michael c. carlos museum of emory university 571 south kilgo circle atlanta, ga 30322
Art of the Americas
non profit organization u.s. postage paid atlanta, georgia permit number 3604
carlos.emory.edu
Art of the Americas: The New Galleries opening february 9
Spanning 4,000 years, from 2000 bc to the twentieth century, from the plains of West Mexico to the mountains of Peru, the new Art of the Americas Galleries at the Michael C. Carlos Museum feature over 450 works made by ceramic artists, goldsmiths, textile artists, and sculptors from throughout the Americas. New loans and acquisitions, as well as new groupings of familiar objects, all in a spectacular redesigned setting, with innovative and novel scholarly interpretations, create a completely new experience of the collection for visitors. In addition to works from Costa Rica, Panamá, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru, Native North American art is a highlight of the new galleries. The first gallery rotation of Native North American objects features Walking in the Footsteps of Our Ancestors: the Melion-Clum Collection of Modern Southwestern Pottery, on view through May 11, 2014. E d u cat i o n a l P r o g r a m s Tuesday, February 12 7:30 pm, Art of the Americas Galleries Gallery Talk
Dr. Rebecca Stone, Masse Martin/NEH Distinguished Professor of Art History at Emory and Faculty Curator of the Art of the Americas, introduces visitors to the newly reinstalled galleries. Space is limited and a reservation is required by calling 404-727-6118. Sunday, February 17 2–4 pm, Reception Hall and Art of the Americas Gallery Member Opening
Art of the Americas: The New Galleries opening february 9
Carlos Museum members are invited to experience the new Art of the Americas Galleries. Enjoy chocolates with a spicy kick provided by Bold American Events and coffees from the Americas provided by Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters. For members only. rsvp by February 11 online at carlos.emory.edu/opening or by calling 404-727-2623. Tuesday, February 19 4 pm, Reception Hall AntiquiTEA
Enjoy afternoon tea and scones as Dr. Rebecca Stone discusses modern textiles in the new galleries: three Panamanian reverse-appliqués, known as molas, and two brocaded Maya women’s blouses, known as huipils. Both illuminate how traditional indigenous women’s dress maintains age-old styles while incorporating contemporary global influences. Thursday, February 21 5 pm, Reception Hall Evening for Educators*
k–12 teachers are invited to enjoy wine and hors d’oeuvres, tour the new galleries of Art of the Americas, and hear an introduction to the collection by Dr. Rebecca Stone. The Bookshop will offer a 10% discount for teachers this night only. rsvp to jgree09@emory.edu. Member
Thursday, February 21 7:30 pm, Reception Hall Lecture*
The surprising discovery in Costa Rica of Maya royal jewels from Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize has puzzled art historians and archaeologists. How did Maya royalty lose their jadeite adornments? Why did they end up in Costa Rica? Why were these valuable items re-carved? What was the framework of international exchange between Costa Rica and Mesoamerica? Ancient American scholar Dr. Dorie Reents-Budet explores these questions in a lecture titled Luxury Trade in the Ancient Americas: Jadeite, Chocolate, and Fine Art. This lecture has been made possible by the friends and family of longtime Carlos Museum docent Claire Brannen to honor her memory and her love of the Art of the Americas.
Saturday, February 23 10 am, Art of the Americas Galleries Artful Stories
Dr. Rebecca Stone traveled to Ecuador where a highland Quechua shaman, Augustin Grefa, told her a charming story, The Day I Met the Mother of All Frogs, which she will share. After exploring some of the frogs in the Art of the Americas galleries, children will make their own golden frog as they enjoy a popular treat with ancient American origins. For ages 3–5 and accompanying adults. This program is free, but a reservation is required by calling 404-727-0519. Sunday, February 24 2 pm, Tate Room Mola Workshop for Children
The Kuna, the indigenous people of Panama and Colombia, are known for an art form called molas, ingenious textiles made by using reverse appliqué techniques. These colorful panels often adorn clothing worn by Kuna women. In this workshop, children will explore the molas in the galleries and make their own with textile artist Paula Vester. For ages 8–12. Fee: $12 for Carlos Museum members; $15 for non-members. Registration is required by calling 404-727-0519. Monday, February 25 7:30 pm, Board Room Carlos Reads! Book Club
Dr. Karen Stolley, Associate Professor in Emory’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese, leads readers through an eighteenth-century French best-seller, Françoise de Graffigny’s Letters of a Peruvian Woman. First published in 1747, Graffigny’s epistolary novel tells the story of the Inka princess Zilia, captured by Spanish conquistadors only to be rescued and taken to France by a dashing French ship captain. Zilia’s letters to Aza, the Inka lover from whom she has been cruelly separated, bring together sentimental fiction, a brilliant critique of French society, an early feminist argument, and eighteenth-century European ideas about Amerindian civilization. Fee: $20 for Carlos Museum members; $30 for non-members, and includes the cost of the book. Registration required by calling 404-727-6118.
Thursday, February 28 7:30 pm, Reception Hall Curatorial Conversation
Sunday, March 17 2 pm, Tate Room Olla Workshop for Children
Dr. Rebecca Stone and Dr. Molly Bassett, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Georgia State University, discuss the sacredness of the color blue in the ancient Americas. From Mesoamerica to the Andes, there was a hierarchy of colors and materials. Europeans were surprised to discover, for instance, that many native cultures valued greenstones, which ranged in color from green to blue, more highly than gold. From the prominence of indigo in ancient South America to its turquoise counterparts in Mesoamerica, handmade and naturally occurring blues and greens were prominent in the arts, ritual activities, and material cultures of the Americas.
In the American Southwest, Native Americans created unglazed pots known as ollas, which were used for storing water and cooking. Contemporary Native American artists have continued to make highly decorated ollas as works of art. Richly patterned ollas can be found in the Melion-Clum Collection of Modern Southwestern Pottery in the newly reinstalled galleries. Ceramic artist Ana Vizurraga will teach children how to create highly decorated geometric patterns on their own ollas in this afternoon workshop. For ages 10 and up. Fee: $12 for Carlos Museum members; $15 for non-members. Registration is required by calling 404-727-0519.
Tuesday, March 5 7:30 pm, Reception Hall Nix Mann Endowed Lecture
Thursday, March 21 7:30 pm, Reception Hall Lecture*
Turquoise has a fascinating history of discovery and use linking ancient North America and Mexico. Wherever it could be wrested from the earth, this precious blue-green gemstone was highly prized for its compelling range of colors and attractive textures and is still much sought after today. The significance and status of turquoise in the Aztec world is reflected in the masterpieces that were fashioned by skilled artisans serving in the Royal Court of the Emperor Moctezuma. In a lecture titled On the Turquoise Trail—From the American Southwest to Moctezuma’s Court, Dr. Colin McEwan, Director of Pre-Columbian Studies at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, will explain how the scientific study of finely wrought turquoise on preHispanic mosaics offers key insights into its cultural meanings among the indigenous cultures of the Americas.
Dr. Karen Stolley, Associate Professor and Chair of Emory’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese, discusses how eighteenth-century European and American fascination with the Ancient Americas led to a reinvention of Aztec and Inka civilization that still resonates today in a lecture titled Imagined Empires and Peruvian Princesses: The Ancient Americas in the Eighteenth-Century Mind.
In 1992, the architectural firm of Nix Mann and Associates (now Perkins and Will) generously endowed this lecture series to bring distinguished speakers to campus on an annual basis.
Thursday, March 7 5 pm, Tate Room The Inka in Pictures Workshop for Teachers
Andi McKenzie, Assistant Curator of Works on Paper, introduces teachers to the fascinating manuscript created by Don Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (ca. 1535–after 1616), a Quechua-speaking administrator who detailed the history of the Inka from their mythohistorical creation stories through colonial times. The manuscript includes over four hundred line drawings, in which Guaman Poma details agricultural ceremonies, categories of Inka people, the genealogical history of Inka rulers, and huacas (objects or places that held sacred significance). Ms. McKenzie will explore connections between objects in the galleries and drawings in the manuscript, and discuss how this important document has shaped our view of the Andean people. Saturday, March 16 10 am, Art of the Americas Galleries Artful Stories
Coyote, the trickster, is the subject of traditional Native American stories across much of North America. Coyote: A Trickster Tale from the American Southwest, reveals what happens when Coyote decides he wants to fly like the crows. After the story, explore the patterns of southwestern pottery in the Art of the Americas galleries and make a mobile of Coyote trying to fly with the crows. For ages 3–5 and accompanying adults. This program is free, but a reservation is required by calling 404-727-0519.
Monday–Friday, April 8–12 9–3 pm, Tate Room Spring Break Art Camp
Ceramic artist Cathy Amos will introduce children to animals of the earth, the sky, and the Underworld in the new galleries of the Art of the Americas and teach them ways of creating these same animal forms in a variety of traditional forms including flutes, pedestal plates, and black-on-black pots. Camp will meet from 9 am–3 pm and aftercare will be provided until 5 pm. Fees: $185 for museum members; $225 for non-members; $60 for aftercare. For more information or to register, call 404-727-0519. Thursday, April 11 7:30 pm, Art of the Americas Galleries Gallery Talk*
Collectors Walter Melion and John Clum lead visitors through Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors, an exhibition of their collection of modern southwestern pottery, which includes seed pots, red- and blackware, vessels inspired by basketry, and a number of works made by the famous Quezada family of potters. Space is limited and a reservation is required by calling 404-727-6118. Tuesday, April 16 4 pm, Reception Hall AntiquiTEA
Hundreds of egg-shaped vessels of varying sizes were first identified as “shoe pots” (zapateras) by archaeologists working in Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the 1800s. But in the early 2000s, then Emory PhD candidate Laura Wingfield learned from a guard at the National Museum of Nicaragua that appliqués on one of the so-called “shoe pots” were thought to represent fallopian tubes. Though she could not find mention of this interpretation in the scholarly literature, she couldn’t deny that the shape looked exactly like a pregnant belly. Enjoy afternoon tea and scones as
Dr. Wingfield discusses her latest research on these “womb pots,” including several examples in the Carlos Museum collection on view for the first time in the newly renovated galleries. Sunday, April 28 Session 1: 1:30–2:30 pm Session 2: 3–5 pm Flying Shaman Kite Workshop for Children
A common sensation of a shaman in a trance state is one of flying. The Nasca of ancient Peru are renowned for their depictions of flying shamans on textiles and ceramic vessels. Children will explore these images in the new galleries and then create flying shaman kites inspired by the Nasca images. Session 1 is for 5–7 year olds; Session 2 is for 8–12 year olds. Fee: $12 for Carlos Museum members; $15 for non-members. Registration is required by calling 404-727-0519.
The Michael C. Carlos Museum is situated on the historic quadrangle of the Emory University campus. Join Us Call 404-727-2623; email carlosmembership@emory.edu;
visit carlos.emory.edu/join Hours Tuesday through Friday: 10 am–4 pm; Saturday: 10 am–5 pm;
Sunday: noon–5 pm; Closed Mondays and University holidays. Caffè Antico Monday–Friday: 11 am–3 pm Admission Adults: $8. Emory students, faculty, and staff: Free. Students,
seniors, and children ages 6–17: $6 (Children ages 5 and under free). Public Transportation marta bus line 6 Emory from Inman Park/
Saturday, May 4 10 am, Art of the Americas Galleries Artful Stories
“The Quechua people of Peru say that during ancient times, before the coming of the god Viracocha, this world reached a point at which it was about to end.” So begins Llama and the Great Flood, a story from the Andean people of ancient Peru, about a llama whose dream helps save the world. After looking at images of llamas in galleries, participants will make sarsillu— tassels made from colorful yarn that decorate the ears of llamas in the Andes to this day. For ages 3–5 and accompanying adults. This program is free, but a reservation is required by calling 404-727-0519. Sunday, May 5 2 pm, Tate Room Pyro-Engraving Workshop for Children
With a tradition reaching back thousands of years in the Andes, pyroengraved gourds are still made today in Peru. Birds, fish, and complex patterns are rendered on the surface using wood-burning tools. Artist Pam Beagle-Daresta explores animal imagery from ancient Peru in the new galleries and then teaches kids and their adult companions to pyro-engrave the surface of a gourd. Ages 8–12 year olds, with an adult. Fee: $12 for Carlos Museum members; $15 for for non-members. Registration is required by calling 404-727-0519.
Reynoldstown and Lindbergh stations or 36 North Decatur from Avondale and Midtown stations. Parking Paid visitor parking in the visitor sections of the Fishburne and Peavine Parking Decks and in the new Oxford Road Parking Deck, located behind the new Barnes and Noble @ Emory, 1390 Oxford Road. Handicapped Parking Drop off for handicap visitors at Plaza level entrance on South Kilgo Circle. Handicap-accessible parking is available in the Oxford Road and Peavine Decks. A handicap-accessible shuttle runs from the Peavine Deck, weekdays every 10 minutes. Tours Advanced booking required for weekday or weekend groups of 10 or more. For reservations, please call 404-727-0519 at least two weeks before your group would like to visit. Public Tours Depart from the rotunda on Sundays at 2 pm. Audio Tour of Permanent Collection $2. Free for Museum members. Museum Information 404-727-4282 World Wide Web Access carlos.emory.edu Stay Connected
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Vessel in the shape of a male head. Central Andes, North Coast, Peru. Moche. Early Intermediate Period, ca. 1–500 ad. Ex coll. William S. Arnett.
* Free Admission
a nd Ex tended Hou rs Thursdays, February 21, March 21, and April 11
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Mola of a swimming sea turtle (detail). Panama. Kuna. 20th century. Cotton and synthetic fiber. Anonymous gift. photography by bruce m. white
On these days the Museum will offer extended hours until 7:30 pm. Admission to the galleries is free on these days beginning at 1 pm. Bring a friend and stay for a lively lecture or gallery talk, which begins at 7:30 pm.
Art of the Americas
The Carlos Museum is located just minutes from Buckhead, Midtown, and Downtown hotels.
For more information on these and upcoming educational programs in conjunction with this exhibition visit carlos.emory.edu.