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Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre, Egypt,
Advance Notice The proceeds of this forthcoming November 2008 exhibition of new tapestries for sale will go to the Art Centre which is facing difficult times after the devastation to the adobe mud-brick buildings caused by the rising water table.You can see pictures of the damage if you visit the website www.wissa-wassef-arts.com . Ramses Wissa Wassef was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1983 for his remarkable achievements. If you would like to receive an invitation to the Private View to be held on Monday 10th November from 4-8pm, please contact Barbara Heller, Phone: 44 (0)20 7267 1034, e-mail: barbara@wissa-wassef-arts.com "The Orientalists" Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed Al-Thani,
the Mathaf Gallery, London and the Waqif Art Center (WAC), Doha, are pleased
to present an important exhibition of Orientalist Paintings (both 19th
Century and Contemporary) at the Waqif Art Center from 20 November to
4 December 2008. The Exhibition, sponsored by HSBC, is planned to coincide
with the opening of the Islamic Museum in Doha and to offer a cultural
exchange of art and artists. The Mathaf is famous for its expertise in 19th Century Paintings of the
Arab World, showing customs and traditions sometimes long forgotten
a part of a history of the region. The exhibition will contain works by
well-known 19th Century artists, such as Rudolph Ernst, Franz Xaver Kosler,
Addison T Millar, Charles Wilda, and Edward Lear, amongst others. Works
by contemporary Arab Artists will be represented by Ahmed Moustafas
limited edition prints, along with original scenes of Arabia by British
artists such as June Bartlett, Terence Gilbert, Peter Upton, Harold Wood
and Mike Donnelly. There will also be first edition lithographs of the
original paintings of the Holy Land and Egypt by David Roberts. The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting 1830-1925 Babylon: Myth and Truth Excavating Egypt: Great Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian
Archaeology, London Napoleon and Egyptomania in Tennessee Byzantium: 3301453, Royal Academy, London, 25 October 200822
March 2009 The Royal Academy brings in 300 objects from a hundred sources, some
never loaned before. Pieces are coming, for example, from St Catherines
Monastery, Sinai, so may be familiar to some members like the Ladder
of Divine Descent, for example. The exhibition promises to enrich our
education and to be a feast for our eyes. Forward booking is advised. Father Justin, whom some of us met at St Catherines Monastery on a recent ASTENE trip, will be giving a lecture at the Royal Academy to accompany the Byzantine exhibition. The lecture is entitled A Sinai Illuminated Manuscript of the Heavenly Ladder: Spiritual Ascent through Art and will be delivered at 6:30 on Friday, 13 February 2009. Booking advised, on 020 7300 5839. Renaissance in Pharaonic Egypt: The Last GoldenAge of the Pharaonic Egypt is represented though statues, stelae and other tomb furnishings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, until 9 November. Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraqs Past considers both the looting of the Iraq National Museum and the continuing looting of archaeological sites, which poses a great threat to the cultural heritage of Iraq and the world. The exhibition shows the damage and destruction, the routes by which looted artefacts leave Iraq for art markets, and the recovery efforts of the Iraq Museum. Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago, until 14 December. Shrunken Treasures: Miniaturisation in Books and Art highlights small-scale manuscripts and rare books, ranging from Books of Hours and copies of the Koran to almanacs and books of poetry, and explores the many reasons for minituarising art. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, until October 2009. Evet: I do! German and Turkish Wedding Culture and Fashion, 1800 to
Today Homer: The Myth of Troy in Poetry and Art presents the historical Homer and the extraordinary influence of his epics. ReissEngelhorn Museums, Mannheim, Germany, until 18 January. Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum, 9th7th
centuries BC Wonderful Things: The Harry Burton Photographs and the Discovery of
the Tomb of Tutankhamun Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium BC focuses on the extraordinary art of this period, with 350 objects from palaces, temples and tombs as well as a unique shipwreck. Many materials have been recently excavated or never shown abroad. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, From 18 November 2008 to March 2009. Beyond Boundaries: Islamic Art across Cultures National Museum, Athens: the Egyptian Collection Although small, the NMA collection is choice. Its majority stems from
the donations of two discerning expatriate Greek collectors: Ioannis Demetriou
of Alexandria in 1880 and Alexandras Rostovich of Cairo in 1904, supplemented
by several Ptolemaic coffins presented by the Egyptian government in 1894
and other smaller donations over the years. Many artefacts are virtually unknown in the literature and some are unique:
a nearly half-metre long Predynastic granite statue of a hippopotamus,
an almost metre-long Dynasty V wooden statue of a servant-woman grinding
grain (a single piece of sycamore), a pair of Middle Kingdom copper-alloy
ships, mast finials, and solid sheet-gold Ptolemaic mummy trappings. The
Greek press' favourite is a bread-loaf dating to the New Kingdom - with
a single bite gone. Whilst many objects have no provenance beyond 'Egypt',
others derive from specific and sometimes well-known locations such as
the Dynasty 19 tomb of the artist Sennedjem at Deir el-Medineh. ASTENE members will be interested also in the related biographical research of Vassilis Chrysokopoulos documenting the lives and travels of some 80 early Greek collectors and Egyptologists , most previously unrecorded. I am trying to persuade him to present a paper on Demetriou and Rostovich at next year's ASTENE conference in Durham. Jacke Phillips The Ancient Egyptian Gallery, Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow re-opened
last year after extensive restoration and redisplay. Much of the material
was excavated in the 1890s. Zagreb Archaeological Museum, Croatia has a newly opened Egyptian collection including the renowned 'Zagreb mummy'. Babylon A fascinating interpretation of the history and legend
of the ancient city in about 2300BC and to evaluate its influence on later
ages. Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin from late June. Overlapping Realms: Arts of the Islamic World and India, 900-1900
The works displayed emphasise the influences of shifting kingdoms and
empires. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University until winter 2008.. Ancient Cyprus a new permanent display at the A.G. Leventis Gallery of the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen. Catastrophe! The looting and destruction of Iraq's Past is an
exhibition exploring the looting o the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad
and the ongoing looting on archaeological sites - and the routes by which
articles meet the art markets. Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago to the
end of the year. Three Faces of Monotheism considers the similarities and contrasts
of the shared symbols of Christianity, Islam and Judaism represented in
antiquities and the development of monotheism in the ancient world. Bible
Lands Museum, Jerusalem. The Archaeological Museum, Bologna has reorganised the Greek section of its collections. Among much else part of the collection was assembled by the artist Pelagio Pelagi (1755-1860). Roman Ships In 1989 Roman ships were discovered almost intact
near Pisa. Following restoration they can now be visited by appointment
three days a week at the Centro del Restauro del Legno Bagnato. See www.navipisa.it. Wonderful Things: the Harry Burton photographs and the Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun offers more than 1400 black-and-white images documenting the finds in the Vallry of the Kings. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atalanta, Georgia until late November. The Horse shows how the long relationship between horses and humans
has changed warfare, transport, trade, agriculture, sport and many other
facets of culture. American Museum of Natural History, New York until
4 January, 2009. Beyond Boundaries: Islamic Art across Cultures is the opening exhibition of Qatar's new Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar until 22 November. Pearls to Pyramids: British Visual Culture and the Levant, 1600-1830.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, Delicacies from Cairo! The Egyptian collection of the confectioner
and coffee house owner Achille Groppi (1890-1949). In 1890 the Swiss Patissier and Chocolatier Giacomo Groppi (1863-1947) opened his first private business in Alexandria. Although Groppi soon made enough money to retire, he lost much of his fortune in the financial crash of 1907. So, in 1909, the company was re-established in Cairo under the name Maison Groppi. In 1925 Giacomo and his son Achille Groppi (1890- 1949) opened the famous shop and coffee house on Soliman Pasha Square (today Midan Talat Harb) in the middle of Cairo. The House and parts of the former interior of the cafe in the Art Deco style have been preserved and are nodoubt well-known to ASTENE visitors to Cairo. From the early 1920ies Achille Groppi acquired a considerable number of ancient Egyptian objects, many of mosaic glass from the Ptolemaic Period (4th-1st Centuries BC). Although some important pieces were sold as the Per-Neb Collection during the 1990ies at Christies in London, the Groppi Collection is still an outstanding collection of Egyptian small objects. Many of the 160 objects in this exhibition have never been shown in public previously. There is an exhibition catalogue by Christian E. Loeben and André Wiese, Köstlichkeiten aus Kairo! Die ägyptische Sammlung des Konditorei- und Kaffee-haus-Besitzers Achille Groppi (1890-1949). 179pp; 262 plates; price: 30.00 Euros. Treasures: Antiquities, Eastern Art, Coins and Casts at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, presents the most significant objects in the Museum's renowned collection, until the end of 2008. Objects of Instruction: Treasures of the School of Oriental
and African Studies: Islamic manuscripts, ceramics, African textiles,
and archaeological finds. Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London.. Treasures of the Ashmolean Antiquities, Eastern Art, Coins and Casts runs from 24 May until the end of 2008, While the Museum is undergoing a massive £50 million rebuild - mainly at the back behind the Cockerel Building which is open as usual, as is the Egyptian gallery and the art galleries. The Museum is staging this exhibition to bring together 200 of the most significant objects of these collections - thus allowing the key work of the collection to remain on show. Lear's View of Jerusalem at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. In 1858 the writer and artist, Edward Lear (1813-88) visited Palestine - achieving a lifetime ambition. There he made careful studies of Jerusalem from the surrounding hills. These were the basis of five paintings of which the largest and most magnificent (1865) was allocated by H.M. Government in 2006 to the Museum from the estates of Captain and Mrs Walthall. The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art: If you have not yet
seen the newly opened gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
try to be sure you make time for it. Treasures from Olana opens at Princeton (New Jersey) University
Art Museum on 27 January. Ancient Egyptians is an ongoing free exhibition featuring mummies and treasures at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester. Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity at the Brooklyn Museum,
New York is wide ranging in time and themes, and considers Egypt and its
relationship to the rest of Africa. The Tradescant Collection goes home: During the redevelopment of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the original objects from the Museum Tradescantianum, which formed the core of the Ashmolean in 1683, returns to its original home, in the present Museum of the History of Science. Items in that wildly eclectic collection were gathered in the Near East. Nubian Gallery is a new permanent installation of artefacts
including never-before exhibited works and 2000-year-old textiles. Oriental
Institute Museum, Chicago. The Louvre Theme Tours, Paris are organised around 10 subjects, considering period, artefact or location. "The Palaces of the Ancient Near East" was offered on Monday afternoons in November. Other cycles look at Egyptian antiquities, society and nature or the arts of Islam. There is a very reasonable charge. THE OTHER TUTANKHAMUN EXHIBITION Peta Rée The Tutankhamun Exhibition is on High West Street, Dorchester; all the others are nearby. All are open seven days a week, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. June 05 The Ancient Egyptians (and The Mighty Dinosaurs)
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STUDY DAYS, LECTURES & CONFERENCES Bonaparte and Egypt: Shadow and Light Two centuries after Napoleons French army landed in Alexandria, the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris is re-examining the French expedition to Egypt and its long-term impact in a major exhibition. Dr Humbert is in charge of the exhibition Bonaparte et lEgypte and this is a rare opportunity, not to be missed. Admission is free by ticket from Noel Rands, Secretary of the BES (0208 681 7200 or noelrands@compuserve.com). Archaeology of the Holy Land: The Contribution of British Scholars Archaeology of the Holy Land: The contribution of British scholars British Museum Study Programme
For information and booking, see Autumn Programme at the Petrie Museum, London
Residential courses at Madingley Hall, Cambridge
There are many other courses at Madingley Hall right through to summer
2009, but not of especial relevance to our readers. Melville and the Mediterranean Many of us, I admit, knew little or nothing about Herman Melville as
a traveller in the eastern Mediterranean and the Holy Land - Jonah and
the whale seemed the only connection. Melville went to the Holy Land and
wrote his epic poem Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land
after the publication of Moby Dick. Using Clarel as a starting point the conference will open up discussion
on travel, literature and other humanities and scientific studies. The conference organisers suggest a wide range of perspectives and invite
200-400 word proposals for papers, round table discussions and panels.
These should reach the organisers by 1 September 2008. (to basem48@vahoo.com). Egypt Exploration Society Cairo Lectures and field visits. The University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing
Education runs residential courses of interest to ASTENE members at
Madingley Hal, near Cambridge. See www.cont-ed.cam.ac.uk
or write for Residential Courses at Madingley Hall. Madingley, Cambridge
CB23 8AQ.
The International Qajar Studies Assocation - IQSA Membership of IQSA is open to scholars, institutions and the general
public ($60). There are annual conferences (most recently in Paris on
Diplomats and Travellers in the Qajar Era and a journal, Qajar Studies.
See the IQSA website: www.qajarstudies.org The Frontiers of the Ottoman World: fortifications, trade, pilgrimage
and slavery The longer-term project aims to bring together the research findings of the different schools and institutes that relates to the subject, and to relate archaeological work to the textual evidence. Institute of Continuing Education, Cambridge We list a few briefly: And there are many more fascinating courses on other subjects. British Travellers and Equestrian Enthusiasts in Great Syria and Arabia
Conference The papers and the discussion ranged through Anglo-Arab and Anglo-Ottoman relations of trade, diplomacy and artistic reciprocity. The historic range covered early pilgrimage to present day travel - on horseback. Professor Donna Landry reported to us that "Many unexpected and useful connections were made and exchanges begun across disciplines, specializations, livelihoods, and areas of interest. Many of those attending remarked that it was the most enjoyable and the most multi-disciplinary conference they had ever attended . and hoped that this will be the first of a series of related events on East-West relations, travel and re-enactment, animal studies and other multi-disciplinary perspectives on the long 18thcentury. A volume of essays based on the conference papers will be forthcoming and will be reviewed in these pages. Contact D.E.Landry@kent.ac.uk
for further information. EXHIBITION REVIEW To complement the exhibition at the Getty Centre, Los Angeles, 'Holy
Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai, on 6 February, Father Justin
Sinaites, Librarian of the monastery, used another work of art, a 12th
century manuscript, to illustrate St John's theme. Each sin was pictured
simply and lucidly, in sumptuous gold leaf and tints of red and blue. Father Justin also spoke of the decision taken by the last two Abbots of Sinai that the wonderful sacred art of the monastery, previously unseen by any but those who penetrated to this remote place, should be opened up to the world. Of the greatest advantage to the survival of the art at Sinai was this very inaccessibility, for it was spared not only the early iconoclasts, but also the work of the early restorers. Now, new, less invasive techniques and more humble attitudes prevail among restorers. The unique collection of manuscripts is to be recorded in high resolution digital photography, so that scholars need not handle (and slowly destroy) the originals, the most fragile of which can be sealed away in boxes from light and (in contrast to most places) the lack of humidity at Sinai. An inevitable result of the new open attitude is the influx not only of pilgrims but of more tourists like us. Even the three hours a day the monastery opens its doors to them - and its new gallery of sacred art - has to compromise the calm and solitude the monks have sought. We must indeed be grateful to their generosity. April 06 Interior and Backdrop, 1865 by E.H. Palmer |
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BANEA December 05
Fiona Orde has been travelling throughout Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Oman, Iran and the Yemen for several years. While learning Arabic, she has been recording in watercolour buildings of architectural merit that are representative. Her collection demonstrates the wisdom, talent and charm of these peoples, in deliberate comparison with their vengeful image published in the West. This is a study without politics, where design interprets manners and customs with bricks. Each building tells a story; each painting tells a story. Together they relate the domestic values at the core of a community. see www.homepage.mac.com/fionaorde/PhotoAlbum5.html,
or
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THE ASSOCIATION OF
MALTESE COMMUNITIES OF EGYPT When in 1956 the Maltese, as British subjects, left Egypt, they transferred
their welfare and social activities to England and joined into the continuing
Association of Maltese Communities in Egypt. The Association continues
its work and has a regular AMCOE Newsletter. April 04 |
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