May
Walls of Algiers: Narratives of the City.
Walls of Algiers: Narratives of the City examines a complex history through 19th- and 20th-century photographs, postcards, illustrated books and drawings. Legendary for its white walls cascading to the Mediterranean, Algiers served as an experimental site where intricate colonial strategies were rehearsed and tested, from the time of the French conquest in 1830 until independence in 1962. These policies changed the city, creating an urban duality that separated the “Arab” quarters (the Kasbah) from the new French settlements. The exhibition also features historical voices drawn from government and military reports, scholarly essays, travel accounts, novels and poems— records annotated by a range of critics, including architect Le Corbusier, philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo, psychoanalyst Frantz Fanon and novelist Assia Dje-bar. A symposium, “Walls of Algiers: Reconsidering the Colonial Archive,” will take place May 28.
Getty Center, Los Angeles
May 19 through October 18.
Gamelan: Music of Java.
Gamelan: Music of Java shows the ornate great gong from a Javanese gamelan and explores the historical and cultural context of the instrument and the role of gamelan music in Java. Gamelan ensembles are sets of wooden and metal instruments used to accompany ceremonies, feasts and dance and shadow-puppet performances. Gamelan music has a long history in Java and remains central to ritual and cultural performance today.
British Museum, London
May 21 through July 12.
Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur (2).
Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur features 56 paintings from India that reveal a unique art tradition of the royal courts between the 17th and 19th centuries. During this period, the region of Jodhpur, in modern-day Rajasthan, produced a distinctive and inventive painting style. Paintings produced for the private enjoyment of the maharaja and his court brought traditional Rajasthani styles together with styles developed in the imperial court of the Mughals. The paintings range from miniatures to monumental artworks depicting the palaces, wives and families of the Jodhpur rulers. Later works depict epic narratives and demonstrate the devotion of one maharaja to an esoteric yogic tradition. Jodhpur artists rose to the challenge of creating images for metaphysical concepts and yoga narratives which had never previously been the focus of the region’s court art. None of the paintings have been displayed before in Europe.
During the reign (1725–1751) of Maharaja Bakhat Singh, depicted at the window of his palace at Nagaur, his atelier developed a sensuous garden-palace esthetic. Painters conveyed the maharaja’s pride in the opulent oasis he created by depicting palace architecture, working in an unusually large format—25 by 17 inches in this painting—and employing a bright palette reminiscent of a garden in full blossom.
British Museum, London
May 28 through August 23.
June
A Collector’s Passion: South Asian Selections from the Nalin Collection.
A Collector’s Passion: South Asian Selections from the Nalin Collection highlights the breadth of the holdings of Dr. David Nalin and explores South Asian art through a single collector’s point of view.
Rubin Museum of Art, New York
June 12 through November 9.
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul (2).
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul explores the cultural heritage of ancient Afghanistan from the Bronze Age (2500 bc) through the rise of trade along the Silk Roads in the first century of our era. Among the nearly 230 works on view, all from the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, are artifacts as old as 4000 years, as well as gold objects from the famed Bactrian Hoard, a 2000-year-old treasure of Bactrian grave goods excavated at Tillya Tepe in 1978 and long thought to have been stolen or destroyed, but rediscovered in 2003. The earliest objects in the exhibition, from Tepe Fullol in northern Afghanistan, are fragmentary gold vases dated between 2500 and 2200 bc. A second group, from the former Greek city Aï Khanum in a region conquered by Alexander the Great, reflects Mediterranean influence between the fourth and second centuries bc, and includes Corinthian capitals; bronze, ivory and stone sculptures representing Greek gods; and images of Central Asian figures carved in Hellenistic style. Trade goods from a third site, at Begram, date from the first century and include ivory statues and elaborately carved Indian ivory reliefs, as well as vases, bronzes and painted glassware, many imported from Roman, Indian, Chinese and East Asian markets. The Tillya Tepe group consists of some 100 first-century gold objects, including an exquisite crown and neck- laces, belts, rings and headdresses, most inset with semiprecious stones. Many of the Bactrian objects reflect the distinctive local blend of Greek, Roman, Indian and Chinese motifs.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
June 23 through September 20.
Palestine: Creation in All Its States.
Palestine: Creation in All Its States follows on the IMA’s 1997 show “Contemporary Palestinian Artists”— and the selection of Jerusalem as the Arab cultural capital for 2009—to present contemporary artists from Palestine or the diaspora who are working to identify elements of a distinctively Palestinian esthetic through the lens of their uniquely complex historical and political situation. The current exhibition adds depth by allowing comparisons of the work of women artists (Reem Bader, Rana Bishara, Rula Halawani, Mona Hatoum, Noel Jabbour, Raeda Saada, Ahlam Shibli), “grand old men” (Kamal Boullata, Samia Halaby, Laila Shawa, Suha Shuman) and “young lions” (Fawzy Amrany, Hazem Harb, Steve Sabella).
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
June 23 through November 22.
July
Muraqqa‘: Imperial Mughal Albums From the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (3).
Muraqqa‘: Imperial Mughal Albums From the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. Among the most remarkable of Mughal paintings and calligraphies are those commissioned by the Emperors Jahangir (1605–1627) and Shah Jahan (1627–1658) for display in lavish imperial albums. A window into the worldviews of the emperors, these exquisite images depict the rulers, the imperial family in relaxed private settings, Sufi teachers and mystics, allies and courtiers and natural-history subjects. Many folios are full-page paintings with superb figural borders; other are collages of European, Persian and Mughal works collected by the emperors. Produced by the atelier’s leading artists, they reveal the conceptual and artistic sophistication of the arts of the book at their apex in the early 17th century. The exhibition brings together 86 masterpieces—many not previously exhibited in the United States—from the renowned Dublin collection. Catalog $45.
Denver [Colorado] Art Museum
July 4 through September 27.
From the Land of the Taj Mahal: Paintings for India’s Mughal Emperors in the Chester Beatty Library.
Among the most remarkable of Mughal paintings and calligraphies are those commissioned by the Emperors Jahangir (1605–1627) and Shah Jahan (1627–1658) for display in lavish imperial albums. A window into the worldviews of the emperors, these exquisite images depict the rulers, the imperial family in relaxed private settings, Sufi teachers and mystics, allies and courtiers and naturalhistory subjects. Many folios are full-page paintings with superb figural borders; others are collages of European, Persians and Mughal works collected by the emperors. Produced by the atelier’s leading artists, they reveal the conceptual and artistic sophistication of the arts of the book at their apex in the early 17th century. The exhibition brings together 86 masterpieces—many not previously exhibited in the United States—from the renowned Dublin collection. Catalog $45.
Denver [Colorado] Art Museum
July 4 through September 27.
The Splendour of Isfahan: Coins From Iran.
The Splendour of Isfahan: Coins From Iran features coins, images and other objects illustrating the rich history of the beautiful city in central Iran, from its pre-Islamic foundation until the present day. Exhibits show the development of numismatic styles, from the Arabic religious inscriptions of Safavid times to Persian couplets in beautiful calligraphy in the time of Shah Sultan Husayn (1694–1722).
British Museum, London
through July 5.
Omar Khayyam, Edward FitzGerald and The Rubaiyat.
Omar Khayyam, Edward FitzGerald and The Rubaiyat is a bi-local conference celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edward FitzGerald and the 150th anniversary of the first publication of his famous Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which has become perhaps the most widely known poem in the world. The first two days of the conference, in Leiden, will examine the life and work of Omar Khayyam, writer, scientist, mathematician and astronomer. The second two days, in Cambridge, will focus on the life and work of the Victorian English author Edward FitzGerald (Trinity College), with emphasis on the impact of his poem, its reception in different languages and literatures, and the illustrations of the numerous editions of the text. www.tcmo.leidenuniv.nl/index. php3?c=584 or cv223@cam.ac.uk.
University of Leiden, Netherlands, July 6–7; Cambridge University, UK, July 9–10.
July 6 through July 10.
Perspectives: Anish Kapoor..
Perspectives: Anish Kapoor. The “Perspectives” series of contemporary Asian art resumes with “S-Curve” (2006) by internationally renowned Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor. Consisting of two seven-foot-high, 16-foot lengths of highly reflective polished steel, gently curved to create a continuous convex and concave wall, the work recalls the exploration of form that Kapoor most famously presented in “Cloud Gate” in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Known for his sublime approach to pure form, space and materials since the early 1980’s, Kapoor continues to examine spatial perception and the immateriality of the object through this work.
Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C.
through July 19.
August
Sadegh Tirafkan: Persepolis Part II.
Sadegh Tirafkan: Persepolis Part II. Tirafkan was born in Iraq and forcibly repatriated to Iran by Saddam Hussein in 1971. Like other Iranian artists of his generation, his photographs and videos capture a society caught between the present and the past.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
through August 2.
A Decade of Dedication.
A Decade of Dedication commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia and takes visitors behind the scenes to explore exhibitions, galleries and display concepts, as well as the activities of the conservation and education departments and the remarkable Scholar’s Library.
Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
through August 9.
Raqs Nouveau: Turath wa Jadid (Traditional and New).
Raqs Nouveau: Turath wa Jadid (Traditional and New) is a new Jawaahir Dance Company production that presents new spins on traditional styles of Middle Eastern dance and music, with the Georges Lammam Ensemble providing the music.
Southern Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota
August 13 through August 23.
A Yemeni Community: Photographs from the 1970s by Milton Rogovin.
When social documentary photographer Milton Rogovin visited Lackawanna, New York in 1977, it was a bustling steel town with a small but unique community of immigrants from Yemen. Devastating plant closings were a few years away, and daily life for Lackawanna’s Yemenis was a combination of old-world traditions and contemporary American experiences. The exhibition resurrects that community and era with 30 photographs—never before exhibited together—that serve as a meditation on immigration history, cultural identity and the ways people adapt to a constantly changing world.
Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, Michigan
through August 16.
Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography From Iran (2).
Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography From Iran presents more than 60 images that provide a revealing view of Iranian life and experience. The 20 artists featured are among Iran’s most celebrated and include Esmail Abbasi (references to Persian literature), Bahman Jalali, Shariyar Tavakoli (family histories), Mehran Mohajer, Shoukoufeh Alidousti (self-portraits and family photographs) and Ebrahim Kahdem-Bayatvin. Some have lived abroad and returned to view their homeland from a changed perspective. Anti-exotic and specific, these images make up the first survey of contemporary Iranian photography to be presented in the United States.
Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia
through August 31.
September
Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art.
Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art features approximately 225 humble but beautifully crafted coiled baskets that teach about the creativity and artistry of Africans in America from the 17th century to the present. The exhibition traces the parallel histories of coiled baskets in Africa and the Americas starting from the domestication of rice in Africa two millennia ago, through the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the Carolina rice plantation, to the present.
Fowler Museum at ucla, Los Angeles
September 4 through January 10.
Five Centuries of Indonesian Textiles: Selections from the Mary Hunt Kahlenberg Collection.
Five Centuries of Indonesian Textiles: Selections from the Mary Hunt Kahlenberg Collection highlights Indonesia’s rich and diverse textile traditions with more than 90 works dating from the early 15th through the 20th century, including extremely rare pieces radiocarbon dated to as early as 1403. The cultural origins and influences of the varied ethnic, linguistic and religious groups inhabiting the many islands of Indonesia show a dazzling array of abstract, figurative and geometric design motifs.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
through September 6.
Living Line: Selected Indian Drawings from the Subhash Kapoor Gift.
Living Line: Selected Indian Drawings from the Subhash Kapoor Gift is a selection of 58 master drawings, principally from the 18th century and executed in black ink, sometimes enhanced with watercolor, typically on fine laminated papers. Such drawings were produced in the royal ateliers of the courts of Rajasthan and the Pahari hills of the Punjab and were generally retained within artist studios as reference works upon which finished paintings were based. They were also enjoyed as connoisseurs’ objects in their own right, to be viewed by royal patrons in the privacy of their palaces. The exhibition signals the importance of the art of drawing in the later court arts of India.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
through September 7.
Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan features artifacts from the reign of the legendary leader, including a newly discovered mummy and tomb treasures. Genghis conquered an empire three times the size of Julius Caesar’s or Alexander’s, but also established national parks, a postal system and the concept of international law, and set the boundaries of some modern nations. His empire was the safest and most tolerant of lands. Approximately 200 artifacts are on display, including Mongolian costumes, headdresses and instruments from the National Museum of Mongolian History, and imperial gold, metal ornaments, beads and a tombstone from Russia’s State Hermitage Museum.
Houston Museum of Natural Science
through September 7.
Carvers and Collectors: The Lasting Allure of Ancient Gems.
Carvers and Collectors: The Lasting Allure of Ancient Gems features intaglios and cameos carved by master engravers in Mesopotamia and Egypt as well as Greece, Rome and Etruria. In antiquity, gems were engraved with personal or official insignia that, when impressed on wax or clay, were used to sign or seal documents, and were also often used as decorative elements in a range of media, not only set in rings and pendants but also mounted in book covers and regal paraphernalia. They were valued not only for their distinctive designs, but also for the beauty of their stones, some of which were believed to have magical properties, and thus, from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, rulers, nobles and wealthy merchants sought and traded classical gems, and carvers produced replicas and forgeries.
Getty Villa, Los Angeles
through September 7.
The Tsars and the East: Gifts from Turkey and Iran in the Moscow Kremlin.
The Tsars and the East: Gifts from Turkey and Iran in the Moscow Kremlin presents some 64 objects that were offered as lavish gifts or tribute by the Ottomans and Safavids to the Tsars through large embassies, diplomatic missions and trade delegations. Ranging in date from the late 16th century to the late 17th century, the works include rarely seen arms and armor, bejeweled ceremonial vessels and regalia intended for the Russian court or the Orthodox Church. The exhibition explores the reasons for these extraordinary gifts, their artistic and cultural impact and the esthetic and ceremonial etiquette they inspired, one that became a defining characteristic of the Russian court in the 17th century.
Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C.
through September 13.
Daughters of India: Photographs by Stephen P. Huyler.
Daughters of India: Photographs by Stephen P. Huyler celebrates the strength, courage, resourcefulness and creativity of Indian “everywomen” from a wide variety of backgrounds. Artistic creativity plays an important part in the lives of many of them, as they express themselves and address others through paintings, sculpture, embroidery and the creation of decorative elements in their households. For others, the full force of their creativity is brought to bear simply in overcoming the severe obstacles presented by poverty, caste prejudice and other hardships.
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles
through September 13.
Rhythms of India: The Art of Nandalal Bose.
Rhythms of India: The Art of Nandalal Bose is the first comprehensive exhibition outside Asia to survey the expansive repertoire of Nandalal Bose (1882– 1966), the father of modern art in India. It features close to 100 of Bose’s finest paintings, executed in a variety of styles and media, and reveals how Bose contributed to the success of India’s nonviolent struggle for independence through his close association with Mahatma Gandhi. The exhibition thus explores the crucial period of India’s transition from British colony to independent nation through the lens of the country’s premier artist of the time, and reveals how he laid the foundation for modern visual culture in India.
Art Institute of Chicago
September 13 through November 29.
Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India’s Comics.
Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India’s Comics examines the legacy of heroes and heroines of ancient Indian mythology in contemporary South Asian culture through the comic-book genre. Indian superheroes and their archenemies are visualized from ancient archetypes long depicted in traditional painting and sculpture, and are deeply ingrained in India’s historical imagination. At the same time, the stylistic rendering of comic-book characters draws upon a wide range of modern genres from America and Asia, so the history of Indian comic books can be understood as an ongoing dialogue between American and South Asian visual culture. The exhibition presents a selection of vintage Indian and American comics and contemporary pencil-and-ink–drawn character explorations from the current Virgin Comic series Ramayan and Devi, as well as a selection of historical Indian court paintings, underlining the continuity of the heroic narrative tradition in Indian art. Approximately 57 works will be on view in addition to an on-screen display showing the multi-layered process of comic book production.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
September 15 through February 7.
Dutch New York Between East and West: The World of Margrieta van Varick.
Dutch New York Between East and West: The World of Margrieta van Varick explores the life, times and possessions of a 17th-century New York shopkeeper. Born in the Netherlands, Margrieta van Varick spent part of her life in Malacca (now Malaysia) and arrived in Flatbush in 1686 with an astonishing array of eastern and European goods. A 1696 inventory—the heart of the exhibition—documents her personal and commercial belongings but no other information about her is known. The exhibition reveals much about van Varick’s time and place, demonstrates ways in which much else about her can be inferred, and examines why various of her possessions, including those from the Muslim East, might have been in the hands of a Flatbush minister’s wife and shopkeeper. Catalog. 212-501- 3011 or programs@bgc.bard.edu.
Bard Graduate Center, New York
September 17 through January 3.
Nagas: Hidden Hill People of India.
Nagas: Hidden Hill People of India are divided into a number of tribes and sub-tribes that speak as many as 30 different languages and live in the low Himalayan hills of northeastern India and Myanmar. Photographer Pablo Bartholomew offers a visual anthropology of these former headhunters now engaged with both tradition and transition, particularly the preservation of their traditional culture and their interaction with western religion and influence.
Rubin Museum of Art, New York
through September 21.
October
Alexander the Great and the Opening of the World: Asia’s Cultures in Transition.
Alexander the Great and the Opening of the World: Asia’s Cultures in Transition follows the conqueror through Central Asia and focuses on the extensive cultural, economic and social changes unleashed by his passage. The exhibition includes objects lent by Uzbek museums (Samarkand, Tashkent and Ter-mes) and the Tajikistan’s National Museum of Antiquity as well as the Louvre, the British Museum and the Berlin Museums.
Reiss-Engelhorn Museums, Mannheim, Germany
October 3 through February 21.
To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum (3).
To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum uses some 120 pieces of jewelry, statues, coffins and vessels dating from 3600 BC to the year 400 of our era to illustrate the range of strategies and preparations that the ancient Egyptians developed to defeat death and to achieve success in the afterlife. The exhibition explores the belief that death was an enemy that could be vanquished, a primary cultural tenet of ancient Egyptian civilization. To survive in the next world, Egyptians would purchase, trade or even reuse a variety of protective objects. The exhibition explains the process of mummification, the economics and rituals of memorials, the contents of the tomb, the funeral accessories—differentiated by the class of the deceased—and the idealized afterlife. Exhibits include the vividly painted coffin of a mayor of Thebes, mummies, stone statues, gold jewelry, amulets and canopic jars. Catalog by curator Edward Bleiberg, $39.95.
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia
October 9 through January 3.
Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts.
Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts opens with the period of chaos and adventure that followed the collapse of the Mughal empire in the early 18th century and closes at the end of British rule in 1947. It explores the extraordinary culture of princely India, showcasing both Indian and western works that reflect different aspects of royal life. The exhibits include paintings, photography, textiles and dress, jewelry, jeweled objects, metalwork and furniture, and are explored within a broader historical context of princely life and ideals, patronage, court culture and alliances.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
October 10 through January 17.
Dance of Fiاre: Iznik Tiles and Ceramics.
Dance of Fire: Iznik Tiles and Ceramics is designed to give a comprehensive picture of Iznik ware: the tiles used to decorate monumental works of Ottoman architecture and the wide range of ceramic vessels in demand within and beyond the Ottoman Empire. The exhibition traces the development of this unique art form from the earliest examples, dating from the 15th century, to the last ones from the 17th century. The wide range of exhibits illustrates the outstanding creativity of the craftsmen of Iznik— ancient Nicea—the extraordinary diversity of their decorative repertoire, their skilled use of color and their constant search for technical innovation. The juxtaposition of pieces made from the same clay, shaped by the same potter and sometimes fired in the same kiln is important from the point of view of both art history and the history of technological change in Ottoman pottery manufacture.
Sadberk Hanim Museum, Büyükdere, Istanbul, Turkey
through October 11.
Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography From Iran (3).
Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography From Iran presents more than 60 images that provide a revealing view of Iranian life and experience. The 20 artists featured are among Iran’s most celebrated and include Esmail Abbasi (references to Persian literature), Bahman Jalali, Shariyar Tavakoli (family histories), Mehran Mohajer, Shoukoufeh Alidousti (self-portraits and family photographs) and Ebrahim Kahdem-Bayatvin. Some have lived abroad and returned to view their homeland from a changed perspective. Anti-exotic and specific, these images make up the first survey of contemporary Iranian photography to be presented in the United States.
Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
October 15 through January 17.
Nubian Vault Adobe Workshop.
Nubian Vault Adobe Workshop gives participants hands-on instruction in building the classic self-supporting Middle Eastern adobe-brick vault, roofing a 30-by-10-foot structure. The dates listed are flexible; contact swan@adobealliance.org.
Presidio, Texas
October 16 through October 23.
Falnama: The Book of Omens.
Falnama: The Book of Omens is the first exhibition ever devoted to a category of extraordinary illustrated texts known as Falnama (Book[s] of Omens). Notable for their monumental size, brilliantly painted compositions and unusual subject matter, the manuscripts, created in Safavid Iran and Ottoman Turkey in the 16th and early 17th centuries, remain largely unpublished. Yet, whether by consulting the position of the planets, casting horoscopes or interpreting dreams, the art of divination was widely practiced throughout the Islamic world, and these texts were the most splendid tools ever devised to foretell the future. The exhibition sheds new light on their artistic, cultural and pious significance, displaying some 60 works of art. Catalog.
Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C.
October 24 through January 24.
Magic in Ancient Egypt: Image, Word, and Reality.
Magic in Ancient Egypt: Image, Word, and Reality explores how the Egypt- ians, known throughout the ancient world for their expertise in magic, addressed the unknown forces of the universe. Ancient Egyptians did not distinguish between religion and magic and believed that the manipulation of written words, images and ritual could influence the world through a divinely created force known as heqa. Heqa could be used by the gods to control and sustain the universe and by humans to deal with problems of ordinary life. The exhibition, comprising 20 objects, also examines connections between magic and medicine, including the consumption of liquids imbued with magical powers and the use of magic after death.
Brooklyn [New York] Museum
through October 30.
November
Shrunken Treasures: Miniaturization in Books and Art.
Miniaturization in Books and Art highlights more than 30 small-scale manuscripts and rare books, ranging from Books of Hours and copies of the Qur’an to almanacs and books of poetry, and explores the many reasons for miniaturizing art, from the need for portability, through the desire to concentrate supernatural powers, to the ambition to make boundary-stretching works of art.
Baltimore, Maryland, Walters Art Museum
through November 8.
The Qur’an: Text, History and Culture.
The Qur’an: Text, History and Culture is the topic of the Sixth Biennial Conference on the Qur’an, to be held November 12–14. The conference will focus on textual study of both the Qur’an itself and the history of the religious, intellectual and artistic activity that developed around it, but will also deal with Qur’an-related non-textual cultural, sociological and anthropological studies. Deadline for abstracts: June 1. www.soas.ac.uk/islamicstudies/ conferences/quran2009/.
School of Oriental and African Studies, London
November 12 through November 14.
December
The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt.
The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt focuses on the life of a priestess-musician in Egypt—probably Thebes—in about 800 BC. Centered on her coffin and mummy—recently scanned and “virtually” unwrapped—the exhibit illustrates the duties of a temple singer and explores what her life was like inside, as well as outside, the temple. Her temple duties are illustrated by such ritual objects as a sistrum, an ivory clapper, a harp and cult vessels; the section on her life outside the temple includes an examination of the social and legal rights of women in ancient Egypt and the professions open to them. Examples of domestic objects include dishes, jewelry and cosmetic vessels, while home religious rituals are illustrated by objects related to ancestor cults and fertility. Catalog.
Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago
through December 6.