AIRN Seminar #8
Patterns of Anomaly in African Ivories
Suzanne Preston Blier (Harvard University)
November 15, 2023 | Online | 6 PM (GMT)
ZOOM | https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/96816750302?pwd=YVlCYW90aTN6UnZmdUltY29OZ1RaUT09
Organisation | African Ivory Research Network & Centre for History of the University of Lisbon
Descarregar cartaz
AIRN Seminar #8
Patterns of Anomaly in African Ivories
Suzanne Preston Blier (Harvard University)
Abstract: This lecture takes up core questions around African ivories, framed around a set of seemingly anomalous forms that help us address questions of how power and ivory have mutually shaped each other. Among the works taken up are images of elephants in Nok and Ife art, the prominence of sirens on Benin and Owo Yoruba ivories, the famed Benin Queen Idia mask, the cultural primacy of ivory spoons, the “missing” Durer saltcellar (now possibly found) and colonial era impact of pianos and ivory keys.
Suzanne Preston Blier Ph.D. Columbia University (Art History and Archaeology) Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and of African and African American Studies. Recent books include The History of African Art (2023 Thames and Hudson) and The Streets of Newtowne: A Story of Cambridge, Ma. (2023 Imagination and Wonder Press), Picasso’s Demoiselles: The Untold Origins of a Modern Masterpiece (2019 Duke University Press; Robert Motherwell Award) and Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Art, Politics and History c.1300 (2015 Cambridge University Press; 2016 Prose Prize for Art History and Criticism). In 2011 two of her articles appeared in the “best of” Centennial Anthology of the Art Bulletin, joining Meyer Shapiro and Leo Steinberg in this honor. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and currently serves as Chair, Executive Committee of Delegates, for American Council of Learned Societies.
Online event
https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/96816750302?pwd=YVlCYW90aTN6UnZmdUltY29OZ1RaUT09
ID: 968 1675 0302
Password: airn2023
About the AIRN Seminar
The African Ivory Research Network (AIRN) runs a seminar at the Centre for History of the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon. This seminar addresses African ivory from any historical period and from a variety of historical perspectives, including economic history, cultural history, art history, environmental history and archaeology. In addition, it also intends to promote sessions related to heritage preservation, wildlife protection, ecology, law and illegal trade, among other issues relevant to this topic.
Contributors to this seminar include academics from around the world who have researched or are researching any topic related to African ivory and are willing to share their research with a wider community of researchers and experts, including sharing ongoing research. The main goal of this seminar is to promote an open discussion on any issue related with African ivory, profiting from the different theoretical frameworks and research interests followed by each speaker.
The seminar consists of monthly conferences to be held from January to May including a 50-60 minutes talk followed by a 20-30 minutes discussion. Sessions take place on Wednesdays starting at 6 PM (GMT) in online format, via Zoom.
AIRN is an offspring of a joint research project developed by the universities of Lisbon and Minas Gerais on the history of African ivories in the Atlantic world, which was carried out between 2016 and 2019 under the supervision of Peter Mark (https://africanivoriesul.wordpress.com/).
