04-11
This book is the follow up to the Popol Vuh (the Mayan Bible) by bestselling translator and author Dennis Tedlock. This is a beautiful and careful translation of a wonderful Mayan text which like his Popol Vuh will surely win translation prizes.
Tedlock spent many years studying the language, culture, and shamanic traditions of the highland Maya in Guatemala. Together with his wife he underwent a shamanic apprenticeship and later videotaped several performances of this dance drama. This is the only remaining pre-Columbian Mayan play in existence and as such it is a cultural treasure which this transaltor has treated with great respect. The dozens of photographs and line art bring the book alive!
Book Description
"This is a fabulous project... an extremely important contribution to Latin American literary study."
—Cynthia Steele, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Washington, Seattle
As part of the larger, ongoing movement throughout Latin America to reclaim non-Hispanic cultural heritages and identities, indigenous writers in Mexico are reappropriating the written word in their ancestral tongues and in Spanish. As a result, the long-marginalized, innermost feelings, needs, and worldviews of Mexico's ten to twenty million indigenous peoples are now being widely revealed to the Western societies with which these peoples coexist. To contribute to this process and serve as a bridge of intercultural communication and understanding, this groundbreaking anthology—to be published in three volumes over the coming years—gathers works by the leading generation of writers in thirteen Mexican indigenous languages: Nahuatl, Maya, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolabal, Tabasco Chontal, Purepecha, Sierra Zapoteco, Isthmus Zapoteco, Mazateco, Ñahñu, Totonaco, and Huichol.
Volume 1 contains narratives and essays by Mexican indigenous writers. Their texts appear first in their native language, followed by English and Spanish translations. Frischmann and Montemayor have abundantly annotated the English, Spanish, and indigenous-language texts and added glossaries and essays that trace the development of indigenous texts, literacy, and writing. These supporting materials make the anthology especially accessible and interesting for nonspecialist readers seeking a greater understanding of Mexico's indigenous peoples.
The other volumes of this work will be Volume 2: Poetry/Poesía and Volume 3: Theater/Teatro.
Average customer rating:
- Lifestyles of the Aztec Rich and Famous
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Aztecs
Manufacturer: Royal Academy Books
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ASIN: 1903973139 |
Book Description
This important new book documents the splendid artistic legacy of the Aztecs, an extraordinary people who, in the space of only 200 years from 1325 to 1521, created one of the most impressive civilizations in the world.
Published to accompany one of the greatest exhibitions of Aztec culture ever seen, this comprehensive volume with over 500 superb colorplates presents works of turquoise, gold, and jade, polychrome ceramics, illustrated codices and manuscripts, and monumental stone and wood sculptures. Nine authoritative essays written by a team of renowned scholars from Mexico, Britain, and the United States explore the Aztecs' view of the cosmos and their place within it, their religious beliefs, rulers, philosophy and literature, techniques of warfare, and day-to-day life. This book will stand as the definitive book on the Aztecs for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Lifestyles of the Aztec Rich and Famous.......2003-07-25
This sumptous book, amply illustrated with beautiful color photos, is the catalog for a recent art exhibit in London. The perspectives of the exhibit and the book glorify the aesthetic aspects of the Aztec empire and nobility. This is a beautiful introduciton to Aztec royal art. If you want a more balanced account of Aztec society, however, with an emphasis on daily life of the non-rich and non-famous, see the new edition of Smith's textbook, The Aztecs (2003, Blackwell).
Book Description
Few Pacific islands hold as prominent a place in the Western imagination as Easter Island. The most remote inhabited place on earth, Easter Island is home to the Rapa Nui, a Polynesian people who developed a unique series of artistic traditions. While the island is renowned for the colossal stone figures that adorned its temples, much of its art remains unfamiliar to wider audiences. This book examines the island's diverse artistic heritage and presents and discusses more than fifty works, ranging from robust stone images to refined wooden sculpture, rare barkcloth figures, and examples of rongorongo, the island's unique and undeciphered script.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent photos and good overall info.......2002-10-22
I purchased a couple of wood figures (moai) from Easter Island recently, and then ordered this book in order to learn more about the artistic traditions of this remote island. This small folder presents the most important types of artifacts from Easter Island, and includes some brief but good information on its history and tribal traditions. All the designs, whether they be wood, stone, or barkcloth, are striking and unusual. Recommended for all readers interested in art from the Pacific Islands.
Great photos, so-so text.......2002-04-06
Visually great, wonderful to see so many Easter island pieces in one place. However, text has a lot of errors, many Rapanui words are misspelled. The reference list is so selective that most important references are not listed.
Most who read the text probably will not know the difference. Advice: look at the pictures, skip the text.
Book Description
"Simply put, this is a wonderful—in some respects even an extraordinary—book. From one end to the other, it strikes a series of elegant balances on every level."
—Allan W. Atlas, Distinguished Professor of Music, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York
The music of the peoples of South and Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean has never received a comprehensive treatment in English until this multi-volume work. Taking a sociocultural and human-centered approach,
Music in Latin America and the Caribbean gathers the best scholarship from writers all over the world to cover in depth the musical legacies of indigenous peoples, creoles, African descendants, Iberian colonizers, and other immigrant groups that met and mixed in the New World. Within a history marked by cultural encounters and dislocations, music emerges as the powerful tool that negotiates identities, enacts resistance, performs belief, and challenges received aesthetics. This work, more than two decades in the making, was conceived as part of "The Universe of Music: A History" project, initiated by and developed in cooperation with the International Music Council, with the goals of empowering Latin Americans and Caribbeans to shape their own musical history and emphasizing the role that music plays in human life. The four volumes that constitute this work are structured as parts of a single conception and gather 150 contributions by more than 100 distinguished scholars representing 36 countries.
Volume 1,
Performing Beliefs: Indigenous Cultures of South America, Central America, and Mexico, focuses on the inextricable relationships between worldviews and musical experience in the current practices of indigenous groups. Worldviews are built into, among other things, how music is organized and performed, how musical instruments are constructed and when they are played, choreographic formations, the structure of songs, the assignment of gender to instruments, and ritual patterns. Two CDs with 44 recorded examples illustrate the contributions to this rich volume.
Books:
- Basta!: Land And The Zapatista Rebellion In Chiapas
- Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985, Volume 1)
- Blood Revenge: Family Honor, Mediation and Outcasting
- Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
- Caesar and Christ (The Story of Civilization III)
- Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in Colonial Rule
- Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
- Commander's Kitchen : Take Home the True Taste of New Orleans With More Than 150 Recipes from Commander's Palace Restaurant
- Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison
- Discourse on Colonialism
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