Ancient Near East Seminar

Tuesday, March 26, 2019, 5.30pm

Drs. Michael Seymour and Blair Fowlkes-Childs, Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Curating The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”

Blair Fowlkes-Childs and Michael Seymour will discuss the process of researching and organizing the international loan exhibition titled The World between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (March 18–June 23, 2019). The exhibition will present a new perspective on the art and culture of the Middle Eastduring the Roman and Parthian period. Structured as a journey through southwestern Arabia, Nabataea, Judaea, the Phoenician Coast, Syria, and Mesopotamia, it will explore how cities and their inhabitants expressed their cultural and religious identities, and it will focus on the role of art in this process. Contemporary issues will also be addressed, particularly recent damage to sites in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

The meeting will be held at the Columbia University Faculty House.  We begin gathering at 5:00 PM, and the lecture will start at 5:30 PM in a room indicated by signs in the first floor lobby.  The lecture will be followed by optional dinner with the speaker at 7:00 PM in the Faculty House restaurant.  If you wish to make dinner reservations and join us (we will need to report the number of guests), please contact our seminar rapporteur, Erhan Tamur. The buffet dinner costs $30, and you must pay the rapporteur with a check made out to Columbia University. We must have your reservation request one week in advance.