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In response to The Inside World: Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Memorial Poles, this exhibition highlights works in The Fralin’s permanent collection in which twentieth and twenty-first century artists have tackled history and the challenges of collective memory. Figures of Memory examines the ways in which artists have depicted, referenced, and even toyed with the remembrance of things past. These works probe the nature of commemoration, questioning the selectivity of collective memory. This exhibition also explores the relevance of the artists’ chosen subjects for issues in their contemporary moment, underscoring the influence of the present upon our understanding of the past.

Image: John Lawrence Doyle, American, b. 1939. Story Book Warfrom the portfolio Sharpshooters 76, 1975. Lithograph, edition 54/76, 29 1/2 x 41 3/4 in (74.9 x 106 cm). The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia. Gift of Richard A. Brodie, class of 1978, 1978.43.3. © Estate of John Lawrence Doyle.

Gladys S. Blizzard Lecture:

How the Academic Museum Can Save the World

by James Steward

Nancy A. Nasher–David J. Haemisegger, Class of 1976, Director

Princeton University Art Museum

UVA School of Architecture

Campbell Hall, Room 153

This event is FREE and open to the public!

In this heavily illustrated talk, Steward will consider the important role played by the academic museum, its history and evolution, its unique position at the intersection between leading-edge research and broad accessibility, and the ways in which it can contribute to making all of us better citizens in a troubled world.

Bio:

James Steward has served as the Nancy A. Nasher—David J. Haemisegger, Class of 1976, Director of the Princeton University Art Museum since April 2009. There, he directs a staff of 110 with an operating budget of nearly $20 million and collections of over 110,000 works of art that span the globe and encompass over 10,000 years of world history. In addition, Steward serves as Lecturer with the rank of professor in the Department of Art & Archaeology, is a faculty fellow of Rockefeller College, and an honorary member of the Class of 1970.

Prior to coming to Princeton, he served from 1998 to 2009 as director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art, where he oversaw the planning, design, and construction for a major new building, recognized as one of the 10 best new buildings for 2010 by the American Institute of Architects.

Steward holds his B.A. from the University of Virginia and a doctorate in the History of Art from Trinity College, Oxford University. He has authored numerous volumes and curated major touring exhibitions ranging from the art of 18th-century Italy, to Edvard Munch, to modern Irish art and politics, to the art of Betye Saar. He has been a fellow of the Huntington Library, was awarded the Order of Merit by the Russian Federation for distinguished contributions to Russian history and culture, as well as the Chancellor’s Medal for distinguished service at the University of California, Berkeley.

He is currently leading the planning and fundraising for a major new museum facility for Princeton, and is writing a volume on the role of the museum in 21st-century civic life.

UVA’s Paul Robeson Players will present “Unmasking the Changing Face of Slavery”, a theatrical performance with elements of spoken word and African American theater. This live performance will discuss the “face” of slavery at UVA and in the American South, including the ways its darkest parts were often hidden in plain sight. This piece also draws from African American history in the Charlottesville community including the story of Vinegar Hill, and highlights the fact that the fight for freedom is not over yet. Slavery still exists in today’s world in the forms of poverty, mass incarceration, and institutionalized racism.

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This free performance is supported by the UVA Parents’ Fund.

Stay tuned for more details about future Friday programs.