Making Marks

Differing Conceptions of Land, Place, and Space Karen Kramer   Landscape art is a compelling lens through which to view varying conceptions of and connections to land and place. Through the eyes of several centuries of artists, we can consider complex interconnections between the human and nonhuman, and land, place, and space. For millennia, artists have depicted, reflected, and shaped visions of home, topographies, and the natural environment. Sometimes when these artists  share their visual representations of the natural world, they are also expressing their political views, even when unconscious.  Bierstadt, for example, in the nineteenth century, along with many other landscape painters of his time, portrayed American scenery as pristine -- untouched -- and often devoid of people (see his landscape painting Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak , 1863 below). This was emblematic of the dominant mindset who viewed nature as magnificent and awe-inspiring, and land as untapped ...

Repatriation, Repositioning, Reengagement Karen Kramer Stewardship of objects entrusted to a museum’s care requires careful, sound, and responsible management. Collection management requires legal compliance in the United States through the federal 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, as well as concomitant social and ethical obligations for objects that fall outside of legal bounds, within the United States and across the globe. Some museums are contending with the legacies of colonialism through careful and considered self-reflection, recognizing that the repatriation of objects isn’t solely about returning culturally sensitive and/or illegally obtained objects. It’s also about knowledge repatriation, building relationships and the opportunities for collaborative projects, and how to maintain these ongoing relationships.   The 2018 Overview of Repatriation Report by Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy, commissioned by the French President Emmanuel Macron, ce...

DRAFT 9/14/2020 HAIR: POWER, STYLE, STORY Curated by Karen Kramer, HAA198G Exhibition description: This exhibition  Hair: Power, Style, Story  will bring together thirteen extraordinary objects spanning the globe to explore the social significance and style elements of human hair. For thousands of years, hair has been a site of cultural construct and self-representation, and a means of expressing gender, social identity, power, and individual style and politics. Hair styles change over time, and rituals vary across cultures, but hair remains a universal mode of creative and cultural expression. From the ancient to the contemporary,  and representing five continents,  Hair: Power, Style, Story offers a visual feast through sculpture, paintings, ceramics, prints, photographs, and coins. Many rarely seen objects will come together for the first time from three renowned Harvard museum collections: Harvard Art Museums, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and the ...