Mummies and Death in the Museum: Happy Halloween part two

October 31, 2012 by umfablog

Every once in awhile you can actually feel your life change. It happened to me while sitting in a class taught by Ewa Wasilewska in the Anthropology Department here at the University of Utah. The class was called Death Rituals and Mummification, and when it was over an Academic Advisor would have to beg me not to just take it all over again. I reluctantly heeded that advice, but no class has stayed with me as long, no class has […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: death, Egypt, Halloween, Mummy, museum, Ptolemaic, Ritual

Memento Mori and Death in the Museum (Happy Halloween Part One)

October 29, 2012 by umfablog

Memento mori translates roughly to remember death, or perhaps especially remember you will die. It is a plea for all of us to pause every once in awhile to ponder our mortality; this brief life. Why would anyone want to do this, you might ask? Why would anyone do this rather than, say, eat a piece of cake, or go swimming, or watch reality TV? To my mind, the best answer comes from Wallace Stevens, who tells us: “Death is the mother […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: death, Halloween, holidays, memento mori, painting

Happy United Nations Day

October 24, 2012 by umfablog

The United Nations was formed in 1945 (replacing the League of Nations) with the hope that an ongoing dialogue between nations of the world just might prevent war, genocide, and the many other unimaginable but very real offenses the world bore witness to during both WWI and WWII. The United Nations was founded in the profound hope that communication and familiarity might unite the world and promote peace and security. There is no official language of the UN (there are, […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, art, collaboration, community, diversity, Flemish, geography, humanities, museum, peace, Tibet, UN, United Nations, Viewing art

Seeing “Sun Tunnels”

October 18, 2012 by umfablog

One of the most significant pieces of land art ever created, Nancy Holt’s “Sun Tunnels”,  sits alone in a vast, barren landscape. Don’t believe me? Check it out here. Or, if you’re a true seeker, you can do more than just point and click: join the artist Nancy Holt for a viewing of Sun Tunnels. (Find directions here). This incredible (and free) event will be happening on Saturday October 20 at 6:00pm. The UMFA is so thrilled to have Nancy Holt, and […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: Art Talk, Artist, Astronomy, exhibitions, Field Trip, Land Art, Landscape, Nancy Holt, Opening, Sun Tunnels, Utah, Viewing art, Visiting Artist

Devil’s Trill and Music in the Museum

October 16, 2012 by umfablog

This  Wednesday, October 17, the UMFA Book Club presents Gerald Elias, a former concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, who will be reading from his latest mystery novel, Devil’s Trill. The writing of Gerald Elias echoes his passion for music, and takes readers on a tour through some of the little-known aspects of this world. Elias will be performing highlights from the music described in his book during this special multi-media event. This brings to my mind the term ekphrasis, which refers […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: chamber music series, ekphrasis, music, painting, UMFA Book Club

Meet Iris: Campus Outreach Coordinator, UMFA Blogger

October 9, 2012 by umfablog

When I was very young, my mother brought me to the UMFA. In this alone I was lucky, to have a mother who would do such a thing in the first place, and to have such ready access to a place like the UMFA, but I was about to get even luckier: I was about to see Natacha. You met Natacha in an earlier blog post. Natacha Rambova was a Utah native, a ballerina, a fashion designer, a silent film […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: art, Natacha Rambova, Paul Joanowitch, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, UMFA staff, women