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Anschutz Distinguished Fellow in American Studies

International Deadline: December 1, 2021 – The Anschutz Distinguished Fellowship will be awarded in the academic year 2022-23 to a writer, critic, journalist, musician, artist, or other contributor to the arts…

Dorsky Museum’ Art Donation Proposals

International Deadline: Ongoing – The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at the State University of New York at New Paltz is one of the largest museums in the SUNY system, with more than 9,000 square feet of exhibit space…

Ancient Tibetan handprint art discovery sparks debate

Upon the recent discovery by researchers at Cornell University of a series of hand and footprints dating at about 200,000 years old, there has been a debate sparked as to whether this is the earliest piece of artwork to be discovered. The purported handprint art was discovered by a team of archaeologists and geologists in Tibet, and while the precision of its age and intent is still in flux, it does beg the question: is a handprint placed upon the Earth a work of art?

 

By the village of Quesang, on a limestone boulder beside a hot spring, archaeologist Tom Urban and his team found these series of hand and footprints. This past week, Urban and others published a study entitled “Earliest parietal art: hominin hand and foot traces from the middle Pleistocene of Tibet”. And Urban seems more than convinced that this discovery is an intentional act of creation by a pair of our ancient ancestors.

 

Based on the findings of the researchers at Cornell University, the handprint art is believed to have been made by children, aged between 7 and 11. “This would make the site the earliest currently known example of parietal art in the world and would also provide the earliest evidence discovered to date for hominins on the High Tibetan Plateau,” the study states. “This remarkable discovery adds to the body of research that identifies children as some of the earliest artists within the genus Homo.”

 

Without diving too deep into the endless and unanswerable question of “What is art?”, there are clearly many angles to take this finding and what it implies. Is a finger painting by a child—whether it be on paper or on the plaster walls—any less art than a painstakingly crafted jewel of the Renaissance? While they certainly are judged in completely different ballparks, they are both physically manifested creative intent. 

 

To hone in on a more comparable reference point: is a child’s finger painting any less art than the ancient cave drawings researchers have poured over for centuries? If the dating of these prints is accurate, this also makes them 100,000 years older than what we thought to be the earliest examples of art. And is the deliberate act of leaving a series of hand and footprints for oneself and others to see any less valid than simple etchings of animals? 

 

This handprint art is all the more resonant in the debate of early art because it is something so universal and relatable. Which of us haven’t as youths placed a hand or a foot in soft mud or sand, perhaps even drawing an image or a name with a finger, and felt ourselves inhabited by the spirit of artistry? While Cornell University’s discovery may still be contested and examined in regards to its exact place in time, what is certainly true is that one day, long ago in Tibet, some young people chose to leave their mark upon the land, and it is still stirring thoughts and questions to this day.

 

If that isn’t art, what is?

Apexart 2022–23 Season

International Deadline: October 31, 2021; March 1, 2022 – Apexart offers exhibition opportunities for anyone, anywhere, to turn their idea into an apexart exhibition. $10,000 budget, support, publication…

What We’re Reading: An artistic project explores the impact of artists on cities

A Hyperallergic article discusses how Julia Weist, one of four 2019–2020 New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs’s Public Artists in Residence, was paired with the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) and in doing so, “she dedicated herself to parsing the relationship between the city and its artists as documented in these vast municipal archives.”

Read here.

“How Artists Help Build Equitable, Empathetic Infrastructure”: ICYMI

A recent article in Next City discusses how residents of Grand Marais, Minnesota “faced the loss of their only major highway due to necessary but disruptive construction” and how “seeking ways to support the residents during this disruptive process, the local government brought in artist Amanda Lovelee to turn the project into something productive for the community.

Read here.

Occupy the Moment

U.S. National Deadline: September 30, 2021 – This National WCA 50th Anniversary exhibition is seeking artistic works that address this moment of 2022. Artists are encouraged to interpret the theme broadly…

ART in Embassies Registry

International Deadline: Ongoing – Art in Embassies has played a leading role in U.S. public diplomacy through a focused mission of vital cross-cultural dialogue and understanding. We are always looking for new artists…