Multiculturalism and Christian Art in Old Cairo
Tasha Vorderstrasse, University of Chicago
Wednesday, April 29
5:00 p.m.
Divinity School, Swift Common Room
University of Chicago, 1025 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637
Free, open to public. No registration required. Spaces may be limited.
Light refreshments follow.
Abstract: Christian art was affected by a variety of influences in Old Cairo over time. This lecture will focus on the variety of influences on Christian Art in Old Cairo, with a special focus on fragments of a 14th century ceramic bowl that features the deposition of Christ. One fragment is on loan from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, and can be currently viewed in the Oriental Institute Museum. The other fragments are in collections in Greece and Egypt. This fragment is unusual as it shows a Christian subject depicted on an Islamic bowl that was probably made in Egypt. Furthermore, the bowl shows stylistically Islamic influences in contrast to its Christian subject matter, raising questions concerning its authorship, intended audience, and the purpose of art in in Old Cairo.
Tasha Vorderstrasse is a Research Associate at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. She received her PhD in Near Eastern Archaeology in 2004 and works on the material culture of the Near East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia and the relationships between these regions and China. She is the co-director of the Oriental Institute excavations at the village of Ambroyi in Armenia and also works on other excavations and surveys in the Middle East, most notably in Turkey. She is the co-curator of the exhibition, A Cosmopolitan City, at the Oriental Institute Museum that is associated with this lecture series.
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About this Lecture Series The Oriental Institute and the Chicago Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago are pleased to present this lecture series accompanying the special exhibit A Cosmopolitan City: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Old Cairo at the Oriental Institute Museum. This lecture series brings together specialists in the history, art, and archaeology of Old Cairo (Fustat) for a unique exploration this cosmopolitan city and its place within the wider Mediterranean and Islamic world.
The program is generously supported by the Oriental Institute, the Center for Jewish Studies, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.
The link to the information about this lecture can be found at: https://oi.uchicago.edu/exhibits-events
