Talks highlight the Museum’s exhibition of Early Islamic Textiles
(Toronto, Ontario – August 21, 2014) Tickets are now on sale for the Cairo Under Wraps Lecture Series highlighting numerous aspects of Cairo’s ancient history and culture. The lectures are held in conjunction with Cairo Under Wraps: Early Islamic Textiles, an exhibition on display in the Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) until January 25, 2015. Presented in partnership with His Highness Prince Aga Khan Shia Imami Ismaili Council for Canada, the talks take place at the ROM and the Ismaili Centre Toronto. All are followed by questions from the audience. Contact programs@rom.on.ca or 416.586.5797 for additional information or tickets:
Cairo Under Wraps Lecture Series
Tuesday, September 16, 2014 at 7:00 pm at the Royal Ontario Museum
In Quest of Paradise: Accommodating Death in Islam
Lisa Golombek, Royal Ontario Museum
The concept of Paradise figures prominently in the sacred book of Islam, the Koran. Certain rituals developed to ensure that the deceased would achieve this goal. Dr. Golombek explores the Muslim attitude toward burial in relation to artifacts associated with burial, including the shroud, the grave, and the mausoleum.
Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 8:00 pm at the Ismaili Centre Toronto
Cairo at the Heart of the Grand Tour: Medieval Travellers from Spain to China
Alice Hunsberger, American Federation of Arts
One of the leading authors on medieval travel explores the Islamic value of spreading knowledge. The illustrated lecture highlights Cairo as the beacon, inspiration, and glorious goal of intercontinental travelers a millennium ago.
Tuesday, November 11 at 7:00 pm at the Royal Ontario Museum
Power Textiles from Islamic Lands
Louise Mackie, Cleveland Museum of Art
Luxury textiles were indispensible symbols of status, wealth, and power at imperial courts across Islamic lands from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. The industry flourished under the auspices of sultans, the foremost consumers, and textile designers and weavers excelled at creating vibrant yet harmonious patterns that corresponded with the fashions of ruling dynasties, cultures and periods.
Tuesday, November 18 at 7:00 pm at the Royal Ontario Museum
From Cradle to Grave: Fabrics in the Lives of Women in Medieval Cairo
Delia Cortese, Middlesex University
This lecture charts the varied ways in which social interaction with textiles and their production informed the lives of women in medieval Cairo during the Fatimid dynasty that ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171.
Wednesday, November 19 at 8:00 pm at the Ismaili Centre Toronto
Looking for Women in Medieval Cairo: Imagined Histories and Historical Realities
Delia Cortese, Middlesex University
This lecture takes us on a virtual journey in search of women in medieval Cairo in the Fatimid period from 969 to 1171. Anecdotes, literary conventions, and historical accounts are used to shed light on women’s participation– whether real or perceived - in the political, economic, social, and cultural life of the time and place in which they lived.
Tickets:
Lecture Series Package (5 lectures)
General Public $90
ROM Members $81
Students $67
Single Lectures
General Public $20
ROM Members $18
Students $15
Cairo Under Wraps showcases the ROM’s collection of early Islamic textiles, dating largely from the 8th to 12th centuries. More than half of the exhibition’s approximately 80 fabrics are on public display for the first time and many of the oldest were collected by C.T. Currelly, the ROM`s founding director. These rare, delicate objects are displayed alongside ceramics, glass, metalwork and coins from the ROM’s permanent collection of Islamic art. The exhibition is curated by Anu Liivandi, Assistant Curator (Textiles & Fashions); Dr. Karin Ruehrdanz, Senior Curator (Islamic Decorative Arts); and Dr. Lisa Golombek, Curator Emeritus (Islamic Art).
This lecture series is presented in partnership by the Royal Ontario Museum
and His Highness Prince Aga Khan Shia Imami Ismaili Council for Canada.