Podcast appearances and mentions of Mark Dion

9/25/24: Mass Review editors Jim Hicks & Sailja Patel: poetry & self-immolation protests. Prof Michael Klare: the Israel/Lebanon/Hezbollah War & the U.S. role. Investigative reporter Dusty Christensen: campaign contributions to Reps Richie Neal & Jim McGovern. Get trained, save a life: Cooley Dickinson's Mark Dion on the CPR class for all of us.

9/25/24: Mass Review editors Jim Hicks & Sailja Patel: poetry & self-immolation protests. Prof Michael Klare: the Israel/Lebanon/Hezbollah War & the U.S. role. Investigative reporter Dusty Christensen: campaign contributions to Reps Richie Neal & Jim McGovern. Get trained, save a life: Cooley Dickinson's Mark Dion on the CPR class for all of us.

9/25/24: Mass Review editors Jim Hicks & Sailja Patel: poetry & self-immolation protests. Prof Michael Klare: the Israel/Lebanon/Hezbollah War & the U.S. role. Investigative reporter Dusty Christensen: campaign contributions to Reps Richie Neal & Jim McGovern. Get trained, save a life: Cooley Dickinson's Mark Dion on the CPR class for all of us.

9/25/24: Mass Review editors Jim Hicks & Sailja Patel: poetry & self-immolation protests. Prof Michael Klare: the Israel/Lebanon/Hezbollah War & the U.S. role. Investigative reporter Dusty Christensen: campaign contributions to Reps Richie Neal & Jim McGovern. Get trained, save a life: Cooley Dickinson's Mark Dion on the CPR class for all of us.

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has a new monumental exhibition that fills its biggest galleries.The large-scale painted and sculptural works address humankind's strained relationship with the environment and its vast ecological consequences. The exhibition is titled "Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature's Underworld."

This week, on the final episode of “In The Arena,” Pat, Ethan and Phil dive into whether a positive message of hope is possible in today's Republican Party and whether Gov. Mills did a good job with her commission investigating the deadly shootings in Lewiston.   Then they bring back a listener favorite, “Newsworthy or Snoozeworthy,” in which they take on some of the topics of the day, including CMP crowing after their win over Pine Tree Power, Donald Trump officially submitting signatures to be on the Maine ballot, and Portland Mayor-elect Mark Dion saying consensus is not his goal.   They tally up all the predictions Phil and Ethan made so far and determine a winner. And finally, Pat tells a story about how Bill Cohen likely saved the life of his good friend Don Carrigan.

This Day in Maine for Wednesday, November 8th, 2023.

This week, on Episode 6 of ‘In The Arena,' Pat, Phil and Ethan take a closer look at the 2023 election results. Why did Pine Tree Power lose? How did Mark Dion win the race for Portland mayor? How was incumbent Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque ousted? And which of the statewide initiatives that passed will have the most impact on Maine's future?

This week, on Episode 3 of "In The Arena," Pat, Phil and Ethan discuss the mass shootings in Lewiston, specifically mental health needs and gun control.   Later in the podcast, they dive into the battle for a House speaker Maine's failure to protect children under DHHS custody and surveillance. In the lightning round, Pat asks whether the right call was made on several issues, including the Ethics Commission's exoneration of Senate President Troy Jackson, Mayor Kate Snyder endorsing Mark Dion for her job, a legislative attempt to stop neo-nazi groups, and Waterville's idea to buy yurts for the homeless.   We get predictions from Phil and Ethan, and Pat recounts a story about covering Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Portland mayoral hopefuls debate homelessness, climate change Much of the debate between Pious Ali, Justin Costa, Mark Dion, Dylan Pugh and Andrew Zarro focused on the homeless encampments that the city has struggled to manage. Five candidates vying to become Portland's next mayor sparred Tuesday, October 3 over the city's top challenges, including homeless encampments, housing, immigration and climate change, during a 90-minute debated hosted by the Portland Press Herald and the University of New England. Much of the focus on the debate, which drew about 260 people to UNE's Innovation Hall, was on the efforts to deal with homeless encampments throughout the city. The debate was moderated by Press Herald reporters Grace Benninghoff and Rachel Ohm.

Eli and Tim speak with Mark Dion, Portland City Councilor and Mayoral candidate.  Tae Chong sits in to discuss work with Mark on the council and some of his background.  

In this episode, Hita speaks with Dr. Sarah Bezan who is a scholar of environmental humanities currently employed as a Lecturer in Literature and the Environment at the Radical Humanities Laboratory at University College Cork in Ireland. Previously she was a post-doctoral Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity in The University of York in the United Kingdom. In this conversation, they chat about how participating in a paleo dig and uncovering a Mosasaur skeleton sparked in her a curiosity that led to her current engagement with making sense of extinction. They speak about artistic representations of extinct animals such as Harri Kallio's representations of the dodo bird on an island in Mauritius or Mark Dion's Ichthyosaur installation, and how they manipulate imaginaries surrounding the temporal and spatial boundaries of the extinct species. In describing these imaginaries, they discuss the idea of animal atopias, a term she coined to refer to those placeless places surrounding extinction, where the animal exists not on a spatially defined space but a constructed one, evoking a nostalgia for what once was. They discuss about Sarah's experiences on the Galapagos Islands where she studied the taxidermic specimen of Lonesome George, the last representative of the Pinta island tortoises and her observation that the extinct body is essentially an exploded one raising questions about what it means to be the last representative of a species and the responsibility that death places upon such individuals. They reflect upon how practices of taxidermy and museum curatorship are essentially performative, designed to evoke a specific emotion or knowledge, rendering them hyper visible, while subsuming others. They discuss de-extinction projects such as the Jurassic World like attempts at reviving the woolly mammoth or even theoretical ideas of re-creating Neanderthals as proposed by George Church are all ways in which we attempt to revive prehistoric fantasies of the human – a fantasy nevertheless that is separate from the idea of the modern human. The conversation concludes with some reflections on interdisciplinary research and the responsibility that early career scholars are placed with when attempting to straddle multiple schools of thought. Sarah's personal website: https://www.sarahbezan.com/ Some of the references we cite during the conversation are listed below: “Dodo Birds and the Anthropogenic Wonderlands of Harri Kallio.” Parallax, 25, no. 4, 2019: 427-445. (*To be reprinted as a foreword to Harri Kallio, The Dodo and Mauritius Island: Imaginary Encounters, 2nd Edition. Stockport, UK: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2023). “The Endling Taxidermy of Lonesome George: Iconographies of Extinction at the End of the Line.” Configurations: A Journal of Literature, Science, and Technology, vol. 27, no. 2, 2019, pp. 211-238. Co-Edited by Sarah Bezan and Susan McHugh. “A Darwinism of the Muck and Mire: Decomposing Eco- and Zoopoetics in Stephen Collis and Jordan Scott's decomp.” In Texts, Animals, Environments: Zoopoetics and Ecopoetics. Ed. Roland Borgards, Catrin Gersdof, Frederike Middelhoff, and Sebastian Schönbeck. Freiburg: Rombach Verlag “Cultural Animal Studies Series,” 2019, 241-253. Animal Remains. Co-edited by Sarah Bezan and Robert McKay. Routledge Perspectives on the Non-Human in Literature and Culture Series. London: Routledge, 2022. “Taxidermic Forms and Fictions.” A special issue of Configurations: A Journal of Literature, Science, and Technology, 27, no. 2, 2019, pp. 131-138. Co-Edited by Sarah Bezan and Susan McHugh, Johns Hopkins University Press. Heise, Ursula K. Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. Jørgensen, Dolly. “Endling, the Power of the Last in an Extinction-Prone World.” Environmental Philosophy 14, no. 1 (2017): 119–38.  

When the Seattle Art Museum opened the Olympic Sculpture Park on the urban waterfront in 2007, it changed the way people could interact with art and experience the city's environment. The fact that it's free and open to everyone makes the park one of the most inclusive places to see art in the Pacific Northwest. The sculpture park contains pieces like Alexander Calder's red sculpture The Eagle, Jaume Plensa's giant head Echo, and Neukom Vivarium, a 60-foot nurse log in a custom-designed greenhouse, among many others. Although many people believe that the greatest work of art at the park is the park itself and the way it connects with its surroundings. Because of the efforts of the Seattle Art Museum and the city, instead of being filled with private condo buildings, this former industrial site has become a welcoming part of the waterfront for the public to enjoy sculptures, activities, and the gorgeous Elliott Bay views. The new book Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park: A Place for Art, Environment, and an Open Mind, pays homage to the interconnected spirit of the park. Mimi Gardner Gates — the director of the Seattle Art Museum (1994–2009) at the time of the Sculpture Park's conception and creation — edited this collection of writings and images about the park and how public-private partnerships can create innovative civic spaces. Other contributors include Barry Bergdoll, Lisa Graziose Corrin, Renée Devine, Mark Dion, Teresita Fernández, Leonard Garfield, Jerry Gorovoy for Louise Bourgeois, Michael A. Manfredi, Lynda V. Mapes, Roy McMakin, Peter Reed, Pedro Reyes, Maggie Walker, and Marion Weiss. Seattle Times journalist Lynda V. Mapes and SAM curator Catharina Manchanda joined Gates in discussion about the remarkable waterfront park and how it might inspire future innovation in civic spaces. Mimi Gardner Gates was director of the Seattle Art Museum for fifteen years and is now director emerita, overseeing the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas. Previously, she spent nineteen years at Yale University Art Gallery, the last seven-and-a-half of those years as director. She is a fellow of the Yale Corporation; Chairman of the Dunhuang Foundation; Chairman of the Blakemore Foundation; a trustee of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum; a trustee of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, and serves on the boards of the Yale University Art Gallery, the Northwest African American Museum, the Terra Foundation, and Copper Canyon Press. Dr. Gates formerly chaired the National Indemnity Program at the National Endowment for the Arts and served on the Getty Leadership Institute Advisory Committee. Lynda V. Mapes is a journalist, author, and close observer of the natural world, and covers natural history, environmental topics, and issues related to Pacific Northwest indigenous cultures for The Seattle Times. Over the course of her career she has won numerous awards, including the international 2019 and 2012 Kavli gold award for science journalism from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest professional science association. She has written six books, including Orca Shared Waters Shared Home, winner of the 2021 National Outdoor Book Award, and Elwha, a River Reborn. Catharina Manchanda joined the Seattle Art Museum as the Jon & Mary Shirley Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art in 2011. Notable exhibitions for SAM include Pop Departures (2014-15), City Dwellers: Contemporary Art from India (2015), Figuring History: Robert Colescott, Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas (2017), and Frisson: The Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis Collection (2021). Prior to joining SAM, she was the Senior Curator of Exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. She has also worked in curatorial positions at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She is the recipient of numerous international awards including an Andy Warhol Foundation grant, Getty Library Research grant, and others. Buy the Book: Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park: A Place For Art, Environment, And An Open Mind from University Book Store Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here. 

E se vi dicessi che la scienza è creativa, estetica, bella, materiale, performativa, serendipitosa? E se vi dicessi che se guardassimo la scienza attraverso lo sguardo di altre discipline potremmo scoprire un suo lato interessante e forse inaspettato? Attraverso l'arte, la sociologia, la storia e la filosofia andremo alla scoperta di quei fenomeni invisibili che fanno parte della quotidianità della ricerca scientifica (ma non dell'immagine della scienza del senso comune).Insieme a noi tre ospiti. Telmo Pievani: filosofo, evoluzionista e comunicatore scientifico. Prima cattedra italiana in Filosofia delle Scienze Biologiche presso l'Università di Padova. Con lui parleremo di serendipità. Francesca Montuschi: veterana in progetti di Terza Missione presso l'Università di Bologna e redattrice presso "CUBo". Con lei invece affronteremo il tema della creatività. Infine, Guido Bonino: professore di Filosofia presso l'Università di Torino, con cui parleremo dell'errore nella storia e nella sociologia della scienza. Infine parlemo di performativitá, materialità, bellezza ed estetica attraverso le opere dell'artista contemporaneo Mark Dion e alcuni esempi di visualizzazione.Interviste e montaggio: Benjamin Cucchi. Sigla: Jacopo Mengarelli.Fonti e creditiTelmo Pievani, Serendipità. L'inatteso nella scienza (2021)Pietro Dri, Serendippo. Come nasce una scoperta: la fortuna nella scienza (1994)Henk Haarmann, The theater of research in “The Routledge Companion to Performance Philosophy” (2020)Francesca Montuschi, La connessione della creatività artistica e scientifica su “CUBo” (2019)Pietro Greco, Errore (2019)David Bloor, Sociologia della logica. The Limits of Epistemology (1983)Vincenzo Venuto e Telmo Pievani, Il gorilla ce l'ha piccolo (2018 - 2021)Mark Dion, Raiding Neptune's Vault: A Voyage to the Bottom of the Canals and Lagoon of Venice (1997)Arianna Bona, Mark Dion (2022) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP3KE7w9jREChiara Brighi, Mark Dion per Mittel (2022) https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=790383635253552&_rdrEmma Stone, La mente in poche parole parole su "Netflix" (2019)Acappella science, The molecular shape of you (2018) https://youtu.be/f8FAJXPBdOgSimone Grietz, I rate my own inventions (2018) https://youtu.be/n-Fokafl-aY

Korea24 – 2021.09.14. (Tuesday) News Briefing: The U.S. special envoy for North Korea Sung Kim said Washington will provide humanitarian aid to the North regardless of progress in denuclearization efforts. Kim made the remark at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, where he met with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts. (Koo Heejin) In-Depth News Analysis: The use of electronic ankle monitors have been under the spotlight, after a convicted sex offender managed to remove one and kill two women last month. The Justice Ministry apologized and said they would do more to monitor those wearing electronic monitors, as well as make the anklets sturdier, but questions have been raised why this was not addressed in the first place and what more can be done to reduce recidivism. To discuss, law professor Park Yong-chul (박용철) from Sogang University joins us on the line. Korea Trending with Jung Ye-won: 24 foreign products purchased through purchasing agencies have been deemed “unsuitable” by a government agency for safety reasons (공룡완구·자전거·와플기기···해외 구매대행 24개 제품 안전 ‘부적합’). Meanwhile, South Korean apparel companies are facing supply disruptions as COVID-19 infections surge in Vietnam ("추석 끝나면 바로 대목인데…한해 장사 다 망칠 판" 속 타들어가는 패션기업). And a collaboration between K-Pop sensation BTS and one of the world’s biggest rock bands, Coldplay, has been confirmed (BTS·콜드플레이, 협업곡 '마이 유니버스' 함께 부른 영상 공개). Touch Base in Seoul: David Yoon, the New York Times bestselling author of the YA book ‘Frankly In Love’ joins us via video. We discuss his love of writing, which he fervently pursued while working as an interactive designer, the challenges of representation, and the work he does with his wife, Nicola Yoon, who is also a bestselling YA author. Morning Edition Preview with Mark Wilson-Choi: Mark previews Park Han-sol’s piece for the Korea Times on American artist Mark Dion and his Seoul exhibition “The Sea Life of South Korea and Other Curious Tales”. Mark also covers Lee Si-jin’s report for the Korea Herald about the K-Culture Festival set to kick off next month at the Kintex convention center.

Coversations with Tabitha Soren, Carroll Dunham, Hugh Hayden, Lesley Lokko, Cheryl Donegan, Kevin Bewersdorf, Nanette Burstein, Mark Dion, Elaine Mayes, Olaf Breuning, Heidi Ewing, Chris Martin, Luc Sante, Laurie Lambrecht, Chelsea Culprit & Mary Carlson.

The Trump Women: Part of the Deal by Nina Burleigh Interview Ninaburleigh.com New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist, Nina Burleigh, explores “the stark details of the forces that shaped [Donald] Trump’s thinking about women” (The New York Times) in this comprehensive, provocative, and critical account of the six women who have been closest to Trump. Previously published as Golden Handcuffs. Has any president in the history of the United States had a more fraught association with women than Donald Trump? He flagrantly cheated on all three of his wives, brushed off multiple accusations of sexual assault, publicly ogled his eldest daughter, bought the silence of a porn star and a Playmate, and proclaimed his now-infamous seduction technique: “grab ’em by the pussy.” The Trump Women is a provocative and “comprehensive exposé” (Kirkus Reviews) of Trump’s relationship with the women who have been closest to him—his German-immigrant grandmother, Elizabeth, the uncredited founder of the Trump Organization; his Scottish-immigrant mother, Mary, who acquired a taste for wealth as a maid in the Andrew Carnegie mansion; his wives—Ivana, Marla, and Melania (the first and third of whom are immigrants); and his eldest daughter, Ivanka, groomed to take over the Trump brand from a young age. Also examined are Trump’s two older sisters, one of whom is a prominent federal judge; his often-overlooked younger daughter, Tiffany; his female employees; and those he calls “liars”—the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. Nina Burleigh is a New York Times best-selling author of six lively, acclaimed works of creative nonfiction. Her latest book, on Trump and women, was published in October 2018. She has written hundreds of works of journalism, essays and book reviews, on a wide array of topics including culture, politics, gender issues, science, and the environment. Her books share a theme of examining the tension between belief and science, religion and rationality in post-Enlightenment life, including 1830s American politics, among post-revolutionary French scientists in Egypt, Cold War era CIA conspiracy theories, fake Biblical archaeology in Jerusalem today, and the role of faith versus science in an Italian courtroom. Two books explore the relationship between art, nature, history, and science. In Mirage, she told the story of the scientists and artists behind the first great study of modern Islam and ancient Egypt, Description de l'Egypte, a landmark work of art and publishing produced by the scientists who went to Egypt with Napoleon in 1800. Her book Unholy Business is a Maltese Falcon style crime caper about a gang of forgers accused of applying new technology to alter and sell archaeological relics. A fellow of the Explorers Club, she has covered stories on six continents. She has published works about the Arctic and the Antarctic, the Amazon, where she wrote an essay about women, nature, and the human culture along the Amazon River in Peru and ayahuasca culture in Iquitos, posh Lagos, racism and rhino poaching in South Africa. She has written cover stories for Newsweek on Trump and Women, Trump as a tool of the New York billionaires, Trump and Evangelicals, Trump and the Law, Facebook and political big data mining, the #metoo movement, the melting of Antarctica, sea level rise in Florida, asteroid defense schemes and other current events. She has judged the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards for nonfiction, and won several awards for her journalism and books. She was writer in residence at the Siena Art Institute in 2013 attached to the Above/Below Ground project with Mark Dion and Amy Yoes, including a symposium on the Art and Science of The Expedition. She was a Dora Maar Fellow in the arts in Menerbes, France, in 2014, where she worked on a novel. Mirage was selected by The New York Times as an editors' choice and won the Society of Women Educators' Award.

Mark Dion discusses his appreciation for folly buildings, obscure departments of science, and being implicated in nature's demise.

Episode No. 447 is a post-holiday weekend clips episode featuring artist Mark Dion. This week, Amazon Prime Video debuted "The Perilous Texas Adventures of Mark Dion," an hour-long documentary showing how Dion re-traced the steps of four nineteenth-century Texas explorers: Sarah Ann Lillie Hardinge, Charles Wright, John James Audubon and Frederick Law Olmsted. The film, which premiered on Texas PBS stations, was directed by Erik Clapp and produced by Maggie Adler. The Amon Carter Museum exhibition chronicled by the documentary is also titled "The Perilous Texas Adventures of Mark Dion." Curated by Adler, it features both Dion's discoveries and related works from its collection. The exhibition's closing date is TBD.

This episode begins by celebrating good news: that the once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of works by Raphael at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome—which only opened for three days before being closed due to Covid-19 in March—will re-open on 2 June and run for three months until 30 August. The show, which begins with Raphael’s death and moves back in time, is the jewel in the crown of the celebrations across Europe and the US marking the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death. Hugo Chapman, the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum and a Raphael specialist, heralds the genius of an artist whose fame has somewhat unfairly been eclipsed by Leonardo and by his great rival Michelangelo.Also this week: the renaissance of mail art. Margaret Carrigan looks at the radical history of art in the post with Mariam Kienle, assistant professor of art history at the University of Kentucky, and about its revival as the US postal service is under threat from the Trump administration.And in the latest in the series Lonely Works, the artist Mark Dion discusses the American Museum of Natural History and its profound effect on his work. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brooklyn-based artist and adjunct professor Alex Strada talks about: Why she makes specialized artist’s contracts even though her own work tends not to be object-oriented, which is a feminist-based approach to addressing inequities in the art market; her great admiration for Mark Dion, the artist and her former teacher who has always credited everyone that has worked for him; her various adjunct teaching gigs, at Columbia, Fordham, Cooper Union and Studio in a School; the socially engaged tendency of the work of her students, which she acknowledges comes out of her syllabi emphasizing diversity of all kinds; her film project “Save the Presidents:” how she and her collaborator were able to shoot these immense sculptural busts, which are eroding on a private field owned by the busts’ purveyor, how the screening of the film in Times Square, as part of the Midnight Moments project, was the most surreal experience of Strada’s life; and her life and citizenry as a native New Yorker who grew up in the West Village and still cherishes that neighborhood, but could never live there now – only Julianne Moore can, as she put it – and how the Chelsea gallery system, with rents so high, perpetuates an art world that has to play it safe in order to survive, and how we as individual artists need to fight for our opportunities and our space.

Mark Dion is an American artist whose work examines the ways in which dominant ideologies and public institutions shape our understanding of history, knowledge and the natural world. Mark talks about participating at the first incarnations of The Armory Show during the mid-1990’s, remembering Pat Hearn and Colin de Land, collecting objects and his curiosity cabinet installations, a forthcoming project at Storm King Art Center and working as an artist as a long, complex and ongoing endeavor. This episode was recorded on location at The Armory Show, as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

Maggie Adler is Curator at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, where she organizes exhibitions that explore the breadth of American art that exists within and outside of the museum’s collection. A native of rural New York, she received her higher education at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts where she obtained a BA in classical languages and art history and a Masters in art history. Prior to the Amon Carter, Maggie held positions at Williams College Museum of Art and the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, as well as a fellowship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In addition to her curatorial duties, she also serves as co-chair for the Association for the Historians of American Art. Though her research focuses on nineteenth-century art, she is also passionate about collaborating with contemporary artists to create large-scale commissions and has worked with Jenny Holzer, Pepon Osorio, and Gabriel Dawe on site-specific installations. She is currently planning a major commission with artist Mark Dion and collaborating on a traveling exhibition pairing Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington. I recently sat down with Maggie in the main gallery of the Amon Carter where we discussed her attraction to Williams College, her love of Winslow Homer, the color theory of Michel Eugène Chevreul, her winding career path, what makes the Amon Carter unique, and finding contemporary work that fits within the museum’s narrative.

Maggie Adler is Curator at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, where she organizes exhibitions that explore the breadth of American art that exists within and outside of the museum’s collection. A native of rural New York, she received her higher education at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts where she obtained a BA in classical languages and art history and a Masters in art history. Prior to the Amon Carter, Maggie held positions at Williams College Museum of Art and the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, as well as a fellowship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In addition to her curatorial duties, she also serves as co-chair for the Association for the Historians of American Art. Though her research focuses on nineteenth-century art, she is also passionate about collaborating with contemporary artists to create large-scale commissions and has worked with Jenny Holzer, Pepon Osorio, and Gabriel Dawe on site-specific installations. She is currently planning a major commission with artist Mark Dion and collaborating on a traveling exhibition pairing Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington. I recently sat down with Maggie in the main gallery of the Amon Carter where we discussed her attraction to Williams College, her love of Winslow Homer, the color theory of Michel Eugène Chevreul, her winding career path, what makes the Amon Carter unique, and finding contemporary work that fits within the museum’s narrative.

In Steven Lubar’s latest book Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present (Harvard University Press, 2017), Steven gets to the heart of what makes museums so interesting to both appreciate and critique. For him, the complex nature of the museum lies in the balancing act a curator and other museum staff must strike in both displaying a collection and making it open, accessible and useful while resisting the temptation to encourage or even force a certain way of looking or behaving among visitors. Structured along the four chapters collect, preserve, display and use, Steve tells the history of museums, from cabinets of curiosities and the Victorian model all the way to the contemporary in an easily accessible and very engaging way. In the last part of his book, the coda, he reveals how working with contemporary artist Mark Dion allowed him and his students from the Jenks Society for Lost Museums to think about museums in new ways, making them social and useful spaces that combine an object-centered and people-centered approach. Ricarda Brosch is a curatorial trainee at the Asian Art Museum Berlin (Museum fur Asiatische Kunst Berlin Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz), which is due to reopen as part of the Humboldt Forum in 2019. You can find out more about her work by following her on Twitter @RicardaBeatrix or getting in touch via ricarda.brosch@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Steven Lubar’s latest book Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present (Harvard University Press, 2017), Steven gets to the heart of what makes museums so interesting to both appreciate and critique. For him, the complex nature of the museum lies in the balancing act a curator and other museum staff must strike in both displaying a collection and making it open, accessible and useful while resisting the temptation to encourage or even force a certain way of looking or behaving among visitors. Structured along the four chapters collect, preserve, display and use, Steve tells the history of museums, from cabinets of curiosities and the Victorian model all the way to the contemporary in an easily accessible and very engaging way. In the last part of his book, the coda, he reveals how working with contemporary artist Mark Dion allowed him and his students from the Jenks Society for Lost Museums to think about museums in new ways, making them social and useful spaces that combine an object-centered and people-centered approach. Ricarda Brosch is a curatorial trainee at the Asian Art Museum Berlin (Museum fur Asiatische Kunst Berlin Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz), which is due to reopen as part of the Humboldt Forum in 2019. You can find out more about her work by following her on Twitter @RicardaBeatrix or getting in touch via ricarda.brosch@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Steven Lubar’s latest book Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present (Harvard University Press, 2017), Steven gets to the heart of what makes museums so interesting to both appreciate and critique. For him, the complex nature of the museum lies in the balancing act a curator and other museum staff must strike in both displaying a collection and making it open, accessible and useful while resisting the temptation to encourage or even force a certain way of looking or behaving among visitors. Structured along the four chapters collect, preserve, display and use, Steve tells the history of museums, from cabinets of curiosities and the Victorian model all the way to the contemporary in an easily accessible and very engaging way. In the last part of his book, the coda, he reveals how working with contemporary artist Mark Dion allowed him and his students from the Jenks Society for Lost Museums to think about museums in new ways, making them social and useful spaces that combine an object-centered and people-centered approach. Ricarda Brosch is a curatorial trainee at the Asian Art Museum Berlin (Museum fur Asiatische Kunst Berlin Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz), which is due to reopen as part of the Humboldt Forum in 2019. You can find out more about her work by following her on Twitter @RicardaBeatrix or getting in touch via ricarda.brosch@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Steven Lubar’s latest book Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present (Harvard University Press, 2017), Steven gets to the heart of what makes museums so interesting to both appreciate and critique. For him, the complex nature of the museum lies in the balancing act a curator and other museum staff must strike in both displaying a collection and making it open, accessible and useful while resisting the temptation to encourage or even force a certain way of looking or behaving among visitors. Structured along the four chapters collect, preserve, display and use, Steve tells the history of museums, from cabinets of curiosities and the Victorian model all the way to the contemporary in an easily accessible and very engaging way. In the last part of his book, the coda, he reveals how working with contemporary artist Mark Dion allowed him and his students from the Jenks Society for Lost Museums to think about museums in new ways, making them social and useful spaces that combine an object-centered and people-centered approach. Ricarda Brosch is a curatorial trainee at the Asian Art Museum Berlin (Museum fur Asiatische Kunst Berlin Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz), which is due to reopen as part of the Humboldt Forum in 2019. You can find out more about her work by following her on Twitter @RicardaBeatrix or getting in touch via ricarda.brosch@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, former Cumberland County sheriff and current state Rep. Mark Dion talks about growing up in Lewiston and how he remembers it differently from Gov. Paul LePage.

NEWS CENTER Maine's Don Carrigan sits down with Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Mark Dion of Portland. He is a lawyer, a former police officer and served as sheriff of Cumberland County. Dion has previously served in the Maine House and is currently serving in the Senate.

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Studio Engineer: John Greenman Segment 1: Belfast Salmon Aquaculture Proposal Raises Concerns Segment 2: Removing Guns From Mainers Deemed to be a Risk — Mainers Weigh in on “Red Flag” Bill Segment 1: As listeners may be aware, plans are underway for Nordic Aquafarms to build a large land-based aquaculture facility in Belfast. The proposed site is partly owned by the local water district and would need to be rezoned. The benefits of such a project would be a probable decrease in taxes and more jobs in the area, but some local residents also have concerns and believe the approval process is moving too quickly, with a vote on zoning possibly taking place this month. Belfast residents Joanne Moesswilde and Ellie Daniels are with me in the studio this morning to share some of their concerns. (NOTE: We plan to follow up with a full show dedicated to land-based salmon aquaculture in the near future. If you are involved in the issue and would like to possibly be part of that show, please contact Amy Browne at news@weru.org) FMI: These are the links Ellie Daniels mentioned on the show, along with her descriptions of each: www.salmonfarming.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ISFA_LandFarmingreport_web.pdf “This is a comprehensive report from the International Salmon Farmers Association.” www.maine.gov/dep/water/nutrient-criteria/index.html “This is on the ME DEP site, and summarizes the issues associated with excess phosphorous or nitrogen in discharge water.” www.aqauaculturenorthamerica.com “This is a trade site that follows the industry.” Segment 2: A crowd with strong opinions on both sides of the issue testified at a public hearing on LD 1884 “An Act To Create a Community Protection Order To Allow Courts To Prevent High-risk Individuals from Possessing Firearms” in Augusta Tuesday. If passed, this “Red Flag” bill would allow guns to be temporarily taken away from people who are deemed to pose a threat to themselves or others. Today on Maine Currents we listen in as LD 1884 is introduced by Senator Mark Dion, and then we hear some of the public testimony from both sides: FMI: To follow the progress of the bill: www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?paper=SP0719&snum=128&PID=1456 For info on how to contact your legislators: www.legislature.maine.gov Listen to the award-winning Maine Currents- independent local news, views and culture with host Amy Browne- on the first Thursday of each month, 10-11a.m. on WERU-FM or via our live stream at www.weru.org The post Maine Currents 4/5/18 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

In this first attempt at a live audience recording made upon my return to Leeds, and to resuming the podcast at The Tetley, I speak with their artistic director Bryony Bond about how the podcast has been going and what I’ve learnt from it. All while essentially trying to ignore the presence of the audience who had kindly attended. It became more of a performance work than I would have predicted – an odder situation than might be obvious from the recording itself in which I’ve also tried my best to remove their sonic presence. Made it feel more like an artwork at least.More importantly, however, we were able to learn about Bryony’s artistic origins, her thoughts on curating, working with artists, really, really liking exhibitions, the first ever project she worked on now being re-shown as part of Mark Dion’s current exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery, shaping an organisation, institutional personability, and we generally realise our approaches and intentions are not too dissimilar. Also realised something I should have done at the event itself is to massively thank Bryony, Georgia, and everyone at The Tetley for letting me record the podcast there and for all their wonderful support – thank you!

American artist, Mark Dion has a new exhibition on in London: Theatre of the Natural World . Dion is exhilarated by the natural world but tells Anne McElvoy why his art is about how we classify it and what that says about us. Virginia Woolf: An Exhibition Inspired by her Writings opens at Tate St Ives so Anne McElvoy finds out how questions about colour perception and insect behaviour in turn inspired the writer. Literary scholars Claudia Tobin and Rachel Murray discuss. Evolutionary biologists, Menno Schiltuizen and Suzanne Williams, tell Anne about how colour and invertebrate studies in ecosystems old and new are refining our understanding of evolution. Mark Dion: Theatre of the Natural World at Whitechapel Gallery, London until May 13th Virginia Woolf: An Exhibition Inspired by Her Writings at Tate St Ives continues until April 29th. Menno Schiltuizen 'Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution' is out now. Suzanne Williams, Researcher and Head of Invertebrate Division, Natural History Museum, London. Claudia Tobin is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Cambridge Rachel Murray, School of Humanities, University of BristolPresenter: Anne McElvoy

La edición número 33 de la Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Madrid ya está en marcha. Con el foco puesto en los creadores más jóvenes sin olvidar a los artistas de renombre, ARCO 2014 cuenta con más de 219 galerías y la presencia de Finlandia como país invitado. A falta de que los expositores terminasen de montar algunas de sus piezas, respiramos el ambiente de la feria el día antes de su apertura. Entre referencias a Picasso y obras de Joan Fontcuberta, Mark Dion, Michelangelo Pistoletto o Elina Brotherus pudimos charlar con el joven artista mallorquín Albert Pinya. www.artecompacto.com

This week: San Francisco checks in with dance legend Anna Halprin!!! Anna Halprin (b. 1920) is a pioneering dancer and choreographer of the post-modern dance movement. She founded the San Francisco Dancer's Workshop in 1955 as a center for movement training, artistic experimentation, and public participatory events open to the local community. Halprin has created 150 full-length dance theater works and is the recipient of numerous awards including the 1997 Samuel H. Scripps Award for Lifetime Achievement in Modern Dance from the American Dance Festival. Her students include Meredith Monk, Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, Simone Forti, Ruth Emmerson, Sally Gross, and many others. Printed Matter Live Benefit Auction Event: March 9, 6-8:30 pm Robert Rauschenberg Project Space 455 West 19th St, New York www.paddle8.com/auctions/printedmatter Printed Matter, Inc, the New York-based non-profit organization committed to the dissemination and appreciation of publications made by artists, will host a Benefit Auction and Selling Exhibition at the Rauschenberg Foundation Project Space to help mitigate damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. As a result of the storm, Printed Matter experienced six feet of flooding to its basement storage and lost upwards of 9,000 books, hundreds of artworks and equipment. Printed Matter's Archive, which has been collected since the organization's founding in 1976 and serves as an important record of its history and the field of artists books as a whole, was also severely damaged. Moreover, the damage sustained by Sandy has made it clear that Printed Matter needs to undertake an urgent capacity-building effort to establish a durable foundation for its mission and services into the future. This is the first fundraising initiative of this scale to be undertaken by the organization in many years, and will feature more than 120 works generously donated from artists and supporters of Printed Matter. The Sandy Relief Benefit for Printed Matter will be held at the Rauschenberg Project Space in Chelsea and will run from February 28 through March 9th. The Benefit has two components: a selling exhibition of rare historical publications and other donated works and an Auction of donated artworks. A special preview and reception will be held February 28th, 6-8 pm, to mark the unveiling of all 120 works and to thank the participating artists and donors. The opening will feature a solo performance by cellist Julia Kent (Antony and the Johnsons), followed by a shared DJ set from Lizzi Bougatsos (Gang Gang Dance) & Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio). The event is free and open to the public. All works will then be available for viewing at the Rauschenberg Project Space March 1 – March 9, gallery hours. All Selling Exhibition works may be purchased during this period and Auction works will be available for bidding online. Bids can be made at www.paddle8.com/auctions/printedmatter. A live Benefit Auction Event will take place March 9, 6-8:30 pm with approximately 20 selected works to be auctioned in a live format. Bidding on these works will commence at 7pm sharp, while silent bids can be made on all other Auction works. Note, highest online bids will be transferred to the room. For absentee bidding of works, please contact Keith Gray (Printed Matter) at 212 925 0325 or keith@printedmatter.org. The evening will feature a performance by Alex Waterman on solo cello with electronics. Admission is $150 and tickets may be pre-purchased here. There will be only limited capacity. Highlighted auction works include an oversize ektacolor photograph from Richard Prince, a woven canvas piece from Tauba Auerbach, an acrylic and newsprint work from Rirkrit Tiravanija, a large-scale Canopy painting from Fredrik Værslev, a rare dye transfer print from Zoe Leonard, a light box by Alfredo Jaar, a book painting by Paul Chan, a carbon on paper work from Frances Stark, a seven-panel plexi-work with spraypainted newsprint from Kerstin Brätsch, a C-print from Hans Haacke, a firefly drawing from Philippe Parreno, a mixed-media NASA wall-piece from Tom Sachs, a unique print from Rachel Harrison, a vintage xerox poem from Carl Andre, an encyclopedia set of hand-made books from Josh Smith, a photograph from Klara Liden, a table-top sculpture from Carol Bove, Ed Ruscha’s Rooftops Portfolio, as well as original works on canvas and linen by Cecily Brown, Cheyney Thompson, Dan Colen, Adam McEwen, RH Quaytman, and many others. These Auction works can be previewed at: www.paddle8.com/auctions/printedmatter In addition to auction works, a vitrine-based exhibition of rare books, artworks and ephemera are available for viewing and purchase. This material includes some truly remarkable items from the personal collection of Robert Rauschenberg, donated by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in memory of the late Printed Matter Board Member, bookseller and publisher, John McWhinnie. Among the works available are books and artworks from Marcel Duchamp, Willem de Kooning, Alfred Steiglitz, Joseph Beuys, Brigid Berlin (Polk), as well as a Claes Oldenburg sculpture, a rare William Burroughs manuscript, and the Anthology Film Archive Portfolio (1982). Additional artists’ books have been generously donated by the Sol LeWitt Estate. Works include pristine copies of Autobiography (1980), Four Basic Kinds of Straight Lines (1969), Incomplete Open Cubes (1974), and others. Three Star Books have kindly donated a deluxe set of their Maurizio Cattelan book edition. These works can be viewed and purchased at the space. For inquiries about available works please contact Printed Matter’s Associate Director Max Schumann at 212 925 0325 or mschumann@printedmatter.org. Co-chairs Ethan Wagner & Thea Westreich Wagner and Phil Aarons & Shelley Fox Aarons have guided the event, and Thea Westreich Art Advisory Services has generously lent its expertise and assisted in the production of the auction. In anticipation of the event Printed Matter Executive Director James Jenkin said: “Not only are we hopeful that this event will help us to put Sandy firmly behind us, it is incredibly special for us. To have so many artists and friends associated with our organization over its 36 years come forward and support us in this effort has been truly humbling.“ Auction includes work by: Michele Abeles, Ricci Albenda, Carl Andre, Cory Arcangel, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Tauba Auerbach, Trisha Baga, John Baldessari, Sebastian Black, Mark Borthwick, Carol Bove, Kerstin Brätsch, Sascha Braunig, Olaf Breuning, Cecily Brown, Sophie Calle, Robin Cameron, Sean Joseph Patrick Carney, Nathan Carter, Paul Chan, Dan Colen, David Kennedy Cutler, Liz Deschenes, Mark Dion, Shannon Ebner, Edie Fake, Matias Faldbakken, Dan Graham, Robert Greene, Hans Haacke, Marc Handelman, Rachel Harrison, Jesse Hlebo, Carsten Höller, David Horvitz, Marc Hundley, Alfredo Jaar, Chris Johanson, Terence Koh, Joseph Kosuth, Louise Lawler, Pierre Le Hors, Leigh Ledare, Zoe Leonard, Sam Lewitt, Klara Liden, Peter Liversidge, Charles Long, Mary Lum, Noah Lyon, McDermott & McGough, Adam McEwen, Ryan McNamara, Christian Marclay, Ari Marcopoulos, Gordon Matta-Clark, Wes Mills, Jonathan Monk, Rick Myers, Laurel Nakadate, Olaf Nicolai, Adam O'Reilly, Philippe Parreno, Jack Pierson, Richard Prince, RH Quaytman, Eileen Quinlan, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Ed Ruscha, Tom Sachs, David Sandlin, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Cindy Sherman, Josh Smith, Keith Smith, Buzz Spector, Frances Stark, Emily Sundblad, Andrew Sutherland, Peter Sutherland, Sarah Sze, Panayiotis Terzis, Cheyney Thompson, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Nicola Tyson, Penelope Umbrico, Fredrik Værslev, Visitor, Danh Vo, Dan Walsh and Ofer Wolberger.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

One of the opening exhibitions at SALT Galata, Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 presents the rich and intricate story of archaeology in the Near East in a chronological narrative around selected archaeological sites. Exploring archaeological activities in social, cultural and political contexts across a wide geographical area that spans from Greece to Egypt, the exhibition examines local and foreign archaeological initiatives undertaken in the land of the Ottoman Empire over a period of nearly two centuries. Taking the inauguration of the British Museum, the first museum in the modern sense of the word, as a starting point and following the development of the Museum of Islamic Pious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (today’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), the exhibition explores transformations in the historical narrative of the Ottoman Empire in parallel to studies focusing on Western interest in “the cultural heritage of the classical era.” Principal materials in the exhibition include reports by Western and Ottoman explorers, books that share their experiences travelling across this region with plans and maps, and selected documents and photographs expressing the involvement of the Imperial Museum in the Ottoman Empire (today’s İstanbul Archaeology Museums) and the race to attain artifacts immediately after the museum’s establishment. These materials are corroborated by objects excavated and transported from major archaeological excavation sites in Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to İstanbul at the time. The main theme of the exhibition however, is the story of how an interest in the past transformed into a field of “struggle” over artifacts – a process that began in the mid-18th century. The basis of this transformation sees a shift in the motivation for archaeological activity; an act that had originally served as an argument for pursuing the origins of European civilization by the 19th century became eclipsed by the desires of an imperialistic project. The Ottoman investment in the archaeological scene was based on the rise of historical consciousness, which emerged in parallel to these imperialistic arguments. In the exhibition, the changing perspective on the practice of archaeology is addressed by emphasizing the interaction among European and Ottoman actors. Scramble for the Past was conceptualized and prepared by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem. A commissioned installation by Celine Condorelli functions as a support structure for the exhibition, with graphic design by Aslı Altay. In addition, two specially composed installations by artists Mark Dion and Michael Rakowitz further address some of the issues raised by the conceptual framework of the exhibition and touch on our everyday understanding of and relationship to the field of archaeology.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

SALT Galata’nın açılış sergilerinden Geçmişe Hücum: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Arkeolojinin Öyküsü, 1753-1914, arkeolojinin Yakın Doğu’daki zengin ve karmaşık hikâyesini seçili arkeolojik bölgeler üzerinden kronolojik bir anlatımla sahneliyor. Yunanistan’dan Mısır’a uzanan geniş bir coğrafyadaki arkeoloji faaliyetlerini sosyal, kültürel ve politik bağlamlarıyla inceleyen sergi, yaklaşık 200 yıl boyunca Osmanlı topraklarında gerçekleştirilmiş yerli ve yabancı arkeolojik girişimleri irdeliyor. Sergi ayrıca, Batı’nın “klasik dönemin kültürel mirasına” ilgisine odaklı araştırmalara paralel olarak Osmanlı tarih anlatısındaki dönüşümleri kapsıyor; modern anlamda ilk müze olan British Museum ile Osmanlı’nın Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Müzesi (bugünkü adıyla Türk ve İslâm Eserleri Müzesi) arasındaki izleği sürüyor. Serginin ana malzemeleri, Batılı ve Osmanlı kâşiflerin raporları ile seyahat izlenimlerine ilişkin kitaplar, bölgelerin detaylı çizimlerini içeren planlar ile Osmanlıların, Müze-i Hümayun’un (bugünkü adıyla İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri) kuruluşu itibariyle eski eser mücadelesine dâhil oluşunun izdüşümünü sunan belge ve fotoğraflardan meydana geliyor. Bu malzemeler, Yunanistan, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye, Lübnan ve Mısır’daki önemli arkeolojik kazı alanlarından o dönemde çıkartılıp İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri’ne getirilmiş objeler ile destekleniyor. Serginin ana temasını ise, geçmişe yönelik ilginin 18. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren bir “mücadele” alanına dönüşmesinin hikâyesi oluşturuyor. Bu dönüşümün temelinde, Avrupa’da uygarlığın kökenlerini antik kültürlerde arama iddiasına hizmet eden arkeoloji faaliyetlerinin, 19. yüzyıl itibariyle emperyalist projelere dâhil edilmesi yatıyor. Osmanlıların arkeoloji arenasında yer bulmaya başlaması da, yine bu emperyal iddialara paralel olarak ortaya çıkan tarih bilincinin yükselişine dayanıyor. Arkeolojiye bakışın geçirdiği bu dönüşüm, sergide Avrupalı ve Osmanlı aktörlerin aralarındaki etkileşime vurgu yapılarak inceleniyor. Geçmişe Hücum, Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Çelik ve Edhem Eldem tarafından kavramsallaştırılıp hazırlandı. Grafik tasarım çalışmalarını Aslı Altay yürüttü. Celine Condorelli’nin enstalasyonu, serginin destek yapısı işlevini görüyor. Mark Dion ve Michael Rakowitz’in özel olarak hazırladığı iki enstalasyon ise, serginin kavramsal altyapısının öne çıkardığı bazı meselelere gönderme yaparak, arkeolojiyle ilişkimizi ve bu dala dair gündelik algımızı ele alıyor.

This week: We talk to artist Mark Dion, about social practice, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, cabinets of curiosity. The word "taxonomy" is bandied about at great length. Mark Dion was born in 1961 in Massachusetts; he lives and works in Pennsylvania. Dion is known for making art out of fieldwork, incorporating elements of biology, archaeology, ethnography, and the history of science, and applying to his artwork methodologies generally used for pure science. Traveling the world and collaborating with a wide range of scientists, artists, and museums, Dion has excavated ancient and modern artifacts from the banks of the Thames in London, established a marine life laboratory using specimens from New York’s Chinatown, and created a contemporary cabinet of curiosities exploring natural and philosophical hierarchies. His approach emphasizes illustration and accuracy but is charged with a biting undertone. Dion has a longstanding interest in exploring how ideas about natural history are visualized and how they circulate in society. Dion’s work has been presented at many U.S. and international museums and galleries, including solo exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver; Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; and Deutsches Museum, Bonn. Dion has been commissioned to create works for Aldrich Museum of Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut; the Tate Gallery, London; the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

This week: The first in our series of interviews from the Open Engagement conference that took place in Portland this past May. We start off with an excellent discussion that Randall Szott, Duncan, Brian and the occasional Incubate person had with artist, writer, lemon tormentor Ted Purves. Topics include; Ted's work, the past present and future of Social Practice and what it means to be an artist today.This series of interviews (thusfar, I've only gone through the first two) are some of my favorite discussions that (the royal) we have had in the 5 years of the show. Great stuff!Ted Purves is a writer and artist based in Oakland. His public projects and curatorial works are centered on investigating the practice of art in the world, particularly as it addresses issues of localism, democratic participation, and innovative shifts in the position of the audience. His two-year project, Temescal Amity Works, created in collaboration with Susanne Cockrell and based in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, facilitated and documented the exchange of backyard produce and finished its public phase in winter 2007. His collaborative project Momentary Academy, a free school taught by artists over a period of 10 weeks, was featured in Bay Area Now 4 in 2005 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Ted recently received a visual arts grant from the Creative Capital Foundation and a Creative Work Fund grant from the Elise and Walter Haas Foundation. His book, What We Want Is Free: Generosity and Exchange in Recent Art, was published by State University of New York Press in 2005.The Open Engagement conference is an initiative of Portland State University’s Art and Social Practice MFA concentration and co-sponsored by Portland Community College and the MFA in Visual Studies program at Pacific Northwest College of Art and supported by the Cyan PDX Cultural Residency Program. Directed by Jen Delos Reyes and planned in conjunction with Harrell Fletcher and the Portland State University MFA Monday Night Lecture Series, this conference features three nationally and internationally renowned artists: Mark Dion, Amy Franceschini, and Nils Norman. The conference will showcase work by Temporary Services, InCUBATE, and a new project by Mark Dion created in collaboration with students from the PSU Art and Social Practice concentration. The artists involved in Open Engagement: Making Things, Making Things Better, Making Things Worse, challenge our traditional ideas of what art is and does. These artist’s projects mediate the contemporary frameworks of art as service, as social space, as activism, as interactions, and as relationships, and tackle subject matter ranging from urban planning, alternative pedagogy, play, fiction, sustainability, political conflict and the social role of the artist. Can socially engaged art do more harm than good? Are there ethical responsibilities for social art? Does socially engaged art have a responsibility to create public good? Can there be transdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art making that would contribute to issues such as urban planning and sustainability? Open Engagement is a free conference May 14-17, 2010, in Portland, Oregon. This annual conference will be a focal point of a new low residency Art and Social Practice MFA that PSU hopes to launch in Fall of 2010. This years conference will host over 100 artists, activists, curators, scholars, writers, farmers, community organizers, film makers and collectives including: Nato Thompson, The Watts House Project, Linda Weintraub, Ted Purves, Henry Jenkins, Wealth Underground Farms, Brian Collier, Anne E. Moore, David Horvitz, Chen Tamir, and Parfyme.

This week Bad At Sports debuts its collaborative partnership with the online journal Art Practical. Scott Oliver, who has previously been on the show with the Collective Foundation, sits down with J. Morgan Puett. They discuss Mildred's Lane, a collaborative project with Mark Dion, the revolutionary politics of garments, and reclaiming the term migrant worker. An abridged transcript of the conversation can be found at Art Practical . Hooshing and the Nexus of Clothing: A Conversation with J. Morgan Puett By Scott Oliver  I met J. Morgan Puett during her Bridge Residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts this past fall. I knew little of her or her work, but was immediately struck by her warmth and charm, and by the language she used to talk about her practice. She refers to it as “a practice of being” in which “an ethics of comportment” defines any engagement she might have—with students, collaborators, participants, fellow artists-in-residence. But also with her son’s teacher or her car mechanic. Terms like “hoosh,” “workstyles (a play on lifestyles),” “algorithm,” “emergent,” “entangled,” and “complexity” pepper Puett’s speech, effectively communicating her expansive approach to art. She doesn’t often mention “social practice,” perhaps because her work has been socially engaged all along. But the term is also insufficient, so is “installation art” (a form her work often resembles). Puett’s work is difficult to summarize. It is sprawling, layered, immersive and open-ended. It is as intellectually rich as it is sensually pleasurable. It is narrative, process-based and participatory. In short, it is meant to be experienced, yet none-the-less fascinating to discuss. Scott Oliver is a sculptor and project-based artist living and working in Oakland, California. He has written catalogue essays for Southern Exposure, The Present Group, and independent curator Joseph del Pesco. Oliver co-founded Shotgun Review, an on-line source for reviews of Bay Area visual art exhibitions, with del Pesco in 2005 where he was a regular contributor until 2008. He is currently working on an audio walking tour of Oakland’s Lake Merritt.