Art has long been a medium for storytelling, conveying narratives and detailing historical events, myths, and personal stories. Prehistoric art, like cave paintings, reveals tales of early life, possibly depicting ceremonies and an understanding of existence. Art provides more than just ancient stories; it dissects historical events, showcasing personal experiences and a deeper meaning of human identity. This exploration emphasizes that storytelling through art reveals emotions, challenges static historical narratives, and offers a multidimensional view of history.

In the video, various arts are discussed, from narrative silk scrolls of China's history to modern interpretations by Ethiopian American artist Julie Mehretu. Her art questions traditional views of history with a map that reflects life's dynamic nature. Additionally, artworks depict differing versions of similar historical events, highlighting subjective storytelling. Such works, including those from different cultures around the world, underline the importance of perspective in historical narratives and demonstrate how art is pivotal in expressing realities often neglected in written histories.

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. shamans [ˈʃeɪmənz] - (noun) - Individuals in a community believed to have access to, and influence in, the world of spirits. - Synonyms: (spiritual leaders, healers, mystics)

Like in prehistoric cave paintings, part human, part animal, figures are often thought to represent shamans communing with spirits.

2. myths [mɪθs] - (noun) - Traditional stories, especially those concerning early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon. - Synonyms: (legends, fables, tales)

But storytelling and art isn't just revealing ancient myths and rituals.

3. nobleman [ˈnəʊblmən] - (noun) - A man who belongs to the noble class. - Synonyms: (aristocrat, lord, aristocracy member)

Lady Wenjie, the widowed daughter of a nobleman, was abducted during the collapse of the Han dynasty and taken as a hostage to what is now Mongolia.

4. narrative [ˈnærətɪv] - (noun) - A spoken or written account of connected events; a story. - Synonyms: (story, tale, chronicle)

Its no coincidence that the words story and history sound alike. They come from the same latin root, historia, meaning a narrative of past events.

5. resettle [ˌriːˈsɛtl] - (verb) - To move to a new place and establish one's home or business there. - Synonyms: (relocate, move, migrate)

The movement of people is anything but straightforward, reflecting the realities of individuals and families as they settle and resettle, blend and clash as relationships shift over time.

6. emergence [ɪˈmɜːrdʒəns] - (noun) - The process of coming into existence or prominence. - Synonyms: (appearance, advent, rise)

Like emancipation from slavery, the Harlem Renaissance, and the emergence of hate groups.

7. narrative Scroll [ˈnærətɪv skrəʊl] - (noun) - A type of artwork that tells a story through a continuous pictorial roll. - Synonyms: (story scroll, visual narrative, sequential art)

The work is 39ft long and is an example of a narrative scroll in which an artist tells a story that progresses as it's unfolded.

8. rituals [ˈrɪtʃuəlz] - (noun) - A series of actions or type of behavior regularly and invariably followed by someone. - Synonyms: (ceremonies, rites, customs)

But storytelling and art isn't just revealing ancient myths and rituals.

9. commissioned [kəˈmɪʃənd] - (verb) - Officially ordered or authorized to be made, created, or carried out. - Synonyms: (ordered, engaged, contracted)

The relief was commissioned by a king to show his commitment to protecting his subjects.

10. amplify [ˈæmplɪfaɪ] - (verb) - To make larger, greater, or stronger; enlarge; extend. - Synonyms: (increase, boost, enhance)

The mural helped amplify a missing piece of history to the broader public.

How Does Art Tell Stories? - Crash Course Art History #7

What can humanity's earliest artworks tell us about who we are? Before humans wrote down stories with words, they wrote them with art. Like in prehistoric cave paintings, part human, part animal, figures are often thought to represent shamans communing with spirits. Some researchers believe the art depicts actual ceremonies where people wore animal masks and tried to figure out more about life and the afterlife. But storytelling and art isn't just revealing ancient myths and rituals. It's also unveiling conflicting accounts of the same historic event, personal stories of love and loss, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be human.

Hi, I'm Sarah Urist green and this is crash course art history. Its no coincidence that the words story and history sound alike. They come from the same latin root, historia, meaning a narrative of past events. And history itself is a great big, ever evolving story made up of lots of smaller ones, which we learn about in a whole host of ways by reading verified documents, conducting research, digging for artifacts, and talking to people who were actually there. And of course, by looking at art like take this hand painted silk scroll from 15th century China called 18 songs of a nomad flute. The work is 39ft long and is an example of a narrative scroll in which an artist tells a story that progresses as it's unfolded.

The scroll tells the story of Lady Wenjie, a poet who lived more than a thousand years prior during Chinas Han dynasty. Lady Wenjie, the widowed daughter of a nobleman, was abducted during the collapse of the Han dynasty and taken as a hostage to what is now Mongolia. She survived her captivity in part by writing poetry about her homeland. Eventually she married a chief and had children. Years later, she was ransomed and able to return to China. What shed wanted for so long, but that meant leaving her husband and children behind. In the end, she was loyal to her country but heartbroken over the loss of her family. So the scroll shows us a different side of history than say, a textbook might. We can see how history is made not just of the broad strokes of war, but also the emotional realities of individuals caught in the crossfire.

Lets look at another major historical migration. History books might describe this in open and shut terms. This group of people moved here and that one moved there. The end. But ethiopian american artist Julie Meratou makes work that challenges that idea. This is her 1996 piece, migration direction map. Yeah, it doesnt seem terribly helpful to me either. And thats intentional. Maps tend to have clearly defined borders between places and things, suggesting divisions that are permanent and unchanging. But this map has wavy and intersecting lines. It shows boundaries overlapping and merging, arrows pointing this way and that. Youre not sure where to start or where youre supposed to end up.

The title clues us into the ideas meritu is exploring, that the movement of people is anything but straightforward, reflecting the realities of individuals and families as they settle and resettle, blend and clash as relationships shift over time. Even though meratus piece isnt representational, meaning, it doesnt directly depict objects or people as they appear in the world, it does deepen our knowledge of history.

Now, art can also show us how different people tell the same stories and histories from totally different perspectives. Kind of like how my husband said hed save me the last piece of pizza, but in his version of the story. Huh, how weird. He cant recall saying that. Pizza aside, lets check out this relief sculpture, a type of carving with figures that pop out of a surface in three dimensions. Its from around 22 50 bce, and it was made by the akkadian civilization in whats now Iraq. It shows their king, Naram sin, conquering the neighboring Lalubi people. Take a look under Naram sins foot hes trampling a lulubi soldier as akkadian soldiers look on. Ouch.

Now heres a different sculpture made by the supposedly tiny and crushable lulubi people. That guy, thats their king Anubanini squashing an enemy soldier underfoot. Looks pretty familiar. While we dont know if these sculptures portray the exact same battle, its clear the roles are reversed. Both cultures are telling the story with themselves as the victor. Each side has their own version. It's family pizza drama on a much larger scale because, yeah, art and stories are always told from a particular point of view, which can be easy to forget, especially in the face of really compelling or unchallenged storytelling.

But then you see a pair of works like these, and you're like, oh, yeah, that's me. That's John. Two sides, same story. I wonder if our kids know the truth. Sometimes there are even conflicting stories within a single artwork, like this indian sculpture known as the great relief at Mamallapuram, which was carved sometime in the 7th or 8th century. It's one of the largest relief sculptures in the world, carved from single huge stones called monoliths. Huh. We really do have a lot of heavy stone objects popping up in this series. Note to you, want to make art that survives, make it out of rock anyway.

Its clear theres a story on this rock, but scholars disagree about exactly which one. It could be Arjunas penance about an archer who fights a fellow hunter, only to find out hes a God in disguise. Or it could be descent of the Ganges, which explains the sacred origins of the Ganges river. But scholars do agree on a few things, like why the sculpture was created in the first place. Both stories include water and someone asking forgiveness from the gods, which would have represented protection to viewers at the time. The relief was commissioned by a king to show his commitment to protecting his subjects.

In fact, its possible the artists intentionally depicted multiple stories so that a wide variety of people could could understand the same message. But the coolest part on the relief, the Ganges river would have been represented by actual water flowing down the Boulder, which is what I like to call a livestream. Sorry. All around the world, storytelling in art has highlighted parts of history that have been overlooked or purposely hidden by people in power.

Like in 1934, black american artist Erin Douglas completed this series of murals during the Harlem Renaissance, a time period that saw an explosion of painting, music, literature and poetry by black artists. Centered in and around the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the four panels of the mural show overlapping scenes from black american history, like emancipation from slavery, the Harlem Renaissance, and the emergence of hate groups. One figure stands with a slip of paper in hand, possibly a voting ballot, pointing toward the US Capitol building in the distance, a symbol of political progress for black Americans.

Like 18 songs of a nomad flute, Douglass art tells a chronological story. His graphic style is distinct, a blend of influences from african sculpture and jazz music to geometric abstraction. The story is triumphant and hopeful, emphasized by these glowing concentric circles. But the work doesnt deny the historic and ongoing struggles of black Americans. On the left of this panel, you can see the looming shapes of Ku Klux Klan members threatening the scene. At the time, stories of black Americans were not often heard outside of the black community. The mural helped amplify a missing piece of history to the broader public. Some refused to believe that Douglas impressive murals were made by a black artist, which is both horrifying and also important to share. It shows just how necessary it is to the fight against racism that we acknowledge the contributions of black american artists, historically and today.

So, yeah, storytelling and art, it's everywhere. It brings together cave painters, poets, kings, and you and me here today. It helps us understand history in new ways, compare different perspectives, and showcase the experiences and contributions of many, not just the victors or the privileged or the probable pizza stealers. Although theres no such thing as a perfect, unbiased record, storytelling in art enriches what we know about the past, preserves memories for generations, and gets us at least a small step closer to that elusive but alluring thing we call truth.

Our next episode will explore the intersection of art, spirituality, and the divine. I'll see you there.

Art History, Culture, Storytelling, Education, Philosophy, Inspiration, Crashcourse