Mahaney Arts Center 125

A talk by Dr. Nicola Di Cosmo, Luce Foundation Professor in East Asian Studies at the Institute of Advanced Study
In Chinese history, borderlands have often been politically contested. But frontiers have also been places of cultural encounters, transmission, and negotiation. This talk explores the material remains of these contacts from the “other side” of the Great Wall, and argues for a new interpretation of the Chinese impact on the borderlands, the cultural contacts that took place, and their long-term consequences.

Lecture by Suzanne Preston Blier, Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University. In 1325, Emperor Mansa Musa of Mali was the world’s richest man by far. He and his new court architect Al Saheli—a Granada-born poet and lawyer—built Timbuktu into an important architectural and university center at the moment of transition from the medieval world to the modern era. Free

Unique among Asian art materials, gold is both a color and an artistic medium. Donna Strahan, head of conservation and scientific research at the Freer|Sackler Galleries of Art, Smithsonian Institution, investigates materials and methods of manufacture of Asian gold objects. Free

In ancient China, gold ornaments were potent symbols of official rank, gender and group identity, and economic status. In the early 20th century, they were sought after by art collectors for their beauty. Join Sarah Laursen, curator of Asian art, as she traces the journeys of these magnificent objects. Free

   

Kate Smith, conservator of paintings and head of Paintings Lab at the Harvard Art Museum, gives a talk on Walter Gropius’s commission of Herbert Bayer’s Verdure for the Harvard Graduate Center. Opened in 1950, it was the campus’s first foray into modern architecture. Free

   

Shortly before the publication of Ulysses in 1922, author James Joyce created two guides for his friends, breaking down the novel’s 18 episodes via their Homeric parallels, timeframe, and narrative technique. Inspired by this, designer James MacDonnell has created a new “visual schema” for the book. Developing a unique graphical system, MacDonnell’s prints form a minimalist visual representation that dispenses with the need for explanatory text or illustrations. Free

Ancient jewelers made astounding works of art, unrivalled in modern times, without the benefit of electricity or modern equipment of any kind. How did they do it? Join Jeanette K. Caines, master goldsmith and director of Jewelry Arts Inc., for a lecture on ancient goldsmithing techniques. Free

Paul R. Provost ’87 speaks on the current dynamics of the art world and the intersection of scholarship, collecting, and commerce, drawing on his experience as an art historian, museum curator, and international auction house executive. Free

In this presentation, Christiane Gruber explores a number of paintings of the Prophet Muhammad produced in Persian and Turkish lands from the 14th century to the modern day. Free

The Cyrus Tang Hall of China is the Field Museum’s most recent permanent exhibition. Requiring three years of research, development, design, and construction, the exhibition features the museum’s extensive collections from China. Join cocurator Deborah Bekken for a discussion of the exhibition development process, the politics of display, and the conservation and design challenges behind a major museum installation. Free