Bio
Dr. Amy Schwartzott is Associate Professor of Art History in the Visual and Performing Arts Department and Curator of University Galleries at North Carolina A & T. She earned her PhD in Art History from the University of Florida. Her most recent publication is “Unraveling and Welding Together: War’s Transformative Influence on Contemporary Mozambican Art” in The Art of Emergency: Aesthetics and Aid in African Crises (Oxford University Press, 2020)
Dr. Schwartzott has curated exhibitions nationally and internationally in Cape Town, South Africa and Maputo, Mozambique. She serves on the editorial board of ‘African Performance Review,’ and holds dual positions for the Global Center of Religious Research, where she is Head of Global Arts and Religion as well as Treasurer. She has recently been appointed as a grant reviewer for the U.S. national Fulbright competitions and participates in the yearly Advanced Placement Art History Reading each summer.
Research Interests
Dr. Schwartzott’s research interests include African art (contemporary and historical); artists who utilize recycled materials (African and global expressions); and art as a tool for peace and post-conflict resolution. Continuing research in Mozambique focused on artists who use recyclia as media in their artwork resulted in two awards from the U.S. Fulbright program, including the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship and the Fulbright IIE Fellowship, as well as a Centre for Conflict Studies Fellowship. Recent research includes more diverse inquiry into both visual and performative cultures of contemporary Mozambican arts.
Recent Publications
- Amy Schwartzott , (2020). (“Unraveling and Welding Together: War’s Transformative Influence on Contemporary Mozambican Art,” ). In Chérie Ndaliko and Samuel Anderson, (book chapter) The Art of Emergency: Aesthetics and Aid in African Crises/Oxford University Press.
- Amy Schwartzott (2019). (“Recycling Discarding Histories to Chronicle Identities: Making Art from Waste in Mozambique“ ). (book chapter) Waste: Papers on Disposability, Decay, and Depletion, Open Library of Humanities Journal, UK.
- Amy Schwartzott (2018). (“Healing the Pain of War through Art – Mozambique’s Grassroots Approach to Post-Conflict Resolution: Transformação de Armas em Enxadas/Transforming Weapons into Plowshares”). In Paula Meneses, Bjørn Bertelsen, and Sheila Khan, (book chapter: in Dialogues with Mozambique: Interdisciplinary Reflections, Readings and Approaches on Mozambican Studies) Brill Publishers, Leiden.
- Amy Schwartzott (2016). (Waste not, Want not? Investigating Economic Frameworks of Garbage as Media in Contemporary Mozambican Urban Art.”). In Jordan Fenton/Sylvester Ogbechie , (peer reviewed journal article: Critical Interventions: Journal of African Art History and Visual Culture. Issue on the Economics of African Art ) (2) 10, pp. 193-220. Critical Interventions: Journal of African Art History and Visual Culture/Taylor and Francis .
- Amy Schwartzott (2014). (“Conceptual, Temporal and Tangible: Discursive Spaces of Contemporary Art in Maputo.”). In Drew Thompson and Erin Haney, (peer reviewed journal article) (2) 8, pp. 29 pages. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
- Amy Schwartzott (2014). (Looking forward towards peace by remembering the past: Recycling war and lived histories in contemporary Mozambican art). In Russell West-Pavlov, (peer reviewed journal article) (2) 51, pp. 156-169. Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Association.
- Amy Schwartzott (2013). (Transforming Arms into Ploughshares: Weapons that Destroy and Heal in Mozambican Urban Art). In Lizelle Bisschoff and Stefanie Van De Peer, (book chapter) pp. 91-109. I.B. Tauris and Co. Ltd..
- Amy Schwartzott (2011). (“Arms into Plowshares: Recycling Weapons of War into Tools for Peace building in Post-conflict Mozambique"). In Gabriëlla Vogelaar, (book chapter) (2) pp. 4. Den Haag: Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC).
- Amy Schwartzott (2011). (Transformação de Armas em Enxadas: Um projecto de base moçambicana e modelo para preservação da paz global). In Elena Como, (book chapter ) 1, pp. 7. Culturas Lusofonas: Leituras em Português; Atlantico Book Importers, Inc..
