Making Marks

  Week 11: Group Assignment Akarsh Raghunath and Karen Kramer HARVARD MUSEUM OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY  Mission and vision statement:  The Harvard Museum of Ethnomusicology (HME) specializes in engagement, support and promotion of knowledge related to the production, presentation, appreciation and preservation of music from different cultures across the globe The Museum collects, preserves, interprets, and makes accessible tangible and intangible ethnomusicological heritage and offers unique opportunities for innovative exhibitions, teaching, research, and enrichment with musicians and performing artists from around the world. Through interactive technology, immersive exhibition environments, and dynamic programs, HME brings the Harvard community together through music and culture, making connections across time, space, and worldview.   Brief history:  Founded in 2020 by Akarsh Raghunath and Karen Kramer, and recognized as a “Landmark of Music and Culture from ar...

17th-19th centuries Karen Kramer HAA198G Thomas Lawrence, English (Bristol, England 1769 - 1830 London, England) Mirza Abu'l Hassan Khan (1776–1845), 1810 35 x 27 1/4 inches frame: 46 1/8 x 38 1/4 x 4 inches Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of William M. Chadbourne, 1964 [1964.100] This is a portrait of Mirza Abu’l Hasan Khan (1776–1845), the ‘Envoy Extraordinary’ who was dispatched by Fath Ali Shah of Persia to the Court of King George III. He arrived in London in 1809 and stayed about 18 months, becoming one of London’s most prominent celebrities. There as ambassador and official diplomat from the Qajar court, he had several goals, including generating British interest in the Persian silk trade, which had declined internationally since the 1720s. Ḥasan’s mission was also to secure the help of England in making Russia return the occupied Iran territories in the Caucasus.  He was witty and amiable by all accounts, but it was his exotic foreignness that so fascinated people ...

  Early Modern World Karen Kramer HAA198G I selected three artworks that demonstrate the theme of trans-ocean voyages in the Early Modern World, created by Makers in Africa, China, and the Aleutian Islands (in what is now a part of Alaska, United States). Each underscores trade and exchange, and how the ocean transformed the social and economic landscapes of these regions.  During the second half of the 15th century, journeys of exploration brought Portuguese navigators into direct contact with cultures of western Africa and by the 16th century, Benin (now Nigeria) was trading pepper, gum, cloth, ivory and slaves with the Portuguese in exchange for brass, lead, iron, coral, cowrie shells (used for currency), firearms, spirits and luxury goods.  Artists expressed the growing relationships between Africa and Europe through material culture, including this 16th-century saltcellar made in the royal workshops for the European market.  This intricately rendered ivory saltc...

  The Medieval World Karen Kramer HAA198G The Medieval World was connected through networks of trade and exchange that criss-crossed the African continent and extended across Europe and through Asia; Mesoamerican civilizations had active long-distance exchange networks and huge markets across Mexico and as far south as Panama. These merchants carried goods, ideas, and people in boats, by foot, and on animals. Religions spread, such as Buddhism from India to China, as seen in this Standing Boddhisattva figure, and proliferated, as evidenced in this exquisitely carved Virgin and Child which demonstrated access to wealth and the divine.  Luxury items like jade were highly sought after by Mayan rulers, as it symbolized, in part, precious falling rain, new life, and rejuvenation. Feathers, cacao, and honey were prestige items traded across Mesoamerica. Likewise, some of the most finely made objects used in the liturgical service of the church in the Medieval period in Europe used e...