1107, 2013

Prince Bertie’s holiday snaps …

By Mary Fisk|July 11, 2013|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Art and Archaeology, History, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica|0 comments

Prince Edward, photograph take between 1860 and 1865 Image from WikiMedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prince_Edward_1860.jpg Also public domain in the US (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-1923) In 1862, “Bertie”, Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII), was sent on an “improving” 4-and-a-half month tour of the Middle East, visiting Egypt, the Holy Land and Constantinople. Accompanying him was the photographer, Francis Bedford, who took over 190 prints of the region – one of the earliest photographic records

0107, 2013

Ancient monasticism in the Middle East

By Mary Fisk|July 1, 2013|Art and Archaeology, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica, Religions|0 comments

n.b This image of Saint Hilarion is from Archangelos Monastery, Almopia, Greece Image from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agios_Ilarion_Meglenon.jpg The archaeology website Past Horizons showcases rare wall paintings in the 6th century Coptic Deir al-Surian (“Syrian Monastery”) / Monastery of the Holy Virgin of Anba Bishoi in the Wadi al-Natrun in the Nile Delta, and the online newspaper Hurriyet reports on efforts to conserve the remains of one of the Holy Land’s earliest monasteries, Saint Hilarion’s (Tel

2006, 2013

New blog on the history and culture of Iraq

By Mary Fisk|June 20, 2013|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Art and Archaeology, History, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica|0 comments

Boat on the Euphrates By Christiaan Briggs (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARI) has just launched a blog aimed at “institutions, scholars and other individuals” interested in the history and culture of Iraq from ancient times until the present. The blog includes a thread where current TAARI research fellows share reports from the field and

1006, 2013

Art and Archaeology – May 2013

By Emma Wilson-Shaw|June 10, 2013|Art and Archaeology|0 comments

The books that shaped art history : from Gombrich and Greenberg to Alpers and Krauss / by edited by Richard Shone, John-Paul Stonard. World textiles : a sourcebook / [Diane Waller … [et al.]]. Modern Egyptian art, 1910-2003 / Liliane Karnouk. Ma Yansong : entre la modernidad (global) y la tradición (local) / [textos de] Menene Gras … [et al.]. Landscape landscript : nature as language in the art of

2205, 2013

Archaeology after the Arab Spring

By David Pearson|May 22, 2013|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Art and Archaeology, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica|0 comments

Read this interesting article which examines the impacts the Arab Spring has had on archaeology in the countries effected by this recent political upheaval. [From The American Schools of Oriental Research Blog (ASOR) (Boston University), written by Jesse Casana, Professor of the archaeology (specializing in the Middle East) at the University of Arkansas. Found via the very useful British Association of Near Eastern Archaeology (BANEA) facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/BAneareastarch

2005, 2013

Art and Archaeology – April 2013

By Emma Wilson-Shaw|May 20, 2013|Art and Archaeology|0 comments

The migrant’s time : rethinking art history and diaspora / edited by Saloni Mathur. Appropriating the past : philosophical perspectives on the practice of archaeology / edited by Geoffrey Scarre [and] Robin Coningham. The arts of India, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas : at the Dallas Museum of Art / Anne R. Bromberg with contributions by Catherine B. Asher, Frederick M. Asher, Robert Warren Clark, Nancy Tingley. Xiongnu archaeology :

1104, 2013

Open-access books from the British Institute for the Study of Iraq

By Mary Fisk|April 11, 2013|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Art and Archaeology|0 comments

Apkallu, a winged genius with the head of a bird, from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Nimrud. Image from Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apkallu_Nimrud.JPG As a precursor to making all of its new publications available for free download, the British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI) has released a selected of volumes from its back catalogue on open-access (PDF download) These currently are: Series: Cuneiform Texts from Nimrud (click here to access the

0304, 2013

Free Korean Music and Drawing Classes

By Jiyeon Wood|April 3, 2013|Art and Archaeology, Korea, Music, Media and Film Studies|0 comments

The Korean Cultural Centre UK is now taking applications for our free 10 week painting (Minhwa: Korean Painting Classes) and music ( Introducing the Gayageum) courses. Minhwa refers to the Korean folk painting of mythical and magical figures and other objects in a plain, straightforward and naive style often representing health, happiness and scenes from everyday life. Gayageum (12 string zither) is Korea’s most famous instrument. It will be a good

0304, 2013

Alchemy at Southbank Centre

By Jiyeon Wood|April 3, 2013|Art and Archaeology, Literature, Music, Media and Film Studies, South Asia|0 comments

Wednesday 10 April 2013 – Monday 29 April 2013 at Southbank Centre Alchemy is an annual festival of music, dance, literature, design and debate from India, the UK and South Asia, hosted by Sothbank Centre. There are dazzling music events with splendid artists as well as many free workshops where you can learn the dance step of Bollywood and singing performance. Highlights include:- Hariharan Anoushka Shankar Susheela Raman Film: Reel

1403, 2013

Art and Archaeology – February 2013

By Emma Wilson-Shaw|March 14, 2013|Art and Archaeology|0 comments

In my view : personal reflections on art by today’s leading artists / edited by Simon Grant. The perfect place to grow : 175 years of the Royal College of Art. U.S. cultural diplomacy and archaeology : soft power, hard heritage / by Christina Luke, Morag M. Kersel. L’Héritage fabuleux des Tadjiks = The Tajik golden heritage / Hamrokhon Zarifi trad. et rev. du texte français: Alexandre Tourovets. Cai Guo-Qiang