Talks and lectures
29 March 2011
6:30pm/ Manarat Al Saadiyat
The Discovery of Mesopotamia
John Curtis
This lecture will deal with the fascinating story of how the civilisation of Mesopotamia was revealed to the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Amongst the pioneer archaeologists who contributed to this story are Sir Henry Layard who excavated at Nimrud and Nineveh in the 1840s and 1850s and Sir Leonard Woolley who excavated at Ur of the Chaldees in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the finds from these excavations are in the present exhibition ‘Splendours of Mesopotamia’, so this lecture will also provide an opportunity to put these objects into context.
Dr John Curtis is the Keeper of the Middle East Department at the British Museum.
The Splendours of Mesopotamia: Sumer, Assyria and Babylon
Nigel Tallis
Ancient Mesopotamia saw the world´s first truly urban societies, where the city was the centre of civilised life. This talk will examine how this came about and will explore the evolution of these societies and the fundamental impact of their inventions, arts, technologies and crafts on the ancient world and the world today.
Nigel Tallis is the Curator of Splendours of Mesopotamia.
Stories Only Objects Can Tell: Mesopotamia to the UAE
Neil MacGregor
Objects embody deeply held values that have helped to bind societies together for millennia – as in ancient Mesopotamia. Sheikh Zayed instinctively understood the importance of these values and they shaped his vision for the modern UAE.
Neil MacGregor is the Director of the British Museum.
5 April 2011
Mesopotamia: Land of the World’s First Laws
Marc Van De Mieroop
6:30pm/ Manarat Al Saadiyat
Hammurabi, king of ancient Babylonia thirty-eight centuries ago, rightly deserves his fame as the first lawmaker in world history. The laws inscribed on his stone stele, now in the Louvre Museum Paris, elucidate a theory of justice and correct rule that served as a standard for many centuries afterwards. This paper will discuss the purposes of Hammurabi’s laws, their antecedents, and what they tell us about kingship in Babylonia and its relationship to the law.
Marc Van De Mieroop is Professor of History at Columbia University in New York. He is currently on sabbatical leave as Senior Fellow at IFK, the Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften, Vienna.
12 April 2011
The World’s Oldest Writing
Irving Finkel
6:30pm/ Manarat Al Saadiyat
This illustrated talk will bring alive the ancient writing called cuneiform, which developed in ancient Iraq and was written on tablets of clay from about 3000 BC for the next three thousand years. It will explain the origin of this earliest writing, demonstrate how the script worked, and look at some of the extraordinary and altogether unexpected documents that have come down to us from the times of the Sumerians, the Babylonians and the Sumerians.
Irving Finkel is the Curator of the Middle East Department at the British Museum.
27 April 2011
The National Museum: A Symbolic Identity?
Neil Macgregor, Henri Loyrette, Dr. Shobita Punja, Dr. Wafaa El Saddik
7pm/ Manarat Al Saadiyat
The National Museum stands as a symbol for the nation-state and the accomplishments of humanity. However, how do we create a national museum in today’s globalized world with the complexity of defining national identity? How can the contemporary National Museum not only be perceived as a “monument” but rather one which maintains and considers community and its nation.
The panel discussion will explore how we understand and define the national museum, how has the concept been understood and defined by different actors in the past and what historical, political and cultural contexts are relevant to the creation of national museums?
Neil MacGregor is the Director of the British Museum.
Henri Loyrette is the Director of the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Dr. Shobita Punja is the CEO of the National Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture and Government of India.
Dr. Wafaa El Saddik is the President of Children´s Alliance for Traditions and Social Engagement, International, member of the Supreme Council of Culture and former General Director of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Exhibitions Abroad Department of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt
The ArtBus will be attending this event from Dubai. Please visit http://www.artinthecity.com/
3 May 2011
Rethinking Islam as a Culture CANCELLED
Shahab Ahmed
6:30pm/ Manarat Al Saadiyat
4 May 2011
What is Islamic Modernity? CANCELLED
Shahab Ahmed
6:30pm/ Manarat Al Saadiyat
22 May 2011
Collecting the Past
Georgiana Aitken & Hamish Dewar
6:30pm
The Collectors Forum, a TDIC Department initiative, aims to demystify the process involved in the building of art collections and creating a dialogue between established and emerging collectors in the UAE. Renowned collectors, artists and leading figures in the art world offer their insight to equip emerging collectors with the skills to navigate the art world.
In this talk, a leading auction house specialist in Antiquities will discuss all the aspects to be considered when buying antiquities and examine the reasons why new collectors are entering this field. In addition, a leading London based conservator will address the question of preventative conservation and care for historic works of art.
Georgiana Aitken, Head of Antiqities, Christie´s, London.
Hamish Dewar, Fine Art Conservation.
24 May 2011
The Conservation and Science of International Loan Exhibitions
David Saunders
6:30pm/ Manarat Al Saadiyat
Cultural exchange between nations, including the current British Museum programme in Abu Dhabi, increasingly incorporates large international loan exhibitions.
Conservators, preventive conservators and scientists play a key role in such international exchange:
They work to understand the material properties and fragilities of objects in general; they assess each object prior to exhibition or loan to highlight any particular vulnerabilities or special conditions needed for its transportation or display.
Objects can be made safe to travel, or suitable for display, by remedial conservation.
They study the potential effect of storage and display environments on collections to help inform the choice of any particular environmental requirements during the loan.
Conservators will often accompany loans travelling on exhibition.
The examination and analysis of objects during the assessment and conservation enrich the understanding of the exhibits for the visitor, complementing historical, art-historical, archaeological or anthropological interpretation of the artefacts.
This presentation will introduce the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, share case studies to illustrate the general principles involved and look at the way in which new facilities being built at the British Museum affect our ability to deliver international loans.
David Saunders is the keeper of Conservation, Science and Research Department