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History of Arts and Architecture

History of Arts and Architecture HARC

Emperor and Poet: Mansa Musa, Al Saheli, and the Unlikely 1325 Friendship that Built Timbuktu and the Mali Empire

Sponsored by:
History of Arts and Architecture
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

Mahaney Arts Center 125

Open to the Public

Ancient Asian Gold Technology

Sponsored by:
History of Arts and Architecture
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

Mahaney Arts Center 125

Open to the Public

Lifting the Veil from Verdure: The Greenery Is Greener

Sponsored by:
History of Arts and Architecture
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

   

Mahaney Arts Center 125

Open to the Public

Ulysses: A Visual Schema

Sponsored by:
History of Arts and Architecture
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

Mahaney Arts Center 125

Open to the Public

Art, Social Justice, and Data Science

Sponsored by:
History of Arts and Architecture
Are artists from marginalized groups represented proportionally in U.S. museums? Does a museum’s collection mission influence the demographics of artists in its catalog? Williams College Mathematics Professor Chad M. Topaz uses data science to address these questions whose answers might help promote diversity and inclusion in the art world. Free

   
Open to the Public

Secrets of Ancient Goldsmiths Demystified

Sponsored by:
History of Arts and Architecture
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

Mahaney Arts Center 125

Open to the Public

Artifacts and Interpretation: Developing the Cyrus Tang Hall of China at the Field Museum

Sponsored by:
History of Arts and Architecture
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

Mahaney Arts Center 125

Open to the Public