How has art and creative activity contributed to confronting crises in Asia? While we face the current pandemic, along with deep social, political, and economic challenges, perhaps we can take heart in artists’ creative responses to violent conflict, environmental change, and panic. Five talks look into understanding, recovery, and reform in Japan, China, Armenia, Bangladesh, and Java, Indonesia.
This program is currently offered as a $5 suggested donation, to keep it accessible for all. Normally, tickets are $7 for SAM members, $12 for public. Donate today to support museum programming.
The Missing Pages, from Genocide to Justice
Heghnar Watenpaugh, University of California, Davis
Heghnar Watenpaugh investigates the biography of a medieval Armenian Gospels manuscript, where art history intersects with cultural heritage and painful histories of genocide and migration. Eight of the manuscript’s illuminated pages were discovered in the J. Paul Getty Museum in 2010, prompting a lawsuit. The tale of the separation of the pages from the manuscript tells a story of destruction and survival, and makes the case for a human right to art.
About the Presenter
Heghnar Watenpaugh is Professor of Art History at the University of California, Davis, where she leads courses in Islamic art; art and human rights; and art, culture, and conflict. She specializes in the history of art, architecture, and urbanism in the Middle East, including architectural preservation, museums, and cultural heritage. Her first book, The Image of an Ottoman City: Architecture in Aleppo, was awarded the Spiro Kostof Book Prize from the Society of Architectural Historians. Her second award-wining book, The Missing Pages: The Modern Life of a Medieval Manuscript, from Genocide to Justice, was published by Stanford University Press in 2019.
OTHER LECTURES IN THIS SERIES
FRI FEB 5
Fire and Renewal in Edo Period Japan
SAT FEB 13
Big Writing and the End of the Law
SAT FEB 20
The Missing Pages, from Genocide to Justice
SAT FEB 27
Jomin o Joban, a Tale of the Land
SAT MAR 6
Exploring Resilience in Dance in Java, Indonesia
This program is currently offered on a pay-as-you-will basis, to keep it accessible for all. Normally, tickets are $7 for SAM members, $12 for others. Any amount you donate will help the museum continue its programming. https://secure.seattleartmuseum.org/donate/i/sam-fund?amount=5 (if it is your first time to use the system, you will be asked to create a password—but it won’t take long!)