Category: Ancient Egypt

Freer Gallery Opens “The Nile and Ancient Egypt” Show

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The Freer Gallery, one of the two Smithsonian museums of Asian art, recently unveiled the new “The Nile and Ancient Egypt” show. Though the museum is generally dedicated to one specific field, the Gallery has made an exception with its newest addition.

“Most of these objects were collected by Charles Lang Freer himself,” explains Alexander Nagel, curator of the exhibit. It makes sense, therefore, to display them in his eponymous museum. Freer’s mission has been to help scholars connect between various great civilizations throughout human history, an effort that would be lacking if it did not include specimens from the Egyptian empire.

Freer made three trips to Egypt between 1906 and 1909. There, he collected more than 1,500 artifacts, including glass vessels, mosaic tiles and animal-shaped amulets. He explained that the Egyptians had a close relationship with the Nile’s waters, a fact which is reflected in the wave-like decorations on vessels as well as the amulets, which are shaped like river creatures such as crocodiles and hippopotamuses. These amulets were believed to give the wearer protection and blessings.

Freer was a self-made millionaire who retired at the age of 46. He spent the rest of his life collecting art from around the world, focusing primarily on Asian pieces. He traveled to Egypt three times as well, and when he died in 1919, his eclectic collection became the Freer Gallery.

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‘Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt’ Exhibit Opens at the Brooklyn Museum

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ancient egypt catsThe Brooklyn Museum recently launched a new show called “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt”. The exhibit demonstrates the importance of cats in ancient Egyptian imagery.

The collection features 30 feline representations, including a large limestone lion, a bronze Pharaoh as a Sphinx, and a cast-bronze figurine of a cat nursing her kittens.

The museum explains:

“Likely first domesticated in ancient Egypt, cats were revered for their fertility and valued for their ability to protect homes and granaries from vermin. But felines were also associated with royalty and closely linked with a number of deities.”

 

Ancient Egyptian Tentmaking Displayed in New Exhibit

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‘Stitch Like an Egyptian: Tentmakers of Cairo’ is a new exhibit showcasing the intricate, ancient art of Egyptian tentmaking. Brought to the U.S. by the American Quilter’s Society, the project hopes to “make the world aware of the beautiful yet shrinking art,” according to the DigitalJournal.com. The exhibit’s curator is Jenny Bowker, an international textile artist.

Modern technology has pushed the art to the side as machines and computers are built to replace manual labor and hand-made items. Unique designs are thus copied and resold by businesses around the world. The American Quilter’s Society has taken action to increase interest and appreciation of these traditional appliques.

Bonnie Browning, Executive Show Director for AQS, explained: “We began a three-continent collaboration to make arrangements for ‘Stitch Like an Egyptian: Tentmakers of Cairo’ to debut at the AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids.”

The exhibit’s artists include Hosam Hanafy Ahmed Mahmoud and Tarek Abdelhay Hafez Abouelenin, who will be on hand to explain and demonstrate their technique. The tentmakers are from Khan Khayamiya, the market of the trade in Old Islamic Cairo. Their skills and techniques have been passed down through many generations. In fact, “There were tents found in Pharaonic tombs from 2,000 B.C… There are pictures in the Rameses panels are Abu Simbel of tents lined up,” said curator Jenny Bowker.

New Exhibit Explores How African Art Was Inspired By Astronomy

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The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art is preparing to launch a new exhibit focusing on the cultural astronomy of Africa, and its correlation with the nation’s contemporary and traditional arts.

The exhibit showcases the personal relationship between African people and the universe, as well as their connection to Earth, the sky, the moon, the sun and stars. More than 100 items are on display, revealing how African art is inspired by celestial phenomena like lightning and rainbows, too.

Christine Mullen Kreamer of the National Museum of African Art said: “This exhibition, many years in the making, is part of the museum’s series focusing on Africa’s contributions to the history of knowledge- in this case, knowledge about the heavens and how this knowledge informs the creation of spectacular works of art.”

She continued, “The project connects my lifelong fascination with sky-watching to the arts and cultures of Africa, which for decades have been my passion and the focus of my professional work.”

Aside from numerous ancient Egyptian and Nubian wood, stone a papyrus creations, the exhibit will also present 19th and 20th-century pieces made by artists from south of the Sahara. Works by contemporary artists inspired by the cosmos will also be displayed, such as including some by El Anatsui, Willem Boshoff, Gavin Jantjes, Karel Nel, Alexander ‘Skunder’ Boghossian, Romuald Hazoume and several others.

Ancient Egypt Exhibit Opens in the Museum of Fine Arts

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Earlier this month, the Museum of Fine Arts opened an extraordinary exhibit on Ancient Egypt. The display shows the historical, artistic side of objects frequently seen in adventure movies, like mummies, mummy cases, limestone sphinxes and papyrus.

The exhibit, entitled “Art and Magic: Treasures from the Fondation Gandur Pour l’Art,” focuses on the “art and magic” of ancient Egypt and its fascinating history.

The exhibit premiered on December 17th, and will remain open to the public until the end of April.

“The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg is proud to bring these distinguished works of art to America,” Kent Lydecker, Museum Curator, said in a press release. “The quality of the objects will be a revelation to scholars and to the public.”

Egyptologist Dr. Bianchi was brought onto the exhibit’s team as a guest curator. He explained that the spirituality of the Egyptian nation is apparent in their art and design. Materials gathered for the exhibition were treated with special care, with priests and workers working together in the process. Some objects were even subjected to rituals before being moved to and from the quarry.

The Beauty and Value of Ancient Art

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Ancient art is of twofold significance, as implied by the name. When an object is ancient its importance comes from the mere fact that it is an example of something that no longer exists, or something that teaches us about ITS culture or civilization. This is true even of objects that were not created as works of art but as artifacts, such as ancient tools or eating utensils.

But when an object is not only ancient, but is also considered an art object, either when it was created, such as a sculpture or paintings, or in the present day, such as coins or pottery, the object takes on a significance much more meaningful than the mere fact that the object is old.