This is another special post on the interesting free lectures and gallery talks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Quite a number of interesting events this week as well, so make sure to visit if any topic catches your fancy.
There is a gallery talk titled “Medicine at the Metropolitan Museum-Egypt”, centering around the ancient Egyptian artifacts in collection of the museum and their uses and significance within ancient Egyptian medicine-culture. Since such ancient cultures usually give no specific distinction between the science of medicine, religious rituals, and philosophy/belief system, I suspect that this talk will cover a range of broad topics pertaining to all aspects of ancient Egyptian culture in general. The time is at eleven A.M. at the gallery talk stanchion in the Great Hall.
Another interesting event, this one a concert, at the Met on the same day. The official description of the event is as follows.
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The viola d’amore is an unusual stringed instrument that most often has several sympathetic, or resonating strings underneath six or seven playing strings. But what does love have to do with—of all instruments—the viola? Between performances of baroque masterpieces for one and two viola d’amores, we will attempt to answer that question.
We will also have a rare opportunity to hear three of the Metropolitan Museum’s most beautiful eighteenth-century instruments, played by Paul Miller and Thomas Georgi, with Lucas Harris (theorbo) and Kate Bennett Haynes (‘cello).
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The time is at three thirty P.M. I am definitely making some time to attend this one!
On Thursday, May 15th, another interesting gallery talk titled “A Sense of Place in American Modernism.” It will be an exploration of the American modernism and their stylistic formula in depicting/utilizing the concept of locale within their works. The time is at eleven A.M., at the gallery talk stanchion in the Great Hall.
On Friday, May 14th, there is a gallery talk titled “Sir Anthony van Dyck: Court Painter to Charles I.” The title pretty much says everything. I am interested in some of the more classical paintings, so I think I’ll visit this one if I get the time. The time is at seven P.M., at the gallery talk stanchion in the Great Hall.
On Saturday, May 15th, a really interesting event regarding forms and functions of masks in African, Native American, and Precolumbian arts and cultures. I’ve always been fascinated by masks and their place within human history, an interest I gained while studying C.G. Jung a long time ago. I find that the logic and philosophy behind the concept and idea of masks are applicable even within the modern times, and they form ever present cultural presence underlying the general zeitgeist of any era in human history.
I certainly thank the museum for making such educational opportunities available for free. If only I could get some more free time…
Consider Bookhling 