tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49430161565130435602024-03-16T18:53:13.393+00:00PANOPLY VASE ANIMATION PROJECT BLOGSonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-37038581803673088662023-12-08T19:11:00.001+00:002023-12-09T09:52:32.253+00:00Autumn Animations: The Rattle, The Banquet, The Doctor’s Game, and ‘Teaching Ancient Greece’.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0Y7Mkp2FFmBLkqqY6FF3Qo5weD41LhUPHGF7znKubOM96IsXBD8lToEmmlQ8d4PnghS5dv2buNflXUw3xjqi_-SxHBAaFjynimEj9G1Jn6DsNra5IgcFWm4NJJNUXkQbSYoJvuHyuSQFm-SQH6vLJlsnWnycCC_0-6MPY6KqZ6hgpuPARfP7Mhrj/s2392/Panoply%20Galateo%20prep%20heads.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1308" data-original-width="2392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0Y7Mkp2FFmBLkqqY6FF3Qo5weD41LhUPHGF7znKubOM96IsXBD8lToEmmlQ8d4PnghS5dv2buNflXUw3xjqi_-SxHBAaFjynimEj9G1Jn6DsNra5IgcFWm4NJJNUXkQbSYoJvuHyuSQFm-SQH6vLJlsnWnycCC_0-6MPY6KqZ6hgpuPARfP7Mhrj/s320/Panoply%20Galateo%20prep%20heads.jpg"/></a></div>
Time to reflect on a busy few months and bring you some animations, pictures and updates! Early Autumn saw us visiting the <b>University of Fribourg in Switzerland</b>, to release new animations for the <b>Locus Ludi</b> project (<u><a href=" https://locusludi.ch/">https://locusludi.ch/ </a></u>). Under the leadership of Veronique Dasen, Locus Ludi has been exploring play and games in classical antiquity. Results from the project were presented at a university open day, Explora 23. Panoply’s Sonya Nevin presented the Locus Ludi artefact animations. These animations have stretched us beyond vases to include wall-paintings and low-relief stone carvings. Perhaps you’ve seen <i><b><u><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/hide-and-seek"> Hide and Seek in Herculaneum</a></u></b></i>, made from a fresco in the volcano-hit city. You will have had less chance to see the new vase animation, <i><b>The Rattle</i></b>, and its companion video, <i><b>About the Rattle</i></b>. You can see them here below and they now have their own page, with a bonus PowerPoint, on the <u><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/rattle "> main Panoply site</a></u>. We’ll add a few other Locus Ludi animations in the New Year once their related resources have been finalised.<br>
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<i>Above,</i> The Rattle<i> and</i> About the Rattle<i> made from a small jug now housed in the British Museum. For more on this topic, see <u><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/rattle "> https://www.panoply.org.uk/rattle </a></u>.</i><br><br>
Explora 2023 also saw members of the public playing Roman board games and there was a screening of the project’s documentary about a mercury-filled Roman dice that some cheeky Romans used for cheating at dice games.<br>
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<i>Above, a Roman-style board-game prepared by Ulrich Schӓdler, played at the University of Fribourg’s Explora Open Day.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Panoply’s Sonya Nevin presents the new artefact animations at Explora 23 at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Explora 23 was a public showcase of research from across the University of Fribourg.</i><br><br>
Meanwhile back in the UK, a new exhibition was opening at the <b>Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology</b> at the University of Reading. <b><u><a href=" https://collections.reading.ac.uk/ure-museum/explore/online-exhibitions/locus-ludi-anyone-can-play/
">Locus Ludi – Anyone Can Play!</a></b></u> was inspired by Locus Ludi and included all sorts of aspects of play and games in antiquity. Panoply collaborated with the Ure Museum team to make an animated documentary for the exhibition about an ancient board game from the Roman collection at <u><a href=" https://colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/visit/colchester-castle/ "> Colchester Castle</a></u>. You can see <i>The Doctor’s Game</i> here (length 1.55 min):<br><br>
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<i>Above, a case from Locus Ludi – Anyone Can Play! at the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, University of Reading. For an interactive version, visit the<u><a href=" https://collections.reading.ac.uk/ure-museum/explore/online-exhibitions/locus-ludi-anyone-can-play/
"> exhibition homepage </a></u> </i><br>
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After a pit stop in Cambridge, we were off to <b>Sicily</b>. We travelled round this fabulous island and popped in to see Ludovico Portuese of the University of Messina. Ludovico leads the <b>GALATEO project</b> (<u><a href=" https://galateo.unime.it/
"> https://galateo.unime.it/</a></u>), exploring <b>etiquette in ancient Mesopotamia</b>. You can read about his research and use of ceramics as evidence in this recent <u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2023/06/ps-and-qs-in-mesopotamia-panoply.html "> Panoply interview</a></u>. Earlier in 2023, Panoply animated two artefacts for the GALATEO project, which can be seen online and irl in the Penn Museum in the USA:<br>
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<i>Above,</i> The Banquet,<i> made as part of the GALATEO project from an Assyrian ivory plaque. For more on it, see</i>: <u><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/banquet">https://www.panoply.org.uk/banquet</a></u>.<br><br>
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<i>Above</i>, Worshipping the Gods, <i>made as part of the GALATEO project from a Mesopotamian stone stele. For more on it, see</i>: <u><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/worshipping-gods "> https://www.panoply.org.uk/worshipping-gods </a></u><br><br>
We visited some fabulous ancient sites in Sicily, saw plenty of great vases in the well-stocked museums, and caught a puppet-show – the traditional Sicilian artform which is an ancestor of vase animations.<br>
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<i>Above, a beautiful depiction of Perseus by the Phiale Painter, white ground calyx krater in the <u><a href=" https://www.lavalledeitempli.it/en/itineraries/temples-valley/archeological-museum/
"> Agrigento Archaeological Museum </a></u> (inv. A67, Beazley 214231).</i><br>
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<i>Above, puppets from the <u><a href=" https://www.teatrodeipupisiracusa.it/
"> Puppet Museum </a></u>at Syracuse; a show at their theatre is a must for animation fans</i><br>
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Autumn also saw us return to <b>University College Dublin</b> to talk about how things have developed at the Panoply Vase Animation Project since we began animating vases in the UCD School of Classics way back when.<br>
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<i>Above, a poster for Sonya's talk at University College Dublin on the history of the Panoply vase animations.</i><br>
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Meanwhile, our old friend,
<u><i><b><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/hoplites-greeks-at-war"> Hoplites! Greeks at War </a></b></i></u> has gone on display as part of the Hoplites exhibition at the <b>Déri Museum in Hungary</b>. Having the animation displayed amongst the warfare artefacts gave visitors a chance to see the equipment in action, making it clearer what it was for and how it worked.<br>
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<i>Above, visitors to the Hoplite exhibition at Déri Museum in Hungary, where vase animation put helmets and other equipment in context.</i><br>
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Last, but not least, we are glad to report progress on a project we’re very excited about: <i><b>Teaching Ancient Greece. Lesson Plans, Vase Animations, and Resources</i></b>. <i>Teaching Ancient Greece</i>, edited by Panoply’s Sonya Nevin, is a book of resources for using the <b><u><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/our-mythical-childhood
"> Our Mythical Childhood</a></b></u> vase animations in teaching and learning. It’s nearing completion and will be out next year. While hard copies will be available to buy, we’re delighted that it will be available as an <b>Open Access</b> download, through its publisher, Warsaw University Press. It features contributions from teachers and other educators all over the world and is chock full of handy resources and bright ideas. Watch this space for more news. In the meantime, checkout the other <b>Open Access publications in the Our Mythical Childhood series</b>:<br><br>
Susan Deacy, <u><b><i><a href="https://www.wuw.pl/product-eng-18699-What-Would-Hercules-Do-Lessons-for-Autistic-Children-Using-Classical-Myth-PDF.html" target="_blank">What Would Hercules Do? Lessons for Autistic Children Using Classical Myth</a></i></b></u> (2023), featuring vase illustrations by Panoply's Steve K Simons.<br><br>
Katarzyna Marciniak (ed.), <u><i><b><a href="Our%20Mythical%20Hope.%20The%20Ancient%20Myths%20as%20Medicine%20for%20the%20Hardships%20of%20Life%20in%20Children’s%20and%20Young%20Adults’%20Culture" target="_blank">Our Mythical Hope. The Ancient Myths as Medicine for the Hardships of Life in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture</a></i></b></u> (2021), essays on antiquity in modern young people's literature.<br><br>
Lisa Maurice (ed.) <u><i><b><a href="https://www.wuw.pl/product-eng-14887-Our-Mythical-Education-The-Reception-of-Classical-Myth-Worldwide-in-Formal-Education-1900-2020-PDF.html" target="_blank">Our Mythical Education. The Reception of Classical Myth Worldwide in Formal Education, 1900-2020</a></i></b></u> (2021), how classical myth fits into school curricula around the world.<br><br>
Elizabeth Hale and Miriam Riverlea, <u><b><i><a href="https://www.wuw.pl/product-eng-17978-Classical-Mythology-and-Childrens-Literature-An-Alphabetical-Odyssey-PDF.html" target="_blank">Classical Mythology and Children's Literature... An Alphabetical Odyssey</a></i></b></u> (2022), a guide to the use of classical myth in modern children's lit, featuring an a-z of chapter illustrations by Panoply's Steve K Simons.<br>
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<i>Above, </i>Teaching Ancient Greece. Lesson Plans, Vase Animations, and Resources<i>, will join these Open Access Our Mythical Childhood publications in 2024. Download your free copies from the Warsaw University Press site: <u><a href=" https://www.wuw.pl/tra-eng-58207-Our-Mythical-Childhood.html
"> https://www.wuw.pl/tra-eng-58207-Our-Mythical-Childhood.html</a>
</i></u><br><br>
Thanks for all your support over the year. We wish you all the best for your new adventures in 2024!
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-65624166474447161162023-06-29T15:33:00.001+01:002023-06-29T15:33:50.489+01:00Ps and Qs in Mesopotamia. A Panoply Interview with Dr Ludovico Portuese of the GALATEO Project.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09putO54ZFcgU6S6PeB_aA7Zpw389PI0jbY7z-yMA47oEBbJBxPSDOLhRyaRa1dG6eR772sw2sHrpgIYRxBc5-LlWWwlBkiHkDSW48_mxIjuVj8jrF_acRpqFc-nNFss_X0gkVHonZtLOUl5P6B7mav4Vpf6i1pP3njMN2GVrrlniqabKi6o3JA/s232/LP%20head%20crop.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="200" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09putO54ZFcgU6S6PeB_aA7Zpw389PI0jbY7z-yMA47oEBbJBxPSDOLhRyaRa1dG6eR772sw2sHrpgIYRxBc5-LlWWwlBkiHkDSW48_mxIjuVj8jrF_acRpqFc-nNFss_X0gkVHonZtLOUl5P6B7mav4Vpf6i1pP3njMN2GVrrlniqabKi6o3JA/s200/LP%20head%20crop.jpg"/></a></div>
<b>Dr Ludovico Portuese</b> is a <b>Near Eastern archaeologist</b> researching ancient etiquette and hygiene practices. He is the author of <i><u><a href=" https://www.zaphon.de/Life-at-Court/en "> Life at Court. Ideology and Audience in the Late Assyrian Palace </a></u></i> (Zaphon 2020) and, with Marta Pallavidini, edited <u><i><a href=" https://www.zaphon.de/epages/83179382.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/83179382/Products/%22ISBN%20978-3-96327-186-1%22"> Ancient Near Eastern Weltanschauungen in Contact and in Contrast. Rethinking Ideology and Propaganda in the Ancient Near East</a></i></u> (Zaphon 2022). Ludovico leads the international research project <b>GALATEO</b>: <b>G</b>ood <b>A</b>ttitudes for <b>L</b>ife in <b>A</b>ssyrian <b>T</b>imes: <b>E</b>tiquette and <b>O</b>bservance of Norms in Male and Female Groups. With Prof. Annunziata Rositani, Prof. Holly Pitman, and postgraduate student David Mulder, Ludovico analysed the iconography of the <b>Penn Museum</b> Mesopotamian collection, leading to the <b>Manners and Etiquette in Mesopotamian Life exhibition</b>. Panoply are delighted to have made <b>two animations</b> for the Manners and Etiquette exhibition, which you can see in the museum, on the Panoply website, and below. In this interview we’ll hear more about the project and Ludovico’s life as an archaeologist.<br>
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<i>Above, the Middle East Gallery at the University of Penn Museum.</i>
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<i>Above, the Manners and Etiquette in Mesopotamian Life exhibition, in the Middle East Gallery at the University of Penn Museum. The digital display features the artefact animations and a wealth of information about the objects and what they can tell us.</i><br>
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<b>1) What is the GALATEO Project?</b><br>
GALATEO is a research project which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant. The name of the project reveals its aims: GALATEO takes its name from the guidebook Galateo overo de’ costumi (or A Treatise on Politeness and Delicacy) by Giovanni Della Casa (1558), a discussion of manners dedicated to the bishop Galeazzo Florimonte (in Latin, Galatheus). Galateo then became the common term used in Italy to describe the rules of etiquette and behaviour. Put briefly, <b>‘galateo’ means ‘etiquette’</b>.<br>
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With this in mind, I developed an acronym to explain its focus in detail: <b>G</b>ood <b>A</b>ttitudes for <b>L</b>ife in <b>A</b>ssyrian <b>T</b>imes: <b>E</b>tiquette and <b>O</b>bservance of Norms in Male and Female Groups. The project aims to <b>understand anew the importance of etiquette in late Assyrian society</b> (10th–7th century BCE) and to <b>investigate the extent to which etiquette influenced the subsequent cultures of the Middle East</b>. It works through a sociological perspective, to explore <b>gestures</b>, <b>postures</b>, proxemic interactions (that is, how <b>space</b> is used in social interactions), the use and choice of <b>language</b>, and <b>table manners</b>, and from an anthropological perspective, to examine the etiquette of hygiene.<br>
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The <i>Manners and Etiquette in Mesopotamian Life </i>exhibition at the Penn Museum approaches artefacts from these two perspectives to communicate this new insight into rules for correct behaviour in Mesopotamian life.<br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qOmWtp0WBcw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<i>Above, The Banquet, an animation of a scene on an 9th-8th century BCE Assyrian ivory plaque (<u><a href=" https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/324381?ft=59.107.22&offset=0&rpp=40&pos=1"> Metropolitan Museum 59.107.22</a></u>) made by Panoply for the GALATEO project, showing now in the Manners and Etiquette exhibition at the Penn Museum.</i><br>
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<i>Above, a close-up of Manners and Etiquette, featuring (top) the ivory with the banqueting scene inscribed upon it and the illustration made of it by Steve K Simons, which was a stepping stone in Steve's creation of the animation.</i><br>
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<b>2) How do artefacts tell you more about etiquette?</b><br>
Every archaeological artefact can provide us with a great wealth of information about etiquette in antiquity, from simple kitchen pots to beautifully decorated objects. For instance, the <b>shape of a bowl may suggest the way it was held</b> when used by people, or an object can bear <b>images showing people interacting</b> through the performance of <b>specific gestures and postures</b>. <b>Architecture</b> is also an essential source of information, being the space where people interacted: for example, the throne room of a royal palace, where the position of the throne may give information about the distance between the king and his visitors during official audiences.<br><br>
For the exhibition at the Penn Museum, the choice fell on image-bearing artefacts which show deities and humans interacting. The scenes depicted can be defined as “frozen moments” that artisans decided to select as the most meaningful of a specific event, either of a meeting or a banquet. As a consequence, the frozen gestures and <b>postures depicted are also the most meaningful ones (e.g. raised hands, erect postures, toast)</b>. In this regard, it’s not always easy to distinguish artistic conventions from social conventions and caution is highly recommended. However, Mesopotamia offers several written sources which contain information on behavioural rules and may thus confirm what is represented.<br><br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yMaDl9bB4DI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<i>Above, Worshipping the Gods, an animation of a stone carving created by Panoply for the GALATEO project, showing now in the Manners and Etiquette exhibition at the Penn Museum. The <u><a href=" https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/251212"> original object </a></u> is part of the Penn Museum’s permanent collection.</i><br>
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<b>3) It has been an interesting experience to animate ivory and stone rather than pottery for this project…. All the same, could you tell us a little about the ceramic culture of Mesopotamia?</b><br>
Ceramic is certainly the most prevalent archaeological artefact also in ancient Mesopotamia. However, compared to the Greek culture for instance, Mesopotamian pottery in the main emphasises more the functional than the decorative aspect. <b>Geometric forms</b>, <b>vegetal motifs</b>, and <b>animal figures</b> are more dominant than human figures, and the few examples do not represent our best window into the cultures of ancient Mesopotamia. Ceramics often appear <b>undecorated</b> and mass-produced from the fourth to the second millennium BCE.<br>
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Variations certainly exist and the Mesopotamian ceramic culture is featured by regionalisms that help distinguishing south, middle and north cultures. Decorations cannot therefore be used to reconstruct etiquette rules. Nevertheless, some examples can provide us with information about the way bowls, for example, were used during banquets. This is best represented by the so-called <b>Palace Ware</b> attested in the first-millennium Assyria and used in a courtly context. Iconographic evidence shows that the <b>king and high administrative officials held these fine ceramics on their fingertips to drink wine during banquets</b>. This elegant mannerism of holding drinking bowls was perhaps the corresponding physical way to display the access to these luxury items and wine.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6wzonoE_QoG3ntx9jb1rF__-ZnYkSSpfbO4YUvYjH4tQoR4QB021u8ILew4kkYn875oQMf2SRqNF0aWuknPjlUgSdB1kgleyK5gH7FnuMAEmbxHA9xXUJARNUW0Uiv6Cs3fkjDmm6AeV0R4womgGl02uPfi5Ap5kFhPbS-xvou0ms_P0Z19wXw/s828/Penn%20Museum%20c5000BCE%20wine%20jar.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6wzonoE_QoG3ntx9jb1rF__-ZnYkSSpfbO4YUvYjH4tQoR4QB021u8ILew4kkYn875oQMf2SRqNF0aWuknPjlUgSdB1kgleyK5gH7FnuMAEmbxHA9xXUJARNUW0Uiv6Cs3fkjDmm6AeV0R4womgGl02uPfi5Ap5kFhPbS-xvou0ms_P0Z19wXw/s320/Penn%20Museum%20c5000BCE%20wine%20jar.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, a very early pottery vessel, made in what is now Iran c.5400-5000 BCE (<u><a href=" https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/72388">Penn Museum, 69-12-15</a></u>). Traces of wine and terebinth tree resin found inside reveal that it was a wine jar.</i>
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<i>Above, a slip decorated pot from Ur, made in the Ubaid period (c. 5500–3700 BCE), (<u><a href=" https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/120456">Penn Museum, 31-17-296). </a></u></i><br>
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<b>4) What made Mesopotamian cultures so dynamic?</b><br>
Many and sometimes concurrent factors made Mesopotamian cultures so dynamic. The presence and regular flooding of the <b>rivers Tigris and Euphrates made the land</b> around them <b>especially fertile</b> and ideal for growing crops for food. The abundance of natural resources for construction (reed) and food (wild animals and fish), with water easily accessible led to people <b>cultivating plants, domesticating animals, coping with climate changes, staying in one place and forming permanent villages which then became cities</b>. These cities welcomed large concentrations of people that organized their labour and society, created different social and economic classes, developed the earliest system of writing, built monumental buildings, and <b>codified rules for correct behaviour</b>. The latter, a rather neglected aspect, I believe contributed to demarcate group membership and, along with hygiene rules, protected groups from things that could damage the integrity of the Mesopotamian cultures contributing to their dynamism and success.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVrKkSp5jUA3k6hHyfDInBhE4v-sNNl3LVwz1qs4RG-2Ox3OMy9GYAT2v59ze0ZjDFZ4xWGxmFnaWXLRcenzQiFlP_q8fMqZx2kPjsVG1CyNtXYIFlzvurb4Uc8tWUkDNTh5ceKWh7XOj-CKV8HfLZNO4zWNCtxEh4tqgup6GrUWM68LWrxSfLQ/s1600/Sites-Mesopotamian-history.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1397" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVrKkSp5jUA3k6hHyfDInBhE4v-sNNl3LVwz1qs4RG-2Ox3OMy9GYAT2v59ze0ZjDFZ4xWGxmFnaWXLRcenzQiFlP_q8fMqZx2kPjsVG1CyNtXYIFlzvurb4Uc8tWUkDNTh5ceKWh7XOj-CKV8HfLZNO4zWNCtxEh4tqgup6GrUWM68LWrxSfLQ/s320/Sites-Mesopotamian-history.webp"/></a></div>
<i>Above, an <u><a href=" https://www.britannica.com/place/Mesopotamia-historical-region-Asia/images-videos"> Encyclopaedia Britannica map</a></u> of Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers. This is largely modern-day <u><a href=" https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ur/@32.0261251,48.1904734,7z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x3fde0f1d03e2508d:0x1c61717f6cc10dc3!8m2!3d30.9608333!4d46.1061111!16s%2Fg%2F11c54j99l5?authuser=0&entry=ttu"> Kuwait and Iraq</a></u> (link opens Google Maps).</i><br>
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<b>5) How did you get interested in ancient Mesopotamian culture?</b><br>
<b>I grew up in Sicily</b>, surrounded by Greek monuments, and I was raised in a family where <b>you could breathe Greek and Latin literature</b>. It is not by chance that my brother is Professor of Latin at the University of Catania. Having said that, very few books at my parents’ house talked about the “Oriental” cultures that came before and inspired the later Greek culture. To contrast such a Classical dominant environment, <b>I decided to explore the “uncharted” world of the Middle East</b> and embark myself on the study of the “Oriental” cultures. After <b>studying Egyptology and Near Eastern archaeology</b> at the <b>University of Pisa</b>, I started my PhD at the <b>Freie Universität Berlin</b> to conduct research on the courtly life at the Assyrian palace in the first millennium BCE. I then expanded this topic through postdoctoral positions at European universities (Germany and France). The grant I received for the GALATEO project allowed me to work at the <b>University of Pennsylvania</b> for two years and finally to get hired by the <b>University of Messina</b> as assistant professor of Near Eastern archaeology and art.<br>
It was a long and hard journey to get into this interest professionally, but Mesopotamian culture really deserves an entire life to be fully known and loved.
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<i>Above, terracotta figurine from Ur. Many aspects of Mesopotamian culture are familiar from later ancient Greek culture. We have seen ritual libations, and here we see a figure playing a double pipe, much like the Greek auloi pipes. (<u><a href=" https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/323755">Penn Museum, 31-16-882</a></u>).</i><br>
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<b>6) What does life as a Near Eastern archaeologist involve?</b><br>
Being a Near Eastern archaeologist means <b>astonishment and excitement</b> daily because we deal both with impressively advanced past cultures and with extremely fascinating countries that still bear the splendour and mystery of their past. So, in a nutshell, <b>you never get bored</b>.<br>
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The research activity may still be afflicted by difficulties linked to the political conditions in the countries of the Middle East. However, past conflicts and destructions forced us to devote more energies and resources to find <b>new solutions</b> for excavation and preservation projects, and new paths of research. For instance, many Near Eastern archaeologists are now <b>looking at more peaceful geographic areas</b> that were neglected in the past and that are bringing to light exciting results. Others are working on <b>conservation and preservation projects</b> in order to protect endangered monuments and sites. Some scholars, instead, develop <b>new research fields to study what has been excavated in previous excavations</b>. In a sense, the GALATEO project was developed within the latter context to <b>understand and reconstruct social and hygienic rules that helped Mesopotamians to survive crises and dramatic changes</b>. So, I would say that a life as a Near Eastern archaeologist nowadays involves an extreme flexibility.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAuEboB6_CForHT-vTejhigLyqWfyk9T0TflZslkQayw8eXsIIH2VkifhHfSWSSt0HmUl0P1B5JapNQOSDFTIjYaZ8x4dEDmAcUO5XSkGILWpz9ejGqbr-xMZ_EAsGWlyk3VqDi_SE_c73RXx8rWy0-e8JW2wOJtcBeUFxi5K2QhvlQCmaeEJmYA/s2445/Ur-Nammu%20Stele.tif" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1387" data-original-width="2445" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAuEboB6_CForHT-vTejhigLyqWfyk9T0TflZslkQayw8eXsIIH2VkifhHfSWSSt0HmUl0P1B5JapNQOSDFTIjYaZ8x4dEDmAcUO5XSkGILWpz9ejGqbr-xMZ_EAsGWlyk3VqDi_SE_c73RXx8rWy0-e8JW2wOJtcBeUFxi5K2QhvlQCmaeEJmYA/s400/Ur-Nammu%20Stele.tif"/></a></div>
<i>Above, a fragment of the Ur-Nammu Stele, used in the Worshipping the Gods animation. On the right, King Ur-Nammu offers a libation to the Moon God, Nanna, on the left he makes the same offering to the Moon Goddess, Ningal. University of Pennsylvania Museum, B16676.</i><br>
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<b>7) Who’s your favourite ancient Greek?</b><br>
My favourite figures are the famous heroes <b>Gilgamesh and Odysseus</b>. The former is a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology, the protagonist of an epic poem written in Akkadian, and probably a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk. Odysseus is the hero of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey and king of Ithaca. Although they differ in several aspects, both embark on many journeys and challenges: Gilgamesh travels to find immortality, Odysseus to go back home, and both take up challenges and learn from experiences. But most of all, they do not give up looking for and achieving their goals, they persevere. <b>It is their remarkable perseverance that I praise</b>, and it is perseverance that every person wishing to embark the challenging but marvellous journey of archaeology needs to possess.<br>
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<i><b>Many thanks to Dr Ludovico Portuese</b> for speaking to us about how objects can give us insight into etiquette and manners.<br> <br>
If you’d like to visit the <b>Manners and Etiquette in Mesopotamian Life exhibition at the Penn Museum</b>, you’ll find details about visiting here: <u><a href=" https://www.penn.museum/tickets/
">https://www.penn.museum/tickets/</a></u>.<br>
You may like to explore the Penn Museum collection <b>online</b>, through their collection database: <u><a href=" https://www.penn.museum/collections/">https://www.penn.museum/collections/</a></u><br>
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The Penn Museum have also put together a <u><a href=" https://www.penn.museum/collections/highlights/neareast/location/ur.php "> Mesopotamian highlights collection</a></u> …and a <u><a href=" https://www.penn.museum/tour/tour.php?id=4 ">Video Tour</a></u> of the gallery.<br>
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Stay posted for news on developments on the <u><a href="https://galateo.unime.it" target="_blank">GALATEO project</a></u>.</i><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLgjcXuLn9fcrt3DEvkYdt5ZW1dieLNDsPGkBdtY6hkDRlXQ-LAM216OmfI8dablsiWGuPJfpUpS8BLDEpmtgtoCIHwXdfdvavYCUEOb8PJHyaPCwjT5HywKWIvDRXD1nLSg667Ao9SoYjnKrs_wmlipRFYShAhkP5lGzjP86xNERZ9Wp5xctuA/s400/logo_galateo_2.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLgjcXuLn9fcrt3DEvkYdt5ZW1dieLNDsPGkBdtY6hkDRlXQ-LAM216OmfI8dablsiWGuPJfpUpS8BLDEpmtgtoCIHwXdfdvavYCUEOb8PJHyaPCwjT5HywKWIvDRXD1nLSg667Ao9SoYjnKrs_wmlipRFYShAhkP5lGzjP86xNERZ9Wp5xctuA/s320/logo_galateo_2.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, the logo of the <u><a href=" https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101027543"> GALATEO </a></u> project.</i>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-47655018185134927042023-04-13T09:45:00.003+01:002023-04-13T19:53:23.794+01:00Islanders. A Panoply interview with Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi76Ffogt2LyTUs9YLp6KL6JrfIqJKVTXvLsrBz4AWacy4koR5iiUK_GUCUFwMPb0Q4L8PQHJlvDtWtv-rf3FZQhTafEnO0OyEaDz8WxJf2brXpULi9bu38COqbIz1w0eLAyQRYbGNniZtypbaxqA_EtLocsXpGm_RG8k7ISqldHbAlAO6dcYYMPg/s625/islanders%20banner.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi76Ffogt2LyTUs9YLp6KL6JrfIqJKVTXvLsrBz4AWacy4koR5iiUK_GUCUFwMPb0Q4L8PQHJlvDtWtv-rf3FZQhTafEnO0OyEaDz8WxJf2brXpULi9bu38COqbIz1w0eLAyQRYbGNniZtypbaxqA_EtLocsXpGm_RG8k7ISqldHbAlAO6dcYYMPg/s400/islanders%20banner.jpg"/></a></div>
There’s a new show in town! <b>Islanders: The Making of the Mediterranean</b> is a major exhibition at the <b>Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge</b>. We’re delighted to catch up with the exhibition’s curator, <b>Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou, Senior Curator of the Ancient Mediterranean at the Fitzwilliam Museum</b>, responsible for the collections of Greece, Rome and Cyprus. Read on for a fascinating insight into what pottery can tell us about island identities and what it means to be a museum curator.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpesaemAYvCJOabz_FE9Q9cm5iN5PkMbCHKz11ujikl2XJnITcxz3uCKKMZArFE5j62bP3OJnA9IRJ3hbI9Yt3kStD1Olcb390G1D_chhtgNCRV4Ax4d6hLqbmHn4WnnnBGIuFSN0CLOFWmzljGyQZpicOCVs4rjhdI0p9p-6a7PiVQluIIQg4pQ/s452/Christophilopoulou.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="200" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpesaemAYvCJOabz_FE9Q9cm5iN5PkMbCHKz11ujikl2XJnITcxz3uCKKMZArFE5j62bP3OJnA9IRJ3hbI9Yt3kStD1Olcb390G1D_chhtgNCRV4Ax4d6hLqbmHn4WnnnBGIuFSN0CLOFWmzljGyQZpicOCVs4rjhdI0p9p-6a7PiVQluIIQg4pQ/s200/Christophilopoulou.jpg"/></a></div><i>Above, Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou, Senior Curator of the Ancient Mediterranean at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.</i><br>
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<b> 1) What is the Islanders exhibition about?</b><br>
<i>Islanders: The Making of the Mediterranean</i> is a <b>major exhibition</b> at the Fitzwilliam Museum between February 2023 and the 4th June 2023. The exhibition is <b>the result of an interdisciplinary research project</b> (‘<u><a href="https://islander.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Being an Islander: Art and Identity of the Large Mediterranean Islands</a></u>’, 2019-2023) which together with a <u><a href="https://islander.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/resources/Public_Engagement" target="_blank">public engagement programme</a></u> investigates island identities in the Mediterranean. Together, they explore how ‘insularity’– being of an island, affected and shaped art production and creativity, architectural evolution, migrations, and movement of people, <b>using three of the Mediterranean’s large islands, Crete, Cyprus, and Sardinia as case studies</b>. The exhibition brings together <b>over 200 objects</b> from the three Mediterranean islands, most never exhibited outside their respective museums in Crete, Cyprus and Sardinia, that tell exceptional stories of insular identity, over a period of 5000 years, from the Early Bronze Age to the Roman period.<br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ohvjCcZo7ME" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>Above, a walkthrough of the Islanders exhibition.<br><br>
<b>2) What role does pottery play in islanders’ identities – or how we understand them?</b><br>
Pottery and craftsmanship of pottery plays a major role in the material culture production of island societies and ancient societies in general. <b>Pottery is the number one medium in which ancient material culture survives to us</b> and enables us to understand important facets of the islanders’ cultural identities diachronically, which makes it a capital area of our study of the ancient past. During the development of the Being an Islander project, we focused on several <b>research strands oriented around ceramic production, workshops, mobility and dissemination of pottery, expression of hybrid identities as seen in pottery production, iconography and styles and more</b>.<br>
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However the best opportunity we had to examine the role of island identities as part of the project, was through the <u><a href="https://islander.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/resources/documentary" target="_blank">creation of a documentary</a></u> which investigates the theme of insularity as a social construct and as a form of social and cultural identity, using the island of <b>Siphnos, the site of centuries-old pottery workshops</b>. In the documentary we included several case studies, such as filming in the region of the ancient tower of Siphnos (‘phryctories’), a system of communication and signalling designed initially to protect the mining area of the island, but later also used to control agricultural landscapes, exemplifying the continuity of landscape use and resources in the island’s metal-rich regions. Another major case study included <b>filming at the Atsonios pottery workshop, which has been active for centuries</b>, with the master potter describing his craft, resources, and the long presence of Siphnian potters in the most engaging way. Pottery workshops, particularly those devoted to the manufacture of cooking pots is a centuries-old craft in Siphnos. The craft, entangled in the island’s connectivity, idiosyncrasies, and its resources, made a perfect episode of our documentary.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3SZdPr_Q3xXrxnH3a1PjC5G6f_x74Br7B_NKQE1OYhnlR7-RYPYdYUwE6RRykbScaK3G2tFbYGD6kXGYusruh-R5FbTr1OSeclqztSyrw30bnwPKTO_gWdObLL7pBuwKYvpiQ_iglNqZ6TdbGBiHmRa34NlSc3RiS2FG7g-oMuOxOxA9CUn1iA/s4032/siphnos_castle.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3SZdPr_Q3xXrxnH3a1PjC5G6f_x74Br7B_NKQE1OYhnlR7-RYPYdYUwE6RRykbScaK3G2tFbYGD6kXGYusruh-R5FbTr1OSeclqztSyrw30bnwPKTO_gWdObLL7pBuwKYvpiQ_iglNqZ6TdbGBiHmRa34NlSc3RiS2FG7g-oMuOxOxA9CUn1iA/s320/siphnos_castle.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, Anastasia describes the construction of the wall of Kastro on the island of Siphnos for the <u><a href="https://islander.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/resources/documentary" target="_blank">Being an Islander</a></u> documentary.</i><br><br>
<b>3) Could you pick out one item in the exhibition that you consider especially interesting?</b> <br>
Yes! it would be the statuette of a <b>Sardinian type of mother goddess figurine</b>, known as the perforated plate type. A short section of the neck is preserved, joining raised shoulders, with linear arms bent horizontally to join at the hips. On her trapezoidal bust, the breasts are depicted in a conical shape. The part of the body corresponding to the lower limbs has a flat ovoid shape, without the characteristic posterior swelling of the buttocks.<br>
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The figurine, excavated from the necropolis of Porto Ferro, Alghero, is made of white marble and belongs to the Filigosa culture on the island of Sardinia, which flourished from around 3000-2400 BCE. The populations of this culture lived mainly in parts of central-southern Sardinia. <b>They still used obsidian to produce tools and weapons but copper objects, such as daggers were becoming common.</b> Lead and silver were also smelted. Their economy was focused on pastoralism and agriculture and part of their identity included the worship of warrior ancestors and the creation of megalithic monuments.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnSjNYL_XIDS4YIJmfHb0_u8aBrulOliQec2Ra7Sjuq1a-CEZQSRJ2Xb2i7qJ0CealGgicabahM42Xc0V9dzWE44FJDyBX-Jjw1uZ0K2OhpD4ZhazLBvssB318GNmtJOvXsHgE8jlVqLV3a4uOLO-bzlY7UBLALhhKWHyrJQG7XV1q_QltCY5HA/s940/Marble%20female%20fig%203000_2500%20Nat%20Mus%20Cagliaria%2062476.tif" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnSjNYL_XIDS4YIJmfHb0_u8aBrulOliQec2Ra7Sjuq1a-CEZQSRJ2Xb2i7qJ0CealGgicabahM42Xc0V9dzWE44FJDyBX-Jjw1uZ0K2OhpD4ZhazLBvssB318GNmtJOvXsHgE8jlVqLV3a4uOLO-bzlY7UBLALhhKWHyrJQG7XV1q_QltCY5HA/s320/Marble%20female%20fig%203000_2500%20Nat%20Mus%20Cagliaria%2062476.tif"/></a></div>
<i>Above, a marble figurine from the necropolis of Porto Ferro on the island of Sardinia. It was made c. 3000-2500 BCE and is now housed in the National Archaeological Museum, Cagliari, no: 62476.</i><br><br>
<b>4) How did you become interested in archaeology and the ancient world?</b><br>
From an early age, I was enthusiastic about training in a profession with a physical element to it. Archaeology drew me as I find the element of fieldwork and exploration of physical and cultural landscapes fascinating. Both <b>my parents had a love of ancient culture and heritage and as a child I spent a lot of time travelling with them visiting archaeological sites and museums</b>, it became part of my formation. As an archaeologist I enjoy working in the field and I enjoy the sensory experience of the discipline. I studied in Greece as an undergraduate and then spent time in Paris as a graduate student, before joining as a doctoral student the Faculty of Classics in Cambridge. I gained my PhD in Classical Archaeology at the Faculty of Classics, in 2008 and was a postdoctoral researcher at the Topoi Excellence Cluster, Freie Universität Berlin between 2009-2010, prior to joining the Fitzwilliam Museum. I have also lectured for the University of London, Birkbeck College and I'm currently an external collaborator to two interdisciplinary research networks in Cyprus and Germany.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseLpB3czr1ITbmuTzYzFfxUZR94JRUXaTi1XFlDHF3ULfgcuY4kcW7j79QGgJpc29m7okZRX1TJ4EaKCj7oFErqDzabExWHt2usTKXBU9aBirEJrsOpGjW82f84qA3iK56cW2GHuiDC6pods57tXmMzyZ_jYaW8-jhdX9KwoCv57xZ79R9IZPRA/s3463/Centaur%20Agia%20Eirini%20Cyprus%20750_600%20AI%201690.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="2695" data-original-width="3463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseLpB3czr1ITbmuTzYzFfxUZR94JRUXaTi1XFlDHF3ULfgcuY4kcW7j79QGgJpc29m7okZRX1TJ4EaKCj7oFErqDzabExWHt2usTKXBU9aBirEJrsOpGjW82f84qA3iK56cW2GHuiDC6pods57tXmMzyZ_jYaW8-jhdX9KwoCv57xZ79R9IZPRA/s320/Centaur%20Agia%20Eirini%20Cyprus%20750_600%20AI%201690.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, a ceramic centaur figurine from the Agia Eirini cemetery on Cypurs, made c. 750-600 BCE. Beside it is a clay model of a chariot, found in the same cemetery.</i><br>
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<b>5) You have worked on a lot of excavations – what was that like?</b><br>
I have worked in archaeological excavations and field surveys for over 20 years, and I’m currently the co-Director of the West Area of Samos Archaeological project (WASAP), a 5-year intensive survey project on the Greek island of Samos, under the auspices of the British School at Athens. Prior to that, I conducted <b>rescue excavations of a Roman burial site in Marathon</b>, and the excavation of the Hellenistic Acropolis of Dymokastro in Thesprotia (NW Greece), for the Greek Ministry of Culture. I have been a research associate to the Azoria excavation project, and the <u><a href="https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-vrokastro-survey-project/" target="_blank">Vrokastro Archaeological Survey</a></u> project both directed by the ASCSA, as well as the Praisos Intensive Survey project and the Karphi Settlement Condition Survey project directed by the British School at Athens. I worked as a research assistant to the Gaudos Intensive Survey (2006-09) and the Eretria excavations (1998-99), directed by the Swiss Archaeological Mission in Greece. <b>These experiences gave me invaluable understanding and confidence</b> in managing archaeological projects and working in collaboration with international teams and local communities.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhABxsLFPmj6wldgAEVqFbIFejHeWM8AQhMGilyJF-OTeJWJAL-L1lJbc4bhIh5bbWJQXJ3lHjfgy7X5ZBRVjCpNSUPhVriB8zKiYd9dtF1evrIj1qJiIJluI99l9qznNF7-y-x9PggWWFYtcTSVt3QMHY89TFJte-Q5i7lz1_NTPNkNLnrT1ig/s3800/cypriot%20bichrome%20750_600%20Fitz.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="3800" data-original-width="3085" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhABxsLFPmj6wldgAEVqFbIFejHeWM8AQhMGilyJF-OTeJWJAL-L1lJbc4bhIh5bbWJQXJ3lHjfgy7X5ZBRVjCpNSUPhVriB8zKiYd9dtF1evrIj1qJiIJluI99l9qznNF7-y-x9PggWWFYtcTSVt3QMHY89TFJte-Q5i7lz1_NTPNkNLnrT1ig/s320/cypriot%20bichrome%20750_600%20Fitz.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, a Cypriot bichrome style vase, made c.750-600. This bichrome style – made with two colours – was found across Cyprus and in West Asia and Egypt – a sign of how interconnected those communities were.</i><br>
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<b>6) What does your job as Senior Curator of Mediterranean Antiquities at the Fitzwilliam Museum involve?</b><br>
As Senior Curator of Mediterranean Antiquities the Fitzwilliam Museum, I am responsible for <b>research and exhibition projects and permanent displays</b> in the fields of Greek, Cypriot and Roman collections. Currently I’m focusing on the delivery of the 4-year research project <u><a href="https://islander.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/" target="_blank">‘Being an Islander’: Art and Identity of the large Mediterranean Islands</a></u> aiming to re-examine the concept of island life through material culture. My core interests are in the Archaeology of the Aegean Bronze and Iron Age cultures, the Archaeology of the Mediterranean islands and the Archaeology of Cyprus. I engage with questions of island identity, mobility and migration in the Ancient World, as well as with anthropological perspectives to interpreting material culture. I have worked widely in Public Archaeology and Public engagement with Mediterranean collections.
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Previously I curated an interdisciplinary <b>exhibition on the history of codebreaking</b>, in collaboration with the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge. My work is really exciting and varied at the museum, <b>a week’s ‘to do list’ could include teaching undergraduate groups and supervision of doctoral students, researching the collections of Ancient Greece, Rome and Cyprus, working with our collections management and conservation teams on improving accessibility, storage and management of the collections, or presenting in research seminars</b> on the research themes I lead. I’m also very proud of the work we carry out in the field of public engagement as part our curatorial and research practice. My work at the museum is also enhanced by collaboration with other academic departments, the Faculty of Classics and the Department of Archaeology and the Mc Donald Institute in Cambridge as well as by serving as a member of the Managing Committee of the Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies (CCGS) and the Management Committee of the Society for Aegean Prehistory.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJ-WkWY1o4iOnutpS4J3T5b8sRjXK6f1W-Dg9qmlZruF1bOD55obAjdHftiNJe7v00apFRQPb9l6_tqq9CyMWZXtk11UcFDwXSG-s8039APkqFCCTDi3QA7s6iiOwNxaQ2wAmNbxRdSS7KvbSUDBEKA8p9e-rQG6b9J0ZZURTJUcpfkhpFTRcWA/s750/A%20Christophilou%20with%20archer%20photo%20Joe%20Giddens.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJ-WkWY1o4iOnutpS4J3T5b8sRjXK6f1W-Dg9qmlZruF1bOD55obAjdHftiNJe7v00apFRQPb9l6_tqq9CyMWZXtk11UcFDwXSG-s8039APkqFCCTDi3QA7s6iiOwNxaQ2wAmNbxRdSS7KvbSUDBEKA8p9e-rQG6b9J0ZZURTJUcpfkhpFTRcWA/s320/A%20Christophilou%20with%20archer%20photo%20Joe%20Giddens.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, Anastasia with a Nuragic Sardinian archer figurine (1000-700 BCE) during the installation of the exhibition. Photo by Joe Giddens.</i><br>
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<b>7) Who’s your favourite ancient Greek?</b><br>
My favourite ancient Greek is the ancient Greek historian <b>Thucydides!</b> Thucydides wrote a <u><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0200" target="_blank">History of the Peloponnesian War</a></u> between Sparta and Athens and has long been considered the father of both scientific history and political realism. I am fascinated by his histories because he was <b>writing a strictly contemporary history of events that he lived through</b> and that succeeded each other almost throughout his adult life. He endeavoured to do more than merely record events, he attempted to write the final history for later generations. His work has an extensive influence on the modern world.<br>
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<i>Many thanks to Anastasia for these insights into the creation of an exhibition of this scale and such a broad ranging project.</i><br>
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<b>The Islanders exhibition is open until 4th June 2023. Book your free tickets here: <u><a href="https://tickets.museums.cam.ac.uk/overview/6080" target="_blank">https://tickets.museums.cam.ac.uk/overview/6080</a></b></u><br>
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<i>In the meantime, read more about Being and Islander project research <u><a href="https://islander.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/research/" target="_blank">here</a></u>, and enjoy the Being an Islander trailer and a brief video interview with Anastasia in the exhibition:</i><br>
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/781221914?h=a2ff2afce0&title=0&portrait=0" width="540" height="304" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><i><a href="https://vimeo.com/781221914">Above, the trailer for Being an Islander.</a></i><br><br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N8X4NDNX83M" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-65983260400285443792023-03-21T12:19:00.005+00:002023-03-21T12:22:36.243+00:00Classical Mythology and Children's Literature... An Alphabetical Odyssey<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatlRCwgkeT9MJxkeKjQl_--yHcKypP41lV_ZP7gGpIuRA6FtLZBzoiRShtUSbWyMev7GvKKjkYC0JsHRzFAl337GVzlkWtw6WNd_tJux9OEgzsBHuVKjVnIyvjHDqdXdyHixNCyUfEPQGwsE-jOq-ao_gqTepuPiaE8lYPeLCAuPFq1dzd3XTrA/s919/Hale%20Riverlea%202022%20cropped.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="865" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatlRCwgkeT9MJxkeKjQl_--yHcKypP41lV_ZP7gGpIuRA6FtLZBzoiRShtUSbWyMev7GvKKjkYC0JsHRzFAl337GVzlkWtw6WNd_tJux9OEgzsBHuVKjVnIyvjHDqdXdyHixNCyUfEPQGwsE-jOq-ao_gqTepuPiaE8lYPeLCAuPFq1dzd3XTrA/s320/Hale%20Riverlea%202022%20cropped.jpg"/></a></div>
Spring is here! And with it – a free book! The latest publication from <u><i><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/"> Our Mythical Childhood </a></i></u> is <i><b>Classical Mythology and Children's Literature... An Alphabetical Odyssey</i></b>, by Elizabeth Hale and Miriam Riverlea. An exciting bonus – it’s illustrated by Panoply’s very own Steve Simons!<br><br>
<i>Alphabetical Odyssey</i> takes you on a journey through the oceans of children’s books inspired by ancient Greek and Roman mythology. The 26 chapters discuss elements important in literature for young readers, providing insights into how mythical adaptations, retellings, and allusions connect with aspects of childhood and adolescence. The chapters are arranged alphabetically, such as <b>E is for Emotions</b>, <b>J is for Journeys</b>, <b>N is for Nature</b>, and <b>O is for the Olympians</b>, and each comes with their own illustration.<br><br>
You can <u><b><a href=" https://www.wuw.pl/product-eng-17978-Classical-Mythology-and-Childrens-Literature-An-Alphabetical-Odyssey-PDF.html ">download a free copy here.</a></b></u> Share the download link as much as you like. The book will have a special appeal to anyone interested in classical mythology, classical reception, and/or young people’s literature.<br><br>
You can find other free downloads from the Our Mythical Childhood series, and hard copies of the books available for sale
<u><a href=" https://www.wuw.pl/eng_m_Publishing-series_Our-Mythical-Childhood-534.html
">here</a></u><br><br>
All too soon, they will be joined by <b><i>Teaching Ancient Greece: Lesson Plans, Vase Animations, and Resources</i></b>, a book based around Panoply’s Our Mythical Childhood animations featuring 15 lesson plans by teachers from all over the world and all sorts of bonus resources to go with them. We’ve been working on that for a good while now and can’t wait for you to see it. Watch this space for news. If you’ve managed to miss the OMC animations and documentaries, take a look here: <u><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/our-mythical-childhood
"> https://www.panoply.org.uk/our-mythical-childhood</a></u><br>
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<i>Above, entrance to <u><a href=" https://allardpierson.nl/en/">The Allard Pierson Museum of Antiquities in Amsterdam</a></u></i><br>
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We’ve had a busy start to the year. January saw us at the Allard Pierson Museum at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Panoply’s Sonya Nevin was there to present at the <b><a href=" https://allardpierson.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Program-Ancient-vases-in-modern-showcases-version-9-23.pdf">Ancient Vases in Modern Showcases</a></b> conference, organised by <b>Laurien de Gelder and Vladimir Stissi</b>. <b>Kate Cooper of the Royal Ontario Museum</b> gave a stonking key note speech, outlining all sorts of factors that must be considered when planning a vase gallery or exhibition. Consider even the difference between arranging vases chronologically, arranging them by type of vase, displaying artefacts according to their decoration to express themes such as Trojan War, Sport, or Warfare, or the effect of grouping similar objects from different cultures. These are all solid options, yet they create a different experience for the museum visitor and a different impression of the objects and their meanings.<br>
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We also heard from <b>Jill Hilditch</b>, who has tackled the display of prehistoric ceramics and objects with unknown functions. You may recall the <u><a href=" http://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2020/07/tracing-potters-wheel-panoply-interview.html
"> interview that Dr Hilditch did for Panoply </a></u> a little while back discussing her research project, Tracing the Potter’s Wheel. Sally Waite and Olivia Turner presented a public programme, <b><u><a href=" https://greatnorthmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/you-echo-through-time">You Echo Through Time</a> </b></u>, which they ran at the at the Great North Museum in the UK, helping modern women explore their own experiences through an artefact-based search for the voices of ancient women. David Saunders of the J.Paul Getty outlined the approach that will be taken in a forthcoming exhibition, placing Mayan, Moche, and ancient Greek ceramics beside one another to prompt reflections and comparisons. One to look out for.<br>
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<i>Above, David Saunders outlines the ideas involved in the Getty's forthcmoing exhibition of Mayan, Moche, and Greek Pottery</i><br>
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Sonya’s presentation outlined the way in which vase animations provide a bridge between the museum and the wider community – creating opportunities for people to see artefacts outside the museum space – seeing them in a new form in the classroom, in theatres and cinemas, projected onto walls, on tablets in parks – all sorts of spaces - and offering a prompt for further creative engagements with the artefacts, be it drawing, pottery-making, poetry, storytelling and more besides. Enjoying an ancient artefact does not have to mean simply looking at it; seeing can be only the beginning.<br>
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<i>Above, Vases beyond the museum: a school event in Poland sees teens watching Panoply vase animations in a theatre before giving their own research presentations and making their own ceramic designs.</i><br>
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Sonya recently gave a different sort of talk closer to home in Cambridge, at the <b>Digital Education Futures Initiative</b> (<a href=" https://www.deficambridge.org/"> https://www.deficambridge.org/</a>). This initiative, developed at <b>Hughes’ Hall</b>, Cambridge, creates opportunities for developing new models of education and new research priorities arising due to the growing prevalence of digital technology. Recent talks have explored digital tech’s ability to harness collective intelligence; <b><u><a href=" https://camtree.org/"> Camtree</a></b></u>, also based at Hughes’ Hall, which creates opportunities for teachers to conduct and share research and improve learning outcomes; and Sonya’s presentation on how digital technology has enabled new insights into the study of ceramics and ancient iconography.<br><br>
We will have more news for you soon. Coming up are a new <i>About Dionysus</i> documentary to complement our <u><a href=" https://www.panoply.org.uk/dionysus">Dionysus animation</a></u>; news on an exhibition in the US that we've contributed to; and insights into the <b><u><a href=" https://fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/visit-us/exhibitions/islanders
"> Islanders exhibition</a></b></u>, which is on now at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.<br>
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Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-76514428553692227942022-09-20T14:08:00.000+01:002022-09-20T14:08:24.649+01:00Iris – Rainbow Goddess, and Munich - Classical PlaygroundWe are delighted to share our new documentary with you: <i><b>About Iris – Rainbow Goddess</b></i>. This mini doc is a companion piece for the <i>Iris</i> animation. Both can be found on the <u><a href="https://www.panoply.org.uk/iris" target="_blank">Iris webpage</a></u>, and they’re shared here for your convenience too:<br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qHmFF5qgoc0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gpMMrjDxUdI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br><br>
These videos were made as part of the project <u><b><a href="http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/" target="_blank">Our Mythical Childhood… The Reception of Classical Antiquity in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture in Response to Regional and Global Challenges</a></b></u>. The project was generously funded by the European Research Council (a wing of the EU), and headed by Professor Katarzyna Marciniak of the University of Warsaw.<br>
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For the last year or so, we have been busy preparing a <b>publication</b> to complement the <i>Our Mythical Childhood</i> animations. <b><i>Teaching Ancient Greece: Lesson Plans, Animations, and Resources</b></i> is a collection of lesson plans based around the five <i>Our Mythical Childhood</i> animations. They have been prepared by experienced teachers from all over the world. Every lesson plan contains guidance for delivering a class and an interesting and challenging activity. The lesson plans have been brought together with further resources to support teaching about antiquity, including materials about pottery and resources for making your own animations. The <b>Iris section</b> contains lesson plans by <b>Kay Brown in New Zealand</b>, taking a <b>cross-cultural look at mythology</b>, and by <b>Dean Nevin in Switzerland</b>, introducing a <b>messenger themed writing challenge for younger children</b>. As a bonus, <b><i>Teaching Ancient Greece</b></i> will be available as an <b>Open Access publication</b>, meaning that it can be downloaded for free. A hard copy will be available to purchase for those who love a physical book! We’ll have more news for you as the publication date approaches.<br>
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<i>Above, a screenshot from 'About Iris', also found in 'Teaching Ancient Greece' in a section on Iris in 'The Iliad'.</i><br>
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In other news… a throwback to earlier in the summer. We took a trip to <b>Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich</b>, in southern Germany. The conference <i>Mythological Education in Britain and Germany</i> was part of the University of Cambridge-Ludwig Maximilian Strategic Partnership: an opportunity to visit each other’s universities and share good practice in Classics teaching and teacher training. Here are some images of the event:<br>
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<i>Above, Panoply’s Sonya Nevin talking about using vase animations in the classroom.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Emily Rushton describes ways of making Classics more inclusive, particularly for those who are neurodivergent.</i>
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<i>Above, Lisa Hay from the Cambridge Schools’ Classics Project discusses the much-celebrated revamp of the Cambridge Latin Course.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Our host, LMU's Markus Janka, presents the varied tradition of Ovid in education.</i>
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<i>Above, Markus and his colleagues have published this Latin translation of Suzanne Collins’ 'Hunger Games' (complete with a Latin-German vocab guide).</i><br>
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<i>Above, Raimund Fichtel describes the Classics teacher training programme at LMU and the top-up days which teachers from across Bavaria can attend at the university to keep them up-to-date with research and to share ideas and approaches.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Berkan Sariaydin on the tradition of Virgil’s 'Aeneid' within education.</i><br>
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<i>Above, pupils from the Gymnasium Schäftlarn near Munich, with their Latin teacher Michael Stierstorfer. The students gave excellent presentations on their research projects into various classical reception topics.</i><br>
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<i>Above, the programme for Mythological Education in Britain and Germany.</i><br>
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We also had the opportunity to visit <b>Wilhelmsgymnasium</b>, a secondary school in Munich with a fine tradition of teaching Latin and Classical Civilisation. Many thanks to everyone who made us so welcome and let us crash the classes! And a big thank-you to everyone at Ludwig Maximilian and at Cambridge's Faculty of Education for bringing it all together.<br>
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Munich is sometimes called the most northerly Italian city - for its great tradition of Classics and neoclassicism. A trip there wouldn't be complete without a visit to the city’s superb museums, so Steve and I had a very enjoyable trip to the <b>Staatliche Antikensammlungen</b>, which holds Bavaria's extensive collections of antiquities from Greece, Etruria and Rome. Many thanks to curator Astrid Fendt for showing us around. We will have more news about our experiences with the Munich collections in due course…
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<i>Finally, above, a scene of vase-making from the magnificent collection at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen</i>.
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-20102903381658907772022-06-16T09:57:00.001+01:002022-06-16T09:57:05.092+01:00Constructing the African: A Panoply Interview with Najee Olya.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkOuvrmk5O96mlTvh-GFwYdUIHEVdAfi68WFibEeOB934v6Glb6JsP34_ZHqONViywyNKyAUMlZtCQYqZUD2fZTTxXGPvQqY2aE0m9vRrHPd4tja9sxGiTAX1Fuv38wRHytRsJtIR_6sVCranqem_Isr5MSHLDxOWmWLGrhoPGGi9SnldhWWsWw/s1336/Olya%20bio%20pic.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1336" data-original-width="1061" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkOuvrmk5O96mlTvh-GFwYdUIHEVdAfi68WFibEeOB934v6Glb6JsP34_ZHqONViywyNKyAUMlZtCQYqZUD2fZTTxXGPvQqY2aE0m9vRrHPd4tja9sxGiTAX1Fuv38wRHytRsJtIR_6sVCranqem_Isr5MSHLDxOWmWLGrhoPGGi9SnldhWWsWw/s320/Olya%20bio%20pic.png"/></a></div>
We’re delighted to have the chance to speak to <b>Najee Olya</b>, a PhD student at the University of Virginia, USA, working on the dissertation, <b><i>Constructing the African in Ancient Greek Vase-Painting: Images, Meanings and Contexts</i></b>. Before beginning doctoral study, Najee earned a B.A. in Anthropology and Classical Civilization at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an M.A. in Classics at the University of Arizona. In the field, he has participated in archaeological excavations in Italy at Etruscan Populonia at Poggio del Molino, and since 2018 at Mt. Lykaion in Arcadia, Greece. Najee is currently <b>a William Sanders Scarborough Fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens</b>, researching vases in Greek collections and their archaeological contexts. The next academic year will see him take up a post as the Bothmer Fellow in the Department of Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In this interview, Najee offers insight into his research on Africans in ancient Greek pottery…<br>
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<b>1) What contexts do you think ancient Greeks and ancient Africans are encountering each other in?</b><br>
I think that the primary context would be in <b>Egypt</b>. Given that there are Greeks in Egypt in the Archaic period as mercenaries and at Naukratis, it must be there that Greeks are encountering not only Egyptians but people from elsewhere in Africa, especially from south of Egypt itself—what the Greeks generally referred to as Aithiopia (not to be confused with the modern state). I also suspect that <b>major hubs of maritime trade</b> would have been the sorts of places where Greeks encountered people from Africa, at various ports and emporia – trading posts - around the Aegean and the wider Mediterranean. Conversely, I’m inclined to think that direct contacts on the Greek mainland were somewhat limited. That said, in a major city like Athens, for example, the interest in Africans among potters and vase-painters seems to indicate at least some kind of familiarity with what Africans looked like that doesn’t appear to come from just seeing artistic depictions. Moreover, there were almost certainly foreigners and people of foreign descent working in the Kerameikos in Athens, so it's impossible to rule out that at least one or two may have been from Africa. There’s also Athens’s port at Piraeus, which saw a lot of traffic from a variety of traders and merchants.<br>
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<i>Above, a janiform cup (ie. two heads back-to-back like the god, Janus), showing an African and a European, Attic c.500-450BCE, The Art Museum, Princeton University: 33.45.</i><br>
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<b>2) Who are the Africans depicted in Greek pottery – what trends are there?</b><br>
There are three categories, as far as I can tell, into which the Africans depicted in Greek pottery can be grouped. Two of these are fairly straightforward <b>mythological</b> episodes and scenes of <b>daily life</b>. The third is more difficult, and consists of <b>imagery that doesn’t fit neatly</b> into either of the two other categories.<br>
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In terms of the mythological episodes, the main figures from Africa are <b>Memnon and Andromeda</b>. The pair are both said to be royalty from Aithiopia in the mythological tradition. Memnon was king of Aithiopia and an ally to Troy in the Trojan War, where he led a huge army from Aithiopia before eventually being killed by the hero Achilles. Andromeda was an Aithiopian princess who was offered up as a sacrifice to appease the ketos serpent, a sea monster sent by Poseidon to ravage the coasts of Aithiopia after Andromeda’s mother Cassieopeia had boasted that she (Cassieopeia) was more beautiful than the Nereids. Andromeda was rescued by Perseus, and the two married. In vase painting, Neither Memnon nor Andromeda are shown as African themselves, but there are instances in the iconography where Memnon is shown preparing to depart for Troy attended by African warriors.<br>
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In the Andromeda scenes, she is shown being bound between stakes for the ketos monster, sometimes in Persian dress. There are Africans on a number of the Andromeda vases. There are some mythological traditions which associate Memnon and Andromeda with the Near East, so this might explain why they are not depicted as African themselves.<br>
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<i> Above, Andromeda with African attendants, Attic pelike c.475-425BCE, Boston Museum of Art, 63.2663.</i><br>
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Next, there are depictions of the hero <b>Herakles</b> in Egypt and Libya. In Egypt, he encounters the <b>pharaoh Busiris</b>, who wants to sacrifice the hero to end a drought. On pottery Herakles is shown routing Busiris and his priests, who are always depicted as African men. In Libya, Herakles is accosted by the <b>earth giant Antaios</b>, who waylays strangers, forces them to wrestle, and then adorns the temple of Poseidon with their bones after he has killed them. Herakles defeats Antaios by lifting him from the ground as they wrestle and cutting him off from the Earth, from which he derived his strength. On pottery, physical contrast is shown between the two as they wrestle—Antaios has a <b>long unkempt beard and hair, similar to Egyptian depictions of Libyans</b>.<br>
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<i>Above, Heracles fights Busiris, Attic pelike c.500-450BCE, Athens, National Museum: CC1175.</i><br>
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As for images from daily life, we have <b>African stable-hands</b>, <b>warriors</b>, and some <b>attendants at the grave</b>. These figures can generally be <b>identified by their very curly hair and prominent noses</b>. The last set of objects includes things like plastic vases, which show either full African figures or African faces alone or paired with women, satyrs, Herakles, and Dionysos. Finally, there are alabastra, a shape that rather circuitously made its way to Greece from Egypt, used for perfumed oil which depict African warriors.<br>
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<i>Above, An African groom cares for a horse, Attic kylix c.490, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.281.71.</i><br>
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<b>3) Some Africans seem to be represented rather beautifully; other depictions feel a bit… off. What’s the balance between realism, idealism, and hostile caricature in ancient Greek depictions of Africans?</b><br>
On the whole, I would say that most of the depictions are <b>not hostile caricature</b>. I can think of one example, a lekythos in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, which shows what seems to be an African woman being tortured by satyrs. There is also at least one image of a figure who may be African shown wearing shackles and is unambiguously an enslaved person. I do not think, however, that it is possible to definitively call either instance caricature.<br>
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Plastic vessels made in the form of <b>African youths being attacked by crocodiles</b> have sometime been interpreted as cruel, mocking images, but one can just as easily say that these show interest in the river Nile and awareness of its dangerous fauna. Aside from these examples, however, I think that many of the images are either ambiguous or benign. It is <b>difficult to know what the representations were meant to convey to ancient Greek users</b>. When it comes to realism, the images are realistic to a degree, but as with all ancient Greek art, it is superficial and illusory. Especially when it comes to pottery, I think that one has to remember that the medium and its convention limit just how true-to-life the representations can be. The end result is something of a pastiche of reality and imagination—the vase-painter selects the subject matter and then executes it in his own way, but the final product will always be constrained by things like the limited colour palette and the curving surface of the vase.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVThgUPGfPpxvp_fglWFEDhIlddd6-rP6Pr2k6WhLUYpaQv3YNOA_S95qQ7vap9EdQNt7oUuBOfduIiTTm9sBH6oFX3KBajxgIhtZu4Z3e0r6ucpz7a_zt0J9DuQY6G2KNIRVQ4Ida6IVk8Iiju1v6PufG5EVJxXzzhN_lA9T_ZefaERaIHWLA0Q/s760/GR_58_1865_20_281_29.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVThgUPGfPpxvp_fglWFEDhIlddd6-rP6Pr2k6WhLUYpaQv3YNOA_S95qQ7vap9EdQNt7oUuBOfduIiTTm9sBH6oFX3KBajxgIhtZu4Z3e0r6ucpz7a_zt0J9DuQY6G2KNIRVQ4Ida6IVk8Iiju1v6PufG5EVJxXzzhN_lA9T_ZefaERaIHWLA0Q/s320/GR_58_1865_20_281_29.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjTtsAH9G_boSDTg-YQtoM8-Bf38rA3sWkkdbMz7MXTfgqcUMrQweNKDXqhmgkbifN7zHBo2r-GV_q3MRr_tr7lezJmMrrDSB3tyd4OJmpVPhmusjmM9_5iSH4hn419d9Pqw788FSG6fRtYPio6917X0_bGRSxQfYIhTUDwUKe5gPBC5JCao43A/s760/GR_58_1865_20_283_29.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjTtsAH9G_boSDTg-YQtoM8-Bf38rA3sWkkdbMz7MXTfgqcUMrQweNKDXqhmgkbifN7zHBo2r-GV_q3MRr_tr7lezJmMrrDSB3tyd4OJmpVPhmusjmM9_5iSH4hn419d9Pqw788FSG6fRtYPio6917X0_bGRSxQfYIhTUDwUKe5gPBC5JCao43A/s320/GR_58_1865_20_283_29.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, an African youth attacked by a crocodile, Attic rhyton, c.350BCE, <u><a href=" https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/65810">Fitzwilliam Museum</a></u>, Cambridge GR.58.1865.</i><br>
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<b>4) Overall, what does pottery add to our understanding of ancient Greek ideas about Africans and Africa?</b><br>
First and foremost, I think it reminds us that ancient <b>Greece was part of an interconnected ancient Mediterranean</b>. Also, that “ancient Greece” spanned three continents, with settlements and poleis not just in Europe but also in North Africa and Western Asia. Pottery tells us that <b>ancient Greeks were interested in depicting foreign people such as Africans</b>, and while it is difficult to interpret all of the different representations, it is clear that potters and vase-painters found Africans an intriguing subject, and that the purchasers of Athenian vases did too. The representations, in a general way, seem to indicate that Athenians were thinking about North Africa in particular, <b>especially Libya and Egypt, where there were permanent Greek settlements</b>. What they specifically thought about Africans is harder to determine from the pottery itself, but it does not seem to be the case that Africans were viewed any differently than other foreigners. Certainly, there was a general chauvinism toward non-Greeks, but Africans do not appear to have been singled out more than other groups, such as Persians or Scythians.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YfELTa_5F9-SUciDgNe7yZzGcXlBCU7bu_NnVeyMI9fxrktpRk5gftMU92JPP4RKEk2VHtM_WialctUwmqrN7b5xh2lSyiC4ehtPOQWDilU9eefJcrYL7SMPpsrD-ceebOyE9-CHnp_RvPXUoOvlNWOHDUIqR-VsetL353IB8qpBdCPco39ehw/s3001/J.%20Getty%20Museum-African%20Alabatron.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="3001" data-original-width="2327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YfELTa_5F9-SUciDgNe7yZzGcXlBCU7bu_NnVeyMI9fxrktpRk5gftMU92JPP4RKEk2VHtM_WialctUwmqrN7b5xh2lSyiC4ehtPOQWDilU9eefJcrYL7SMPpsrD-ceebOyE9-CHnp_RvPXUoOvlNWOHDUIqR-VsetL353IB8qpBdCPco39ehw/s320/J.%20Getty%20Museum-African%20Alabatron.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, An African in trousers, Attic alabastron, c.500-450, The J. Paul Getty Museum: 71.AE.202.</i><br>
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<b>5) What would you like to see improved in terms of using pottery to increase general understanding of Black people within ancient Greek culture?</b><br>
One thing that could use some improvement is the <b>terminology used to describe the artifacts</b>, which is often simultaneously both outdated and anachronistic. In scholarship this is due in part to the rather small corpus dealing with Africans on Greek pottery, much of which is several decades old now. Also, you will often see in museums or on museum websites descriptions that assume the depictions of Africans on vases are slaves, without any explanation, or descriptions that make use of discredited race-essentialist anthropology to discuss their physical characteristics.<br>
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I think that it’s extremely important to <b>rethink how Greek vases with depictions of Africans are presented in museums</b>, as those are the spaces where the wider public is most likely to encounter the artifacts. Some museums are already making efforts to rethink their use of language for the objects, such as the J. Paul Getty Museum and the North Carolina Museum of Art. I was recently asked by a curator at the latter to write a new label for an Athenian black-figure vase in their collection which has a depiction of Memnon and one of his African warriors. Hopefully the number of museums revamping their descriptions will increase going forward.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHn3sEpphQW-HExuZzjvHzowtQ7pNKGeYO_xvNC-cDkXr5fps7ZTd44E5EVkqj-gRJx8cSJmPg1ClJqvOOaoZa2rsJhi7kfpXQwfNz0KZ62WV_hU4hNwk30ct-ULqiR9rRpnPbuH4j9AlyE45zcSACELsNkLKzcy9kBPAKjQQDP0js_il4Aod_g/s2500/British%20Museum--Memnon%20and%20African%20Warriors.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2500" data-original-width="1803" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHn3sEpphQW-HExuZzjvHzowtQ7pNKGeYO_xvNC-cDkXr5fps7ZTd44E5EVkqj-gRJx8cSJmPg1ClJqvOOaoZa2rsJhi7kfpXQwfNz0KZ62WV_hU4hNwk30ct-ULqiR9rRpnPbuH4j9AlyE45zcSACELsNkLKzcy9kBPAKjQQDP0js_il4Aod_g/s320/British%20Museum--Memnon%20and%20African%20Warriors.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, King Memon with African attendants, Attic amphora by Exekias, c.575-525, British Museum, B209, previously 1849,0518.10.</i>
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<b>6) Perhaps you could tell us a bit about your Fellowships – what they are, how they work?<br></b>
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been awarded several fellowships that allowed me to study in Greece — from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) and the American Philosophical Society (APS). I started out at the American School in 2017 with a scholarship for the Summer Session, which is a six-week course involving <b>travel around Greece</b> to archaeological sites and museums. I came back to the ASCSA two years later in 2019 with a fellowship to participate in the Regular Program, which is an academic year spent in Athens, travelling around Greece more than the Summer Session. Now, I’m wrapping up my third stay at the American School with a fellowship as an Associate Member. This time, I’m focused entirely on working on my <b>dissertation</b> and taking the opportunity to <b>revisit artifacts</b> in museums relevant to my research, in addition to obtaining special permission to photograph many of the vases outside of their displays.<br>
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I received a Lewis and Clark Grant from the APS in 2019, which allowed me to do <b>field research</b> in Greece. I travelled to archaeological sites that are documented as having had material from Egypt excavated there, created an archive of photographs, and got a better sense of the sites and their topography from first-hand observation. Finally, in September 2022 I’ll be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for a year as the Bothmer Fellow in the Department of Greek and Roman Art. The fellowship will allow me to complete my dissertation and to access a number of the vases included in it, as well as the Met’s libraries. It’s worth keeping your eyes open to see what opportunities and funding are available.<br>
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<b>7) Who’s your favourite ancient Greek?</b><br>
It might be an obvious answer, but I will say <b>Herodotus</b>. I first read the <i>Histories</i> almost fifteen years ago as a Classics undergraduate, first in translation in a course taught wonderfully by Nanno Marinatos, and then in ancient Greek language courses. I think that it must be Herodotus’s <b>interest in different cultures</b> and his <b>efforts to understand</b> and make them legible for his readers that resonated with me, especially as someone who had already studied a bit of anthropology and archaeology before I came to Classics. As much as I enjoyed Herodotus years ago, I had pretty much left him behind until I selected my dissertation topic at the end of the first year working on the PhD. Since then, I’ve been revisiting him, as he famously writes about both <b>Egypt and Aithiopia</b>. I still read the <i>Histories</i> with a sense of wonder, but now I appreciate the complexity and sophistication of the work even more. Herodotus is one of the people from antiquity that I’d love to have a chat with if time travel were possible!<br>
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<b><i>Many thanks to Najee for sharing his expertise!</i></b><br>
If you enjoyed this topic, you may enjoy our previous blog post, <u><a href=" http://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2020/10/black-history-month-black-and-white.html "> Black and White Andromeda.</a></u>
<br> We'll have more news soon regarding a <b>new Iris video!</b>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-76814192174779557902022-04-01T16:12:00.003+01:002022-04-02T11:49:25.799+01:00Marathon AdventuresGood news! Panoply’s Sonya Nevin has a new book out: <i><b><a href=" https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/idea-of-marathon-9781350157590/
"> The Idea of Marathon: Battle and Culture </a></i></b>. Published by Bloomsbury, it’s a rip-roaring ride through 3000 years of history. In this post we’ll be talking to Sonya about the book, including where ancient vases fit into all this. Sonya also had the pleasure of talking to podcaster <b><a href="https://ancientblogger.libsyn.com/the-idea-of-marathon-with-dr-sonya-nevin"> Ancient History Hound </a></b> recently, so you’ll find a link to their podcast chat here too.<br>
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<b>1) What’s the book about?</b><br>
The Battle of Marathon has had a huge impact on culture ever since it happened. <i>The Idea of Marathon</i> introduces all the players and gives you the build up to the battle. We get the battle itself – what kinds of <b>weapons</b> are being used, what kind of <b>wounds</b> do people get, what we can and can’t know about an ancient battle. We get the fall-out – how ancient armies deal with the wounded and the dead. While a battle takes place over a short time, the fall-out is forever – so the second half of the battle takes a look at how the battle quickly began to influence politics, art, education and all sorts. It then follows that thread, and look at <b>how and why Marathon remained significant for all the generations that followed</b> – from ancient Greeks looking back at their past, to other ancient peoples comparing their own conflicts to Marathon, and then the way that it remains relevant post-antiquity – still influencing art, education, rhetoric, and shaping how people talk about struggles, whether you’re in the Renaissance, the wars of the 18th century, or you’re running a marathon in the 21st century. In a way it’s a big story, but I’ve also kept a human quality to it – we see what the battle means to some of the people who participate and their families. So we get to know the commanders of the Persian force – Artaphernes and Datis the Mede, and we follow what Marathon means to the Athenian Miltiades and his children Cimon the general, Elpinice, and Metiochus – a Greek who lived his life as a Persian. They’re a fascinating bunch who lived through a fascinating era.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCh6gNEIkRGGfiSwQSyTUYp1EGUWpOb_MLI7uOW-Os6tIL28-5aSsPLRpYQVQ_-CtTGivIXOLhkKaO6I7u0bwW2ZBucJGSawq-qat_sVoo-Wdv57q8HQlUYTHrbIElCLCSSdPH2jovFbqInpYwcWRfMzctXvB9KU1aIjvZRO245SL5RZZtQo5u_g/s1600/Idea%20of%20Marathon%20image%20flier.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCh6gNEIkRGGfiSwQSyTUYp1EGUWpOb_MLI7uOW-Os6tIL28-5aSsPLRpYQVQ_-CtTGivIXOLhkKaO6I7u0bwW2ZBucJGSawq-qat_sVoo-Wdv57q8HQlUYTHrbIElCLCSSdPH2jovFbqInpYwcWRfMzctXvB9KU1aIjvZRO245SL5RZZtQo5u_g/s320/Idea%20of%20Marathon%20image%20flier.jpg"/></a></div><br>
<b>2) Did anything surprise you while you were researching it?</b><br>
The Greco-Persian Wars are something I’ve been interested in for many years, so it was a pleasure to get so stuck into them. Surprise-wise – this was the first time I had read much about the importance of spells in relation to healing wounds – that was interesting. I had always known about Metiochus, Miltiades son, going off to lead a Persian life, but I was surprised to find out more about how he and Miltiades became the protagonists an ancient novel, and from there persisted in Persian poetry. There’s a section in the book called <i>The Colonels and the Shah</i>, which looks at the ancient past under regimes in 20th century Greece and Iran. The stuff about the last Shah of Persia and how he tried to make use of the ancient past – that’s a wild ride.<br>
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<b>3) How did ancient pottery contribute?</b><br>
Ancient pottery is often a great compliment to literature and to other material culture. We can see through pottery, for example, that the ancient Greeks took an interest in what was happening in Persia. The earliest surviving vase depicting a satrap or perhaps the Great King was made in around 520BCE – it shows attention to detail regarding the clothing specific to an elite figure of that culture.<br>
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There’s also attention to detail regarding the Scythians – a nomadic people who lived to the north east of Greece. A ceramic plate survives that actually names Miltiades. It’s a ‘<b>kalos vase</b>’, so there’s an inscription on that says ‘Miltiades kalos’ – ‘Miltiades is beautiful’. It depicts a Scythian, probably because Miltiades was going to an area where the Scythians often were. So the plate shows the Athenian interest in other cultures and there’s a sensitivity to the Scythians’ distinctive wearing of trousers, their use of the bow and of horse equipage.<br>
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<i>Above, Miltiades kalos, Miltiades is beautiful. Plate made in Athens, c.520-510BCE, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, AN1879.175.</i><br>
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Pottery also shows us how Greek attitudes towards the Persians changes over time. From scenes of Greeks versus Persians fighting as equals, depictions of them begin to be less respectful, there is less sense of them as an equal, formidable foe. On the other hand, we see the persistence of interest in the era of the Greco-Persian Wars. We had an adventure to Italy just before the pandemic took off in Britain, and in the fabulous Archaeological Museum in Naples we saw the famous Darius Vase. That was made around c.340-330BCE, yet it depicts a play which features Darius, the Great King of Persia.<br>
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<i>Above, The Darius Vase, made in Apulia, c.340-330BCE, Naples Museo Archeologico Nazionale H3249.</i><br>
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<b>4) What are you working on now?</b><br>
Oh, there’s always plenty going on. On the Panoply front, we’re making two new mini-documentaries to accompany the <i><u><a href="https://www.panoply.org.uk/dionysus" target="_blank">Dionysus</a></i></u> and <i><u><a href="https://www.panoply.org.uk/iris" target="_blank">Iris Rainbow Goddess</a></i></u> animations. These join the <i>About Sappho 44</i> and <i>About Heracles and the Erymanthian Boar</i> documentaries which you can fin don the Panoply website. I also have a year-long post as an Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw. That’s enabling me to put together a volume of activity and lesson plans that go with the <u><a href="https://www.panoply.org.uk/our-mythical-childhood" target="_blank">Our Mythical Childhood animations</a></u>. There are contributions from teachers at the top of their game all over the world, so I think it will be a really useful and fun collection. There will also be a chapter of mine about the Panoply vase animations in a collected volume edited by Anastasia Bakogianni and Luis Unceta Gómez; <b><i>Classical Reception, State of the Discipline and New Directions</i></b> will be a great read, so it’s exciting to be part of that.<br>
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<b>5) Who’s your favourite ancient Greek?</b><br>
When I did a <u><a href="https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2016/12/military-leaders-and-sacred-space-in.html" target="_blank">Panoply interview</a></u> for my first book, <i><u><a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/military-leaders-and-sacred-space-in-classical-greek-warfare-9781350247130/">Military Leaders and Sacred Space</a></u></i>, I gave <b>Miltiades</b> as my favourite ancient Greek. That’s still my answer. Maybe he’s not entirely a good man, but he is a great man, and his life is such an adventure – I love that kind of thing in ancient history. I’m also tempted to give a second answer, which would be quite different – <b>Plutarch</b>. We can know more of Plutarch's mind than we do of Miltiades, as we can read so much of his work. He was a wise man and I’ve learned a lot from him in all sorts of ways; he’s been a very positive influence on my life and I’m very grateful for that. Still, Miltiades for the win – what a life!<br>
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You’ll find <b><i>The Idea of Marathon</i></b> on the Bloomsbury website <u><a href=" https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/idea-of-marathon-9781350157590/
"> here</a></u> and in all good bookshops. To check out Sonya’s Marathon chat with the <b>Ancient History Hound</b>, take yourself to: <a href=" https://ancientblogger.libsyn.com/the-idea-of-marathon-with-dr-sonya-nevin
"> https://ancientblogger.libsyn.com/the-idea-of-marathon-with-dr-sonya-nevin
</a><br>
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Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-53739409032716497722021-11-28T18:30:00.003+00:002021-11-28T18:33:53.741+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMFTcEbaM_sn3Xa1o7Uan9ULr3Gxo90CqOYyi-1GCpgsEquc7wC3U3qoaFz9fBLSr7Ub9RggE_mQC1YMjKFXfZi6F3vilWUXu_tE-ZKxvibvWakg0QbJK_aRemxbn_Or0cLbO-_tDZg/s540/Nevin+Marathon+2022.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMFTcEbaM_sn3Xa1o7Uan9ULr3Gxo90CqOYyi-1GCpgsEquc7wC3U3qoaFz9fBLSr7Ub9RggE_mQC1YMjKFXfZi6F3vilWUXu_tE-ZKxvibvWakg0QbJK_aRemxbn_Or0cLbO-_tDZg/s400/Nevin+Marathon+2022.jpg"/></a></div><br>
Now available to pre-order - <b><i>The Idea of Marathon: Battle and Culture</i></b> - will be out this February! <a href=" https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/idea-of-marathon-9781350157606/">https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/idea-of-marathon-9781350157606/ </a>Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-12996492330514031212021-05-26T19:48:00.001+01:002021-05-27T11:53:17.934+01:00Ancient Music: A Panoply Interview with Aliki Markantonatou <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizckyd26Om2i2AbwNTvvm_st9JtHwCYsGkLb-lKH4zkElWpkR4tlfzHfV1xswatwyHXjMGCqLZnKXjVZ9RMBUigX6hmZSyp6VTiflhte-bnw67iRQCXNz6SiluUZdtZ1GS3CIRe1OtGw/s350/Aliki+Markantonatou+bio+pic.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 20px 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizckyd26Om2i2AbwNTvvm_st9JtHwCYsGkLb-lKH4zkElWpkR4tlfzHfV1xswatwyHXjMGCqLZnKXjVZ9RMBUigX6hmZSyp6VTiflhte-bnw67iRQCXNz6SiluUZdtZ1GS3CIRe1OtGw/s320/Aliki+Markantonatou+bio+pic.jpg"></a></div>
We're delighted to be talking to <b>Aliki Markantonatou, an artist and music teacher based in Athens</b>, in Greece. Aliki trained at the National Music Academy before specialising in ancient style music. We recently had the pleasure of working with her when she recorded <i>Sappho Fragment 44</i> for the Our Mythical Childhood project. Aliki talks to us today about the lyre, ancient music, and cross-cultural collaboration...<br>
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<b>1) What attracted you to ancient Greek music?</b><br>
I studied piano and Western music, but I was feeling that I was missing something. Soon, I started listening to our traditional music and ethnic groups from all over the world. It was back in 2004 that I came across the lyre, and started experimenting and, a little later, playing my music on it. The need to use poetry arose and the ancient Greek poets, such as Sappho and Alkman offered me amazing lyrics of beauty. But the turning point was when I met Dr Chrestos Terzes and <b>I realised that, yes, the ancient sound can be approached and reproduced</b>. I was also lucky enough to attend three short seminars with Dr Stefan Hagel, and since then my interest in ancient Greek music became realistic, and not just wishful thinking. My mother is a passionate Classicist and the lullabies and fairy tales she was narrating to us were all fragments from Homer, Aesop, lyrical poetry and so on. I think that this was crucial for me to feel that antiquity is close to my heart.
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<i>Above, Aliki and other musicians at a performance of the Orphic Hymn to Hera at the Heraia festival at the Pythagorion, Samos 2016.</i><br>
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<b>2) You create many projects and collaborate with different musicians. Could you tell us how you work together with other musicians and what you do?</b><br>
I feel very lucky to have met so many amazing musicians and personalities because of the lyre. I participate regularly with the <b>Lyre ‘n’ Rhapsody female ensemble</b>, and I've performed and recorded music with Turkish musicians, Chinese, Swiss and Indian among others. The way I view the <b>lyre</b> is that, besides ancient Greek music, it <b>can exist in harmony with all kinds of traditional instruments and it can be integrated in modern soundscapes</b>. What I usually do is to study the style of the musician I am going to collaborate with and the scales of the tradition that he or she carries. The lyre is very flexible in tuning. Once I tune on the right notes, I am ready to follow and exchange musical phrases with the other artist. My main focus is to create a conversation between the instruments. As for Lyre ‘n’ Rhapsody, that is my main band, all of us create music and we work on Greek traditional songs, ancient poetry set to music and fresh compositions.<br>
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<b>3) Your recording of <i>Sappho 44</i> for Animating the Ancient World within Our Mythical Childhood has been such a great success. How did you work with Professor D'Angour's score to create the sound-scape?</b><br>
That was really an amazing project, I enjoyed every moment of it! Professor D’Angour did the arrangement for the first verse, and offered me through Skype and emails all the information I needed to proceed and set to music the other three verses. He sent me the text explaining word by word the rhythm that was hidden in the vowels, the notes of the scale I could use, the proper pronunciation and instructions of what I should avoid. In the same time, he was open to my ideas and was very helpful with all the questions that arose. When I finished the first recording I sent to him and I still remember the relief I felt when he answered, yes, everything is in place….Then it was just a matter of making it really a nice piece, and I would like to thank here the amazing sound engineer Nenad Radosevic, who is always next to me with patience and ideas.<br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QFkcmrH4XAg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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<b>4) Could you tell us a bit about the lyre that you play?</b><br>
The lyre I play is made by the luthier Nicolas Bras, who is famous for his excellent violins, cellos and all kind of repairs on instruments. It is a pretty long one, closer to varvitos (or barbitos) sound than the lyre. It has a large soundbox and 12 strings. <b>For ancient pieces I use only 9 strings</b>. For Greek traditional songs and other kind of music 12 strings are very helpful. I tried many combinations of strings and it took me some years to find the ideal one. I use guitar strings for the high notes and gut for the lower. It is a vintage, for sure, that can be arranged according to the project. I use a cardio mic for concerts and usually I attain wonderful sound. Still, when I can play in a place with natural amplification, such as churches, I prefer no mics.
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<i>Above, Aliki Markantonatou with her lyre.</i><br>
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<b>5) With Lyre n' Rhapsody you collaborate with Meet Culture in a cultural exchange between Europe and China. What have you learned from each other?</b><br>
This cultural exchange has been so deep. I could never guess the depth when it started. We were invited by Miao Bin and Eley Yuan, the founders of Meet Culture, to participate in a crossover album. Their close friend, Jang Jing, a world famous Guchen (Chinese santoor) musician received as a gift our first CD, <i>Awakening of the Muse</i>. She shared with us that she was playing it repeatedly until she made up her mind to visit Athens with Jang Di - an amazing Xiao flutist - and record with us. We were listening to their music for some months to get in tune; and when they arrived, we were ready. The recording happened in 5 days. We recorded 20 tracks, all of them beautiful. We chose the 10 best for the album <i>Aegean</i>. We learned that language is not important, just flow with the sound, trust the moment and play when is needed. We learned that we share the same dreams and can enjoy friendship with a glass of wine having Greek or Chinese food. A strong bond developed and the feeling of family is there when we meet. We joke with each other, share our problems and help and support each other. Meet Culture organised a tour in and around Shanghai for all of us and two performances in Athens. The joy of that trip and the wonderful people we met is beyond words. Elegance, care, passion, generosity, kindness to name a few. And then another surprise occurred! <b>Discussing the poetry of ancient Chinese and ancient Greek poets we found so many things in common</b>, we could not resist. We created a performance in which ancient Chinese and Greek poems interact, one after the other in a dialogue of similar ideas and values. It was not easy to do all this translation, but was worth it, and I can assure that you can find many poems in similar forms between these two nations.
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<i>Above, the poster for Meet Culture's celebration of ancient Greek and ancient Chinese music and poetry</i>.<br>
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<b>6) Who's your favourite ancient Greek?</b><br>
What a wonderful opportunity to praise <b>Pericles!!!</b> As an Athenian woman I enjoy Acropolis energy and light! Athens wouldn’t be what it is if the area around Acropolis did not exist. It would be just another town… But, now is an amazing town!!! When I feel tired or sad, I just stroll around Acropolis and feel refreshed and encouraged - thanks to this wonderful soul who managed to challenge the citizens to create this beauty! Thanks to this wonderful soul who offered equality to his spouse Aspasia, and respected democracy, I am enjoying my life in Athens, me, one person out of million people who live here and are showered by the grace of the golden ages. <b>I am always amazed by what Pericles inspired in so many generations!</b><br>
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<i>Many thanks to Aliki for these fascinating insights. Below you'll find some further examples of Aliki's performances and her interview with a Greek lyre-maker working with traditional techniques.</i><br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TFkHHzoQd54" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
<i>Above, from the 2016 Aegean Music Tour in China.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Meet Culture's Greek and Chinese collaboration on a performance of The Iliad.</i><br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y3lBFks7EbU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<i>Above, a Meet Culture interview in which Aliki Markantonatou talks to lyre-maker Yiannis Stathakos in Xerokampi, near Sparta, about traditional lyre-making techniques.</i><br>
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You'll find more videos of Aliki's performances on her website: <u><a href=" https://www.alikimarkantonatou.net/videos"> https://www.alikimarkantonatou.net/videos</a></u><br> and on Meet Culture's site: <u><a href=" https://www.meetculture.com/media"> https://www.meetculture.com/media</a></u><br>
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Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-72378984344700097962021-04-25T18:16:00.003+01:002021-04-25T18:19:36.468+01:00New Animation Extravaganza!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gKGpWB4SB-fQSKx9PVSwUDTnSPeKRAZto7l8s91ziKLMj4pcdYx1P6ybj8MCBIOsU0rS-pjCHUdx-9GHg4lW4coDvJSAHjynYsesHgyXuoZdbckLsCfak2PDyQbriru7crYgmewMvg/s1200/PVAP+CSCP+Event+poster+digital.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gKGpWB4SB-fQSKx9PVSwUDTnSPeKRAZto7l8s91ziKLMj4pcdYx1P6ybj8MCBIOsU0rS-pjCHUdx-9GHg4lW4coDvJSAHjynYsesHgyXuoZdbckLsCfak2PDyQbriru7crYgmewMvg/s320/PVAP+CSCP+Event+poster+digital.png"/></a></div><br>
Hooray for new animations! We are delighted that we have <b>new animations</b> for you – all the videos made for the Our Mythical Childhood project are now online! You can find them on their own page on the Panoply website: <u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/omc.html "> http://www.panoply.org.uk/omc.html </a></u>. There are <b>five new vase animations: Sappho 44, Heracles and the Erymanthian Boar, Dionysus, Libation, and Iris- Rainbow Goddess</b>. There are <b>two mini-documentaries: About Sappho 44</b> and <b>About Heracles</b>, and a brand new recording of <b>Sappho 44 sung in ancient Greek by Aliki Markantonatou</b> according to the score written by <b>Prof. Armand D'Angour</b> – a version of the tune that the poem would have been sung to in antiquity. You will also fine a wealth of bonus material – information about the vases and the animations, downloadable information and activity sheets, and PowerPoint presentations to help integrate the animations into lessons and lectures. We hope you have fun exploring these resrouces and trying them out.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGgZ1ose4vv4jtv6UGHcVe_ma2fBZfV4uFnqBoMlylMvJvMqded9v_nXOHcVFwTTC7Sl4eL2vR2NpMjUQEUC5BPp3AWcfWmt95VHqJQCw14O8GpoeM-k6GD6ZGUVxaXid1sFUFVqe7Q/s2048/Sonya+Nevin+OMC+launch+2021.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1342" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGgZ1ose4vv4jtv6UGHcVe_ma2fBZfV4uFnqBoMlylMvJvMqded9v_nXOHcVFwTTC7Sl4eL2vR2NpMjUQEUC5BPp3AWcfWmt95VHqJQCw14O8GpoeM-k6GD6ZGUVxaXid1sFUFVqe7Q/s320/Sonya+Nevin+OMC+launch+2021.JPG"/></a></div>
<i>Above, Panoply's Sonya Nevin concentrating hard during the online launch of the Our Mythical Childhood animations and Panoply's new partnership with the Cambridge Schools Classics Project</i>.<br>
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Many thanks to everyone who attended or spoke at the launch event for the videos. In addition to introductions to the videos, we heard from Our Mythical Childhood Principal Investigator Professor Katarzyna Marciniak, from Lisa Hay, Olivia Gillmann and Rob Hancock-Jones on their pioneering teaching with Panoply vase animations, and from Head of CSCP Caroline Bristow about where the OMC animations, videos and other resources can fit into the UK and Irish curriculums. It was great to see lots of positivity and creative teaching practice.<br><br>
This event also marked the launch of our new partnership with the <u><a href=" https://www.cambridgescp.com/ "> Cambridge Schools Classics Project </a></u> - a long-standing organisation at the University of Cambridge committed to supporting classics teaching. In due course, CSCP will be hosting our website - it will remain at the same <a href=" www.panoply.org.uk">www.panoply.org.uk</a> address but will get a revamp and some extra materials. More on that as it happens. All the Our Mythical Childhood materials will soon be available on the <u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/"> Our Mythical Childhood website</a></u> too – where you'll also find links to the other supercool projects under the OMC banner.<br>
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As you've reached the Panoply blog, I'm going to take the opportunity to point out some of its highlights. You can explore simply by scrolling through or using the Labels on the right of the page, but to jump straight in, you might fancy:<br><br>
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<u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2017/07/vases-on-stage-panoply-interview-with.html"> Ancient pottery meets ancient theatre, an interview with Dr Rosie Wyles </a></u><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs9scppSQSeSp-TNRVdcScWnYWN5A6LgDEcGvT7qqmGvyHq9EtI0wnNwT874b_X-gK8JIMHgG4TJYUtYaeTxK9dl3OYGAD2ceirNLeKgAqxv1L849f3redvjxs0tuKe7g5K7-vy6N0rA/s830/LEJbanner.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="645" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs9scppSQSeSp-TNRVdcScWnYWN5A6LgDEcGvT7qqmGvyHq9EtI0wnNwT874b_X-gK8JIMHgG4TJYUtYaeTxK9dl3OYGAD2ceirNLeKgAqxv1L849f3redvjxs0tuKe7g5K7-vy6N0rA/s320/LEJbanner.jpg"/></a></div>
<u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2018/04/greek-myth-comix-panoply-interview-with.html"> On Greek Myth Comix, by classics teacher and comic-maker L.E. Jenkinson-Brown </a></u><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01Pr1vSR3ZcDIyTvUv-ehoEyWDtTzIF7P7eL0JKkFeay2Q4p80Q14jWvC9DvbvOpEkXBFpQCVXV5r7RMw1k8NdMNE9fg9I-cJXBqhEJr4NpHp344SqhAc-ro_u2GCnZ8rOhPVxa9rzA/s320/john_boardman_book.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01Pr1vSR3ZcDIyTvUv-ehoEyWDtTzIF7P7eL0JKkFeay2Q4p80Q14jWvC9DvbvOpEkXBFpQCVXV5r7RMw1k8NdMNE9fg9I-cJXBqhEJr4NpHp344SqhAc-ro_u2GCnZ8rOhPVxa9rzA/s320/john_boardman_book.jpg"/></a></div>
<u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2016/08/on-symposiums-and-vases-interview-with.html"> Symposiums, an interview with vase king Prof. Sir John Boardman </a></u><br><br>
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<u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-world-of-ancient-music-interview.html"> On Ancient music, an interview with Prof. Conrad Steinmann</a></u>, who provided music for the OMC animations <i>Dionysus</i>, <i>Libation</i> and <i>Iris</i>.<br></u>
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You'll also find discussions of events, vases, and other art related to classical culture, such as:
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<u><a href=" http://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2020/10/black-history-month-black-and-white.html"> Black and White Andromeda</a></u> - a discussion of the representation of the Princess of Ethiopia, from ancient vases to modern young people's literature.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp9rTGMvDcIwds37Q8i9guP6zBVWbVeExsCOJX5fVLSLFhziHpzJoYCJvt401YheKmHMSGxBzz-Ly6TqVSh_u3naZ-6bPt6wQ4WEvTTC8RDWqxGj8ovWhhoyo9KpVc2Yljlhu8cpID0w/s2048/SS+and+SN+Grove+House+ERC+event+2017.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1514" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp9rTGMvDcIwds37Q8i9guP6zBVWbVeExsCOJX5fVLSLFhziHpzJoYCJvt401YheKmHMSGxBzz-Ly6TqVSh_u3naZ-6bPt6wQ4WEvTTC8RDWqxGj8ovWhhoyo9KpVc2Yljlhu8cpID0w/s320/SS+and+SN+Grove+House+ERC+event+2017.jpg"/></a></div>
<u><a href=" http://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2019/11/happy-birthday-us-celebrating-10-years.html"> Happy Birthday Panoply </a></u> - a potted history of our adventures with vase animations.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbEMgNntTNoZds6UwYolrbRnYnpIxDP6JYyWfO9d0ZC_jcoNrA0qFGVdV02ieTVFd9TFNGzqUUxLX7NV8Pch8GxNYSV_sG0-Bku_8zevaFYe-phZjm8ItI1rVn1wFevcP0xRoNr-MGg/s791/aa_mcconnell+ancient+greek+bobba+fett.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbEMgNntTNoZds6UwYolrbRnYnpIxDP6JYyWfO9d0ZC_jcoNrA0qFGVdV02ieTVFd9TFNGzqUUxLX7NV8Pch8GxNYSV_sG0-Bku_8zevaFYe-phZjm8ItI1rVn1wFevcP0xRoNr-MGg/s320/aa_mcconnell+ancient+greek+bobba+fett.jpg"/></a></div>
<u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-force-awakens-new-greek-vase-scenes.html">The Force Awakens Greek Vase Scenes </a></u> - a look at Star Wars-Greek Vase fan mash-ups.<br>
<br>A big thank-you to everyone who has contributed to creating the Our Mythical Childhood videos. We hope you have a great time using them.
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-65421954867767828812021-03-11T17:37:00.000+00:002021-03-11T17:37:28.808+00:00New Talks, New Animations, New Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqXDdIpla4nGtgjx8BkMFbhleMviW3FhF2xCjlBiSNafZUTDGLe9rh9_4Vt-IOdXll1WIAp8xM5YR1swRDX_DkzmdhLb4PSOjQYRMv5Yx5k78oHxTcnaOVnV-m-k_NyzpdD2f8y_LkQ/s1200/PVAP+CSCP+Event+poster+digital.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqXDdIpla4nGtgjx8BkMFbhleMviW3FhF2xCjlBiSNafZUTDGLe9rh9_4Vt-IOdXll1WIAp8xM5YR1swRDX_DkzmdhLb4PSOjQYRMv5Yx5k78oHxTcnaOVnV-m-k_NyzpdD2f8y_LkQ/s400/PVAP+CSCP+Event+poster+digital.png"/></a></div>
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Good news vase fans! Lots of interesting things coming up. It is finally the time to <b>launch online</b> the new animations that we've been making for the ERC-funded project <b><u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/"> Our Mythical Childhood... The Reception of Classical Antiquity in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture in Response to Regional and Global Challenges</a></b></u>. They'll be launched at a free online event on <b>Saturday 24th April</b>. This event will be an interesting and enjoyable affair. Along with the animations there'll be short talks about them, presentations from teachers who have been trialling them in the classroom along with their bonus resources, a performance of ancient music, and a chance to see the short 'About' videos that accompany the animations. <b>Registrations can be made here</b>: <u><a href=" https://www.teaching.cambridgescp.com/animating-ancient-world"> https://www.teaching.cambridgescp.com/animating-ancient-world</a></u>. Pop back here soon (or keep your eye on our FB page) for more info on the schedule.<br>
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You might notice that the booking page is a University of Cambridge address – that's because (*drumroll*) the Panoply Vase Animation Project is going into partnership with the university's Cambridge Schools Classics Project (CSCP:
<a href=" https://www.cambridgescp.com/">https://www.cambridgescp.com/</a>). They've been supporting classics teachers for many years and we're pleased that this partnership will help us to help teachers more than ever. Our website will be migrating to CSCP (still at the same web address tho), so look forward to a new layout and cool new materials. In anticipation, here's the Iris animation, which got a forward release:<br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gpMMrjDxUdI" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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There will be an even earlier opportunity to hear Panoply's Dr Sonya Nevin talking about 'Beauty and Heroism' in the animations. Sonya will be giving a talk at 4pm GMT Wednesday 17th March as part of the <b>University of Reading's Heroic Beauty: Beautiful Heroism series</b>. The link to the talk and info about other talks in the series can be found <u><a href=" http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/classics-at-reading/2021/01/15/seminar-series/?platform=hootsuite
">here</a><br></u>.
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In other good news, Sonya's book, <i><b>Military Leaders and Sacred Space in Classical Greek Warfare</i></b> is coming out in <b>paperback</b> after going down well in hardback. It's published by Bloomsbury and available at: <u><a href=" https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/military-leaders-and-sacred-space-in-classical-greek-warfare-9781350247130/ ">https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/military-leaders-and-sacred-space-in-classical-greek-warfare-9781350247130/</a></u>. Take a look! This coincides nicely with Sonya completing her second book - a deep dive into the <b>Battle of Marathon</b> - why it happened, what happened, and how it influenced society in the weeks, years, and then centuries after the battle. More on that as things unfold, and a high-five to everyone at Bloomsbury who have been so supportive during the writing of the book.<br>
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Hope to see you at the talk on Wednesday and for good times in April.
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-87147802797095059722020-10-23T19:17:00.010+01:002020-10-27T11:59:45.710+00:00Black History Month – Black and White Andromeda<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LEOg3wq7Wx7XP34SQii9BavIG4oO-f6Us0bfFSe8WYQqU8-Sx9vFQ9aEyuIPxEpFy30nm7-m1W2gQr2vQCmuxvlJbyyahzvi3YKTvKlSxwDyeB6EOE5boP0NM5mHq6NuX4psICg0bA/s682/andromeda+oconnor+screenshot.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="654" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LEOg3wq7Wx7XP34SQii9BavIG4oO-f6Us0bfFSe8WYQqU8-Sx9vFQ9aEyuIPxEpFy30nm7-m1W2gQr2vQCmuxvlJbyyahzvi3YKTvKlSxwDyeB6EOE5boP0NM5mHq6NuX4psICg0bA/s200/andromeda+oconnor+screenshot.jpg"/></a></div>
This month I had the opportunity to contribute to an Our Mythical Childhood discussion of black history and classical reception in young people's culture, organised by the University of Roehampton's Professor Susan Deacy. It was an easy choice for me to decide what to focus on – <b><u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/1037">Olympians </a></b></u> – a series of graphic novels by New York artist George O'Connor – a series which has been one of the highlights of my work on the <b><u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey"> Our Mythical Childhood database </a></b></u> of antiquity in modern young people's culture. And within <i>Olympians</i> – <b>Andromeda!</b><br>
Andromeda is a mythical <b>Ethiopian princess</b>, making her one of the explicitly non-Greek named characters of Greek mythology. She's best known for being offered up as a sacrifice to the sea monster, Ketus, and being rescued by Perseus. Andromeda features quite frequently in modern children's literature, but it is noticeable how often she is depicted as being white. In this post we'll look at the dual traditions of black and white Andromeda and at George O'Connor's refreshing depiction of her.
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<i>Above, one of many white Andromeda's in modern children's literature - this one from <b><u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/103"> Usborne's Sticker Greek Myths</a></b></u>, fair-skinned and red headed.</i><br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRKkdJHovrwS1O8rSGvIMmmmB_jDlk2PEGbEdXIBtQ35TBzttKjagh7ehEkXtAjUrpJ5rDeeoj1lmotjJHn5UGDhLwEJCiNMQC5HyHm2VjjB6C-2CyDGR8Dq_Tu_WFQKQ1RSPVQcPkA/s2048/Kindley+Andromeda.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRKkdJHovrwS1O8rSGvIMmmmB_jDlk2PEGbEdXIBtQ35TBzttKjagh7ehEkXtAjUrpJ5rDeeoj1lmotjJHn5UGDhLwEJCiNMQC5HyHm2VjjB6C-2CyDGR8Dq_Tu_WFQKQ1RSPVQcPkA/s320/Kindley+Andromeda.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Above, Tom Kindley's <b><u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/379"> Heroes of the Night Sky</a></b></u> is hugely creative although nonetheless Andromeda is depicted as very fair-skinned and blonde.</i><br>
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Depicting Andromeda as a white woman can be seen as a missed opportunity to feature a diversity of skin tones and ethnicities in the representation of ancient Greek culture. Modern illustrators are not alone in doing this however; it's part of a long tradition of white Andromedas, largely begun by ancient Greek vase painters. In this example below, we can see that the vase painter has prioritised the convention of depicting women using white slip, even when applying it to Andromeda, princess of Ethiopia. The ancient Greeks' concept of Ethiopia does not exactly correspond to the modern nation state of that name. They imagined Ethiopians living at the far regions of the earth in both Africa and Asia – where the sun sets and rises. Nonetheless, they did conceive of the Ethiopians as dark skinned (and extremely attractive) - even the name 'Aethiops' implies dark skin.
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<i>Above, a 6th century BCE Corinthian depiction of Andromeda (far right) rescued by Perseus (centre), with Andromeda's skin picked out in white slip as it would be for other women in that period. Vase now in the <u><a href=" http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=685799&viewType=detailView "> Berlin Altes Museum, F 1652</a></u></i><br><br>
Ancient Greek vase painters were more than able to depict black Africans when they wanted to. Numerous vases include depictions of black Africans. Sometimes they're shown doing something; sometimes the vase maker focuses on the person's head, drawing out contrasts in appearance. Some of these approach caricature and are not very nice, sometimes they're more respectfully done and rather beautiful.<br>
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<i>Above, an Athenian kantharos, c.500BCE, Boston Museum of Fine Arts 98.926. This form of cup with two heads is known as 'janiform', here two women.</i><br>
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<i>Above, an Athenian jug featuring the head of a male African youth, 4th century, <u><a href=" https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/246978 "> Metropolitan Museum</a></i></u><br>
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<i>Above, an Athenian pelike featuring a black African youth leading a camel, executed in red figure. Vase in the St Petersburg Hermitage.</i><br>
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Despite this ability to depict black Africans, Andromeda is not the only Ethiopian who Greek artists seem to have avoided depicting with that appearance. <b>Memnon</b>, King of Ethiopia, who fought at Troy is typically depicted as looking like the other lighter-skinned heroes, or his face is avoided altogether. The master painter Exekias depicts him on this vase with his helmet obscuring his face, standing between two African servants.<br>
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<i>Above, a black figure amphora by Exekias, helmeted Memnon with black African servants, British Museum 1849,0518.10, © The Trustees of the British Museum</i><br>
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We can also see that even once black figure went out of style, and with it the use of white slip to depict women, Andromeda is not represented as a black woman although she is dressed in Asian trousers:<br>
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<i>Above, an Athenian red-figure hydria (shoulder section) c.440BCE, preparations to sacrifice Andromeda, who is sporting Asian clothing.
<u><a href=" https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1843-1103-24 ">British Museum 1843,1103.24</a></u> © The Trustees of the British Museum.</i><br>
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<i>Above, an Athenian red figure pelike by the Niobid Painter, c.440BCE. Andromeda offered for sacrifice, clothed in Asian trousers, accompanied by Africans depicted in black slip with white slip clothing. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 63.2663.</i><br><br>
Vase art and the art of mosaic makers, painters, and writers all influenced how people thought about Andromeda. By the time we reach the 1st century CE, the Roman poet <b>Ovid</b> was referring to Andromeda's white <b>'marble statue'</b> body (<i>Metamorphoses</i>, 4.676). Heliodorus in the 3rd century CE went even further – the entire plot of his novel hinges on the Ethiopian princess being unexpectedly white. Heliodorus' <i>Aethiopica</i> and Ovid's <i>Met</i> were to have a huge influence on Renaissance painters and their vision of white Andromeda shaped later traditions around the princess. These are the origin of the white Andromedas in modern children's literature.<br>
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<i>Above, one of many white Andromeda's, this one by Volpato after an earlier painting by Polidoro Caravaggio (c.1497-c.1543). As is frequently the case in images of this subject, Andromeda's white body is contrasted with the dark background of the rock.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Edward Burne-Jones in the 19th century followed the same tradition, making much of the contrast of light and dark in his Perseus Series.<u><a href=" https://www.southamptoncityartgallery.com/collection/the-perseus-series/ "> Southampton City Art Gallery.</a></u></i><br><br>
This is not the only tradition available to follow. Traditions around black Andromeda are however a bit of a mixed bag. In antiquity, we find a writer discussing black Andromeda and that writer is.... Ovid! The writer who contributed to traditions of white Andromeda also wrote about her elsewhere as a beautiful black woman. In <b><i>Heroines</i> and <i>The Art of Love</i></b> she is explicitly said to be dark skinned. This was not always taken up in a positive light, however. The <b>Christian Fathers</b>, early writers on Christian theology and philosophy, followed this tradition but used it to establish a connection between Andromeda's dark skin and human sinfulness. Dark Andromeda is human sin; fair Perseus is the symbol of Christ coming to the rescue with salvation. So far, so racist. Some Renaissance artists were also aware of this tradition, yet they didn't adopt its racist implications and instead they depicted a black Andromeda without the symbolic baggage of the Church Fathers. They were, however, inclined to hark back to the early idea of dark skinned Andromeda being Asian rather than African. We can see this not through the Persian clothing that we saw from Greek vase painters (Renaissance artists prefer a nude); we see it in her conspicuously long, straight hair.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjUck36JWLRKQ_ZPEJlJGpLAoNyaHXkSjAdrNG7e58wdmgDcNdJhzGZmHPnnTq-ryLR4huGFdkfhDC4Yn_un3o9cvr4tad2jP-ZEmYcBitfKQFUC9v4HK7bboJwr07CwQaxydgcP88g/s1597/Abraham+van+Diepenbeek+Black+Andromeda+1655.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1597" data-original-width="1252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjUck36JWLRKQ_ZPEJlJGpLAoNyaHXkSjAdrNG7e58wdmgDcNdJhzGZmHPnnTq-ryLR4huGFdkfhDC4Yn_un3o9cvr4tad2jP-ZEmYcBitfKQFUC9v4HK7bboJwr07CwQaxydgcP88g/s320/Abraham+van+Diepenbeek+Black+Andromeda+1655.jpg"/></a></div>
<i> Above, A dark skinned Andromeda, contrasted against the pale rocks, by Abraham van Diepenbeek, 1655.</i><br><br>
This look at the background provides a context for thinking about the depiction of Andromeda in O'Connor's <i>Olympians</i>. She features most in the second volume, <i>Athena - Grey-Eyed Goddess</i>. When we first see Andromeda, she's chained to the rocks with the monster approaching. She's a beautiful dark skinned black woman, with her curly hair cropped short and a white dress on – the colour Ovid says that she preferred to wear because the colour looks good against her skin. She is frightened then, out of the corner of her well-lashed eye, she spots Perseus flying in to the rescue. The sea monster is turned to stone, and from just behind Andromeda we see Perseus politely introduce himself to her. Then we get the close-up of her endearing radiant smile, accompanied by a flash of gold from her earing. This is a positive depiction of her as a beautiful black African woman. The framing of the myth is also very positive. The narrator notes that while Perseus had a lot of help to carry out the Medusa mission, his decision to help Andromeda was his own choice and it proved his genuine heroism. We get an update that they fell in love, married, and moved to his homeland. She's not an automatic prize; it's a love match.<br>
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<i>Above, the first glimpse of Andromeda in George O'Connor's 'Athena', 2010.</i><br><br>
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<i>Above, scenes of Andromeda's rescue in George O'Connor's 'Athena', 2010.</i><br><br>
Andromeda also features in O'Connor's <b><i>Hera - The Goddess and Her Glory</i></b>, the third installment of the <i>Olympians</i> series. <i>Hera</i> focuses largely on the Labours of Heracles. In discussing Heracles' origins, the narrator notes that <b>Heracles' mother, Alcmene, was the granddaughter of Perseus and Andromeda</b>, who are depicted at the famous rocky shore. While this is mythologically true, it's a connection within Heracles' background that is very rarely drawn attention to. You could read an awful lot about Heracles without finding reference to the Ethiopian element of his ancestry. This aspect of Heracles' background is also framed very positively in the text. There is explicit reference to Perseus and Andromeda founding many of the great cities of ancient Greece and forming 'the mightiest royal family in antiquity'. The greatest hero owes plenty of his greatness to his fantastic great-grandmother, Andromeda. Nor is Heracles white-washed in the <i>Olympians</i> series; it’s a series that features a wide range of skin tones and Heracles is amongst the darker toned heroes, presumably in reference to his part-Ethiopian heritage.<br>
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<i>Above, Heracles' lineage includes his mighty great-grandmother, Andromeda.</i><br><br>
This whizz through art history has been a reminder that the ways in which we think about ancient figures are influenced by long and complex historical processes. All artists have agency, however, and choices get made. George O'Connor's <i>Olympians</i> series gives us a positive interpretation of Andromeda which celebrates her legendary beauty, her blackness, and her legacy within Greek mythology. When we think about diversifying the Classics, whether in the classroom or in children's publishing, one simple yet powerful step is to honour the Ethiopians who have always been part of it.<br>
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Some references:<br>
Elizabeth McGrath, 'The Black Andromeda', <i>Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes</i>, Vol. 55 (1992), pp. 1-18.<br>
George O'Connor, <i>Athena</i>, FirstSecond, 2010.<br>
George O'Connor, <i>Hera</i>, FirstSecond, 2011.<br>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-18337060051495569512020-07-20T11:35:00.000+01:002020-07-20T11:35:26.790+01:00Tracing the Potter's Wheel! A Panoply Interview with Dr Jill Hilditch <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf37BEiLn0GfHVCNa8yiQHHtrvIHuy32UGEASDe6oCQDqiKIt9sX2MUhj8_iAId5Tl08ykIeyjyqInMB0xGG7B6aN95uZVMfy_LWJoJMLskO67mDZ-0SdgqJq4xdIPzgiRIftoM1JABw/s1600/Jill+Hilditch+intro+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf37BEiLn0GfHVCNa8yiQHHtrvIHuy32UGEASDe6oCQDqiKIt9sX2MUhj8_iAId5Tl08ykIeyjyqInMB0xGG7B6aN95uZVMfy_LWJoJMLskO67mDZ-0SdgqJq4xdIPzgiRIftoM1JABw/s320/Jill+Hilditch+intro+pic.jpg" width="255" height="320" data-original-width="777" data-original-height="976" /></a></div><br>
In this latest interview we're delighted to be speaking to <b>Dr Jill Hilditch, Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Amsterdam</b>. We're getting super up close with pots! Dr Hilditch is the Principle Investigator on a research project at the Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology (ACASA): <b><i>Tracing the Potter's Wheel. Investigating Technological Trajectories and Cultural Encounters in the Bronze Age Aegean (2500-1200BCE)</b></i> <u><a href=" https://tracingthewheel.eu/"> https://tracingthewheel.eu/</a></u>. You're in for a fascinating read finding out how archaeologists go about their analysis of the world of pots...<br>
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<b>1) How can an archaeologist tell where a pot came from?</b><br>
Whether it’s your favourite tea mug or a 5000 year old wine goblet in a museum, all ceramic pots are essentially made from clay and water (with a few occasional additives!). These <b>clays are the naturally occurring weathering products of many different types of rocks and sediments, and it's this link to the geological environment that allows us to study where a pot came from</b>. We use microscopic and elemental analysis techniques developed within geology to identify the tiny bits of weathered rock and minerals within the ceramic paste and try to see if these components match the geological environment where the pot was found. By establishing local compatibility with the sediments and rocks at a site, we have a solid basis for making our interpretations on whether that pot was made locally or was imported. Finding out where potential imports come from relies upon finding a suitable match with published ceramic fabrics from other sites. Of course, humans always complicate things and making a clay paste suitable for producing a pot often means altering the geological sediment. This can be done either by adding temper to the clay, or fining the natural clay through crushing, sieving or water settling (levigation). All these human behaviours affect the appearance and contents of a ceramic fabric but, luckily, we’ve also got quite good at identifying these important behaviours in the manufacturing process!<br>
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<i>Above, Jill getting stuck into some microscopic analysis.</i><br><br>
<b>2) How did people make pots before the invention of the potter's wheel and what is it that the wheel offers that tempted potters to make the switch?</b><br>
Before the wheel, ceramic pots were built by hand. Perhaps the most ‘low-tech’ method of all is the <b>pinch method</b>, where a potter takes a lump of clay, makes an indentation with their thumb and then uses a pinching motion with their thumb and forefinger to push the clay into the desired form. Several other hand building methods use this pressure principle but achieve it with a range of different tools, such as paddles and anvils, or you can shape or mold the vessels around other pots to create similar shapes or standardise the size of the pots. One of the most common hand building techniques we see in prehistory is <b>coiling</b>, where coils or snakes of clay are rolled out and then stacked on top of each other to build the pot. These coils are then joined together by pinching before being smoothed to create the wall.<br><br>
Studies by Valentine Roux and colleagues working on the Near East from the 6th and 5th millennia BCE show that <b>the use of a rotating device for potting first appears in combination with coils</b>. This use of rotative kinetic energy (RKE) would have helped with the addition of coils, as well as the thinning and shaping of the walls of the vessel, allowing the potter to be stationary rather than ‘orbiting’ the vessel. This is why <b>we refer to early pots as ‘wheel-fashioned’ because the invention of the potter’s wheel did not go hand-in-hand with the innovation of wheel-throwing</b>: the first use of rotating devices was not to ‘throw’ a pot from a solid lump of clay but to help fashion or finish a coiled rough-out of a vessel. The rough-out was placed onto a wheel head (those that have survived in the archaeological record are made from stone or fired clay) which could rotate in a socket in the ground or a raised pivot. Unfortunately, there is scant material evidence for most of the devices used for potting in the past, probably because many of the components for the wheel device were made of wood and other organic materials that have not survived in the material record.<br>
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<i>Above, Dr Caroline Jeffra from Tracing the Potter's Wheel transforming coils into pot (<u><a href=" https://tracingthewheel.eu/research/experimental-component/">https://tracingthewheel.eu/research/experimental-component/</a></u>
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So, we're left with an interesting puzzle – why did potters switch from hand building to wheel-fashioning techniques and how did the innovation of wheel-throwing emerge from these beginnings? A common argument is efficiency: simply put, the potter’s wheel allows potters to produce more vessels in a shorter timeframe than hand building techniques, thereby laying the foundation for increased production levels and labour specialisation. This is perhaps true for wheel-throwing, but the use of a wheel to fashion or finish a coil-built rough-out is remarkably difficult and would have, initially at least, represented a greater investment of time for skill acquisition and tool creation by the potter. There is also an argument that the wheel afforded the production of better-quality vessels too, though anyone who has ever seen the eggshell-thin vessels of Kamares Ware alongside the crudest of wheel-coiled conical cups on Crete may disagree! Our project decided that it was perhaps a good idea to investigate which shapes were made using the wheel, as well as which wheel-based method and by whom (were these locally trained or itinerant potters?), in order to shed new light on this puzzle. <br><br>
<b>3) Your project is examining the transmission of knowledge of the potter's wheel – how <i>was</i> knowledge of the potter's wheel transmitted? </b>
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Our Tracing the Potter’s Wheel (TPW) project focuses on the use of the potter’s wheel within the forming stage of the ceramic production sequence. This sequence, known as the <b><i>chaîne opératoire</i></b>, is used by archaeologists to consider the choices (deliberate or unconscious) made by the potter throughout the entire manufacturing process. The <i>chaîne opératoire</i> goes from raw material sourcing and processing to create a suitable paste, through to the forming technique, the surface treatments applied to the formed pot, and the final firing process. The <b>choices made by a potter are a window into their social and cultural context, as the gestures, skills and know-how the potter needs are learned by watching, copying, and participating with their peers</b> in the production process. This group is called a community of practice and they are identified through the similarities in the production sequence, which are materialised in the pots they produce. Archaeologists are becoming increasingly aware that <b>these shared practice-through-knowledge groups can be traced in the material record</b>, opening up new possibilities for tracing technologies such as the potter’s wheel.<br>
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<i>Above, a charming example of Minoan pottery.</i><br>
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Some of this know-how is easier to learn than others; for instance, decorative styles can be transferred by simply watching another potter at work, or even recreated from seeing one of their finished pots. For the forming stage this is often a much harder process: not only is the method of making the pot invisible in the finished vessel but so are necessary physical gestures and the tool-kit too. For this reason, the transmission of <b>the potter’s wheel is one of the surest indicators we have for potting specialists interacting with one another</b> for sustained periods of time. This is why it is so crucial to determine if a wheel-made pot was produced locally, or simply imported from another production unit, because we need to establish if a person with that skill-set was working at the site where the vessel was found. If we are ever to explore how the wheel emerged as a technological innovation, and how it spread between these communities of practice through time, then we need a clearer understanding of who was using it, where and in what way.<br>
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<i>Above, Minoan pottery with bonus octopus.</i><br>
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In the case of the Bronze Age Aegean, the appearance of the wheel was considered as two potentially independent events, connected to two different horizons of intensifying cultural contact. <b>The earliest identified horizon of wheel use appears during the later Early Bronze (EB) II period (c. 2500-2100BCE), known as the Lefkandi I/Kastri phase</b>, widely thought to indicate increased trade in metals between social groups in the Aegean and (predominantly) western Anatolia, where the potter’s wheel is known to have already been in use. In the later transition, <b>from the Middle Bronze (MB) to the Late Bronze (LB) period (1800-1600BC), the potter’s wheel is considered as a technology of the Minoan culture of Crete</b>, spreading beyond the shores of Crete as part of a package of technologies indicating growing Minoan power and influence, the so-called ‘Minoanization’ of the southern and central Aegean region. Our project has recently reassessed diagnostic traces of wheel use within late MB and early LB Cretan, and non-Cretan but ‘Minoanized’ ceramic assemblages (collections of ceramics found at the same site) – we've shown that the combination wheel-coiling technique continues to dominate the ceramic record. This would indicate that wheel-throwing is necessarily a later technological development than LB I within the Aegean. This transition from wheel-coiling to wheel-throwing remains poorly understood in Aegean archaeology and beyond, yet is critical for investigating how knowledge of the potter’s wheel was transmitted between communities of practice.<br><br>
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<i>Above, Jill introduces the project in a short video.</i><br><br>
<b>4) What approaches have you taken to find that out? </b><br>
The TPW project has brought together an <b>experimental archaeologist</b> (Dr Caroline Jeffra), a <b>digital archaeologist</b> (Loes Opgenhaffen) and me, a <b>ceramic fabric specialist</b>, to investigate the transmission of the potter’s wheel in the Bronze Age Aegean. Caroline has carried out a systematic programme of experiments to explore the macrotrace evidence for wheel-coiling and wheel-throwing in the Bronze Age Aegean. She designed and produced a ceramic type set to improve our ability to differentiate between these two specific wheel use strategies and then applied the results to the study of archaeological ceramics from the Bronze Age Aegean. This enabled her to establish the range of diagnostic traces associated with each specific wheel-forming technique. Using a Dino-Lite digital microscope, I recorded the ceramic fabrics of the wheel-made vessels (identified by Caroline) to determine which vessels were compatible with local production and which were imported to the site under study. Loes has also been busy using a DAVID structured light scanner to make 3D models of the experimental pottery typeset and reproducing some of these vessels in macro form through 3D printing to serve as teaching aids. <b>Loes’s 3D models, alongside Caroline’s macrophotographs of wheel traces and production videos of the experimental pots, as well as my fabric photomicrographs, form the core of our dataset that we want to share with other archaeologists interested in studying the potter’s wheel</b>.<br>
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<i>Above, Caroline Jeffra (l) and Loes Opgenhaffen (r) at work on Tracing the Potter's Wheel.</i><br>
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Sharing really is the key word here because we quickly realised that no single research team would be able to generate enough data within the timeframe of a government-funded project to fully understand the trajectory of the wheel in the Bronze Age Aegean. Faced with such a dilemma, <b>we decided to focus our efforts on creating a tool-kit for other archaeologists so that they could generate their own datasets and contribute to a collaborative effort to address this large question of the potter’s wheel</b>. We're going to publish instructions for our methods, and user manuals for the equipment we have used, to ensure compatibility of results generated by different individuals and teams in different places. In this way, we want to start a crowd-sourcing effort to solve the potter’s wheel puzzle.<br>
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<i>Above, Minoan pottery from Akrotiri on Santorini once again showing command of shape and a flair for decoration featuring the natural world.</i><br>
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<b>5) Tell us a bit about how your research is being visualised.</b><br>
One of our main goals is to produce an <b>open-access digital resource that enables other archaeologists to use our visual data</b>, not only for learning how to recognise wheel traces but also guidelines on how to produce their own visual datasets which can then be uploaded and shared. As none of our team are database experts, and our data is so visual in nature (and also large in size!), we are working with a data consultancy team to build our own tailor-made digital data platform. We've already generated massive amounts of photographs of the archaeological pots we're studying, as well as <b>production videos, 3D models, and more photographs of the project’s experimental pots</b>. If we manage to secure the appropriate permits from the Greek Ministry of Culture, we also hope to supplement our platform with 3D models of key archaeological vessels, to highlight the challenges in spotting and interpreting macrotrace and ceramic fabric information, and to create a useful research resource for everyone interested in the potter’s wheel.<br>
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For now, <u><b><a href=" https://sketchfab.com/tracingthewheel">we've been posting our annotated 3D models of the experimental pots on SketchFab </a></u></b>, as well as discussing many methodological aspects of our techniques on our project website. Last autumn we were invited to take part in the <b>Heraklion Museum’s Daedalus exhibition</b>, which focused on the technologies associated with this mythical craftsperson, including the potter’s wheel. Our team designed a series of installations exploring the visual aspects of our techniques and created a <b>hands-on touch table filled with experimental pots and 3D printed replicas to allow museum visitors to engage with our research</b>. Without a doubt, it was one of the hardest but most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had, both as a team member on the TPW project and as an archaeologist – after all, who puts on an interactive exhibition with no archaeological material in possibly the best archaeological museum in Greece?!<br><br>
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<i>Above, Tracing the Potter's Wheel at the Heraklion Museum’s Daedalus exhibition.</i><br>
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<b>6) You've done some fascinating jobs in some interesting places. Could you tell us a bit about that and about what subjects you'd recommend for people interested in getting into archaeology?</b><br>
I started off with a <b>joint degree in archaeology and geology</b> and soon found that ceramics were the perfect mix of both fields. It also helped that ceramic petrography (laboratory-based microscopic analysis of ceramics) was a valuable skill to have, as I could work in any period and region that had ceramic objects as part of the archaeological record. For my PhD I worked on ceramics from the <b>amazing prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri on Santorini</b>, a site with an unbelievably rich material record preserved by metres of volcanic ash (think Pompeii but 1500 years earlier). I've also been privileged to take part in the excavations and surveys of <b>the island of Keros</b> and the major <b>Early Bronze Age settlement and maritime sanctuary of Dhaskalio-Kavos</b>. Since 2006 I have been trying to work out where all the pottery on that tiny marble islet came from and it remains one of the most important and enigmatic sites in the Aegean. Working at so many projects over the years has given me an enviable perspective on the ceramic fabrics of the Cyclades and my mobility as a researcher <b>(hello Greece, Canada, the Netherlands, the UK and then finally back to the Netherlands again)</b> has meant that I've rarely struggled to find research projects, for which I count myself extremely lucky. I can already hear several colleagues thinking loudly about where the results of some of those projects are, but it will all come out eventually, I hope!<br><br>
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<i>Above, Jill checks ceramic finds at Akrotiri on Santorini in Greece.</i><br>
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For those wishing to enter archaeology today, it is difficult to offer a one-size-fits-all solution. There's no doubt that <b>modern archaeology straddles the sciences and humanities fields</b>, which means from social science, anthropology, classics, linguistics and sociology to materials science, biology, ecology and chemistry, not to mention computing technology and heritage studies – there's a path into archaeology for almost anyone! <b>The best archaeological science is undertaken by those who not only understand the potential and limitations of their techniques, but can also anchor their methodology within archaeological theory</b>, which means studying archaeology at university should be considered as an option by anyone interested in the field. Commercial archaeology is also growing in a number of countries to supplement local and national government sanctioned work. In some cases those companies offer valuable on-the-job training and support those who'd like to supplement their skills with further and higher education archaeology courses. Maybe as a university lecturer I'll always see the value of this environment for awakening curiosity and developing systematic research skills. Did I also mention that most Dutch universities teach in English and are substantially cheaper to attend than some UK universities?<br>
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<b>7) What's your favourite ancient Aegean artefact?</b><br>
Besides pots?! Hmm, this is too difficult to answer definitively so I’ll mention an object category I’m excited about at the moment – textile <b>loomweights</b> made from clay. Some of these objects occasionally look like owls, snakes or smiley faces (especially the discoid ones) but where they really interest me is their composition, of course! Weaving and textile production has long been assumed to be a locally-based domestic industry in prehistory, yet <b>if we study these objects from a ceramic fabric perspective, we can see that they, like pots, have been made in different places, from different clay pastes, and were moving with people across the prehistoric landscape</b>. I had exciting plans to work with a good friend and colleague, Joanne Cutler, on her ideas about textile worker mobility in the Bronze Age Aegean but sadly she passed away a couple of years ago and those plans were postponed. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to picking up this thread again (pun intended) with other colleagues in the future and showing the importance of Jo’s work in this area.<br>
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<i>Above, a collection of ceramic loomweights from Late Minoan Crete (c.1600-1200BCE).</i><br>
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<i>Many thanks to Dr Hilditch for sharing these insights into how ceramic analysis is done and how it can illuminate wider social behaviours. It's also been inspiring to see how the Tracing the Potter's Wheel is combining different expertise and creating resources that will enrich the whole archaeological community. Below you'll find some short videos by Tracing the Potter's Wheel featuring pots being made, an introduction to petrographic analysis, and a presentation by Dr Hilditch describing the work of the project in a bit more detail. You might also enjoy visiting the<b><u><a href=" https://tracingthewheel.eu/blog/ "> Tracing the Potter's Wheel blog </a></b></u>, which features all sorts of interesting discussions, including <b><u><a href=" https://tracingthewheel.eu/why-study-pottery/"> Why Do Archaeologists Study Pottery?</a></u></b>.<br>
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<i>Above, throwing a pyxis pot.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Petrographic analysis explained.</i><br>
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<i>Above, a short talk in which Dr Jill Hilditch introduces the exhibition 'Tracing the Conical Cup' at the Netherlands Institute at Athens.</i>Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-16204409018293922362020-05-04T10:29:00.002+01:002020-05-04T11:27:13.378+01:00New Animation! Iris - Rainbow GoddessAnimation time vase fans! We're delighted to share the first of five cracking animations made as part of the <u><b><a href=" http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/iris">Our Mythical Childhood project </a></b></u>. Below you'll find some info on Iris and on how the animation was made, but first, buckle-up for <b><i>Iris – Rainbow Goddess</i></b>!<br>
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Iris is a messenger goddess. She carries messages from one god to another, especially messages from Zeus and Hera. She has wings so that she can fly fast and far. <b>When she flies, she leaves rainbows in her wake</b>, streaking across the sky! That's where rainbows come from. Awesome!<br>
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The ancient Greeks were always on the look-out for unusual natural phenomena – they could be a sign sent by a god. In sunny Greece, rainbows are even more unusual than they are in rainy northern Europe. Iris was often called 'storm-footed' , because storms came with her as well as rainbows. As rainbows are unusual and linked to the coming of <b>rain and storms</b>, ancient Greeks thought that they could even be a sign of <b>war</b> approaching (e.g.<u><a href=" http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+17.547&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134">Homer, Iliad, 17.547 </a></u>). The poet Hesiod said that Iris was a sister of the terrible Harpies (<u><a href=" http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+265&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130">Theogony, 265</a></u>)! Still, she had a job to do and you don't hang around when you're carrying a message for Zeus or Hera! In an age when we can send messages near and far so easily, it's good to be reminded how amazing the idea of <b>super-fast messages</b> would be.<br>
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<i>Above, the pot that Iris – Rainbow Goddess was made from - a hydria in the National Museum in Warsaw, in Poland (number 142289).</i><br><br>
The pot that we made the animation from is an Athenian hydria, or water carrier, from c.450BCE. Iris is shown as if she has just landed, or is just about to take off - her knees are slightly bent, her wings up. In her hand she carries her herald's staff – the sign that she is a messenger. Her wings have been positioned very cleverly so that they fit onto the shoulder of the vase.<br><br>
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<i>Above, Panoply animator Steve gets a good look at Iris at the National Museum in Warsaw.</i>
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You may have noticed – the animation also features a first for us – <b>it's a 3D vase</b>! We measured the dimensions of the vase carefully, then re-created it in 3D. Once we had the digital vase, the animation - made from the original vase's decoration the way all our vase animations are made - was added as a layer onto its surface. The cracks that the vase has suffered and had repaired over the years were also added back onto the vase as a layer.<br><br>
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<i>Above, the vase began life as a pillar.</i><br>
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<i>Above, the pillar was manipulated to match the vase dimensions. A room was created to house it.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Iris is invited to the vase! Note the rainbow in her eye to draw out the Iris-eye iris connection that exists in English (and some other languages) - the iris is the coloured part of your eye which controls how much light gets in.</i><br>
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For the soundscape of the animation, we hear rain and the beginning of a storm – perfect conditions for Iris. With it you hear the sound of aulos pipes, played by ancient music specialist, <u><b><a href="https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-world-of-ancient-music-interview.html">Prof. Conrad Steinmann</a></u></b>.<br>
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In the future, Iris will have her own page on our website along with the other Our Mythical Childhood animations. We're in the process of making some changes to the website, so for now, if you'd like to <b>download some fun activities</b> to do with Iris, please head on over to her page on the Our Mythical Childhood website: <u><a href=" http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/iris">http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/iris </a></u><br>
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<i>Create your own Iris with the activity sheets on the Our Mythical Childhood page.</i>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-27834068251453438342020-03-20T16:14:00.000+00:002020-03-20T16:14:42.378+00:00New Animation! Hide and Seek with Locus Ludi!Good news, animation fans! We're serving up a fresh animation for all your animated antiquity needs!<br>
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Here is <b><i>Play Hide and Seek in Herculaneum</i></b>. You may notice something a bit different... oh my goodness – it's not a pot! This is our first adventure in an animated fresco! It's been created as part of the <b>Locus Ludi</b> project (Locus Ludi: The Cultural Fabric of Play and Games in Antiquity, <u><a href=" https://locusludi.ch/">https://locusludi.ch/</a></u>). It's made from a wall-painting (fresco) in a house in Herculaneum. The fresco shows a hide and seek style game being played by little eroti, mini love gods, winged children, also known as 'putti'. Locus Ludi project leader, <u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/08/magic-and-play-panoply-interview-with.html">Professor Véronique Dasen</a></u>, has chosen this time to launch the animation as a gesture of solidarity with all our friends, colleagues, and everyone else in Italy and to give us all something cheerful while we're staying in and avoiding non-essential contact. You can find out more about the animation below, but let's jump straight in. Here's <i>Hide and Seek</i>!<br>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9T9hj9fnUSk" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Hope you enjoyed it!<br><br>
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<i>Above, the fresco from which Hide and Seek was made (House of the Deer, Herculaneum).</i><br>
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<i>Above, Panoply's animator, Steve, gives a sense of scale beside a fresco from the same series in the House of the Deer.</i><br><br>
The House of the Deer (Casa dei Cervi in Italian) is a large and beautifully decorated house right in the heart of Herculaneum. The house, like the rest of the town, was badly damaged by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79CE, but much of it survived, offering us fabulous insight into the living environments of well-to-do Roman citizens.<br>
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<i>Above, Steve checks out the deer statues that gave the house its name.</i><br>
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<i>Above, this interior shot gives a further sense of the house's extensive decoration.</i><br>
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<i>Above, a look across the court-yard towards the main area of the house</i><br>
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<i>Above, an information board from the house that tells you a bit about it and gives an impression of how massive the house is.</i><br>
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<b>What's going on in the animation?</b> We can see in the fresco that the eroti are playing a hide-and-seek style game. What kind of games did the Romans play? That is one of the key questions of the Locus Ludi project. To explore the answer, Véronique turned to an ancient author called
<u><a href=" http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D35%3Aentry%3Dpollux-julius-bio-1"> Julius Pollux
</a></u>. Pollux was a Greek philosopher from Egypt and a Roman citizen – very international! He lived in the 2nd century CE. He studied in Athens and eventually opened a school there. He wrote ten books, one of which survives – <i>Onomasticon</i> – an encyclopaedia. Among the entries in his encyclopaedia, Pollux listed the different rules by which children played hiding and chasing games. As you can see in the animation, there were different ways to play. Some of them are still played one way or another, others not so much:<br><br>
• <b>Myinda</b> is much like the game which in English we call 'Blind Man's Buff', where one player wearing a blindfold hunts the others. Pollux lists two ways of playing this game – in one version the blind-folded player simply tries to catch the others, in the second version the person who's 'it' has to guess the name of the person they've caught – a bit trickier.<br><br>
• <b>Apodidraskinda</b> has many different names in English, such as 40:40, 1-2-3 In, and Pom-Pom 40. Players start at a base. They hide while one counts, then the hiding players try and get back to the base without being caught. Have you played this game? What did you call it?<br><br>
• <b>Chalké Muia</b> has not survived so well. It's a chasing game. Two players must try and poke the third with slim strips of papyrus. Fun times!<br><br>
Visitors to the House of the Deer would have found it amusing or at least sweet to see the fresco of the little eroti playing games that they all knew well from their own childhoods. Perhaps there were children living in that house who still loved to play them!<br>
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It was an interesting challenge to make the animation. It's not quite like animating a pot. One of the big differences was dealing with colour. Greek vases use quite a simple colour palette. Frescoes, on the other hand, were painted onto walls using a much wider range of colours. Shading was used to help create the shape of the limbs and the sense of depth. In order to have the figures turn and move their limbs, Steve took spots of colour from all over the figures' bodies to recreate them using the same tones. Once there were versions of their limbs pointing in all directions, the figures were manipulated like puppets, just as the vase figures are. One other geek-tastic detail – perhaps you've already spotted it – the font used for the game names and as speech captions: Steve created that font from the graffiti on the walls of Pompeii. A Roman font for a Roman house!<br><br>
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<i>Above, an eroti prepped for animation.</i><br><br>
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<i>Above, Steve at Pompeii in front of the font that he extended to use in the animation.</i><br>
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We say a big <i>thank-you</i> to <u><a href=" https://locusludi.ch/"> Locus Ludi </a></u> for inviting us to make this animation. A big <i>thank-you</i> to Francesco Sirano and his team at Herculaneum. And a big <i>thank-you</i> to project funders, the European Research Council.<br>
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If you've finished watching the animation seventy times and are still hungry for more, there are lots more videos about ancient games and gaming on the Locus Ludi website, so have an explore. Stay safe, people! all the best, Steve and Sonya x<br>
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<i>Above, Sonya, Veronique, and Steve, Oxford 2019.</i><br><br>
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Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-52133901290515200812020-02-16T17:54:00.000+00:002020-02-16T17:54:41.831+00:00In the News - New PublicationsGood news, vase fans! We've published two short items about the joys of vase animations.<br><br>
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The first is called '<b><u><a href=" https://doi.org/10.4312/clotho.1.2.5-15"> Sappho 44: Creativity and Pedagogy with Ancient Poetry, Pottery, and Modern Animation</a></b></u>'. It describes a new animation that we've made – <b><i>Sappho 44. Hector and Andromache: A Wedding at Troy</i></b>. You'll be able to see the animation later on this year. It features the poet Sappho playing her lyre and telling a story that's a prequel to the Trojan War. The article tells you about the animation, its ground-breaking music, and what sort of things you might do with it in a classroom or lecture-hall.<br><br>
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<i>Above, the new Sappho animation has been made from this vase featuring the poet Sappho (late 6th century hydria decorated in the Six Technique, National Museum in Warsaw 142333 MNW)</i>.<br>
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The article has been published in a relatively new online journal called <i><b><a href=" https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/clotho/index"> Clotho </a> </i></b>, which is published by the University of Ljubljana. It's <b>free</b> to read; simply <b>go to: <u><a href=" https://doi.org/10.4312/clotho.1.2.5-15"> https://doi.org/10.4312/clotho.1.2.5-15</a></u></b> and click on 'PDF' under the image. You can read it online or download it. Hope you enjoy it!<br><br>
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<i>Above, rather nice, a shot of Ljubljana in Slovenia, where Clotho is published</i>.<br>
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The next publication is a blog post for the US <b>Society for Classical Studies</b>. <b>'Making Greek Vases Come to Life Through Animation'</b> is available at: <b><u><a href=" https://classicalstudies.org/node/34374"> https://classicalstudies.org/node/34374</a></b></u>. It gives a run through of who we are, what we make, and why, with some bonus material.<br>
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<i>Above, plenty of good reading to be found on the <u><a href=" https://classicalstudies.org/node/34374"> Society for Classical Studies</a></u> blog, not least the new article by yours truly on vase animations</i><br>
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Up next on the calendar is the <u><b><a href=" https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mythology-and-education-tickets-81986713467">Mythology and Education </a></u></b> conference that we're organising with Frances Foster and Susan Deacy at the the <b>University of Cambridge</b>'s Faculty of Education. Many thanks to the <b>Institute of Classical Studies</b> and the <b>Centre for Research in Children's Literature in Cambridge</b> for their support (financial as well as moral!). To those of you who have booked – looking forward to seeing you there. To other readers – we'll have a write-up of the day soon.<br>
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Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-88281438405895992082019-11-21T14:54:00.000+00:002019-11-22T17:32:27.653+00:00Happy Birthday Us! Celebrating 10 years of vase animations!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJnsXJeByGpNjeOE_-ArUJ5BRKxQCBQt1ZIJ6Z0C_DcPBWXsytWD7Z3v_t555tw1QDeubD4DZu4UBsjgIosHGYbTTEKCjVrhkhe5AxR1TR7FE37Hk_aEPoF2bPNtY4-JgpMxZt47TNQ/s1600/SS+and+SN+Grove+House+ERC+event+2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJnsXJeByGpNjeOE_-ArUJ5BRKxQCBQt1ZIJ6Z0C_DcPBWXsytWD7Z3v_t555tw1QDeubD4DZu4UBsjgIosHGYbTTEKCjVrhkhe5AxR1TR7FE37Hk_aEPoF2bPNtY4-JgpMxZt47TNQ/s320/SS+and+SN+Grove+House+ERC+event+2017.jpg" width="320" height="237" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1183" /></a></div><br>
Oh my goodness! Get the ceramic balloons out, because we are celebrating 10 years of vase animations! 10 years ago we gave our first presentation showing our first animation and outlining some ideas for what we might like to do with vase animations in the future. It has been an amazing adventure since then. In this post we'll have a quick run through some of what's happened since then. And straight off the bat, a massive Thank-You to everyone who has supported us and enjoyed the animations :) <br>
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Our first presentation took place at University College Dublin (UCD), at <b><i>The Museum Artefact and Cultural Space</i></b> - a conference organised by curator-archaeologist Dr Christina Haywood and soon-to-be-Dr Sonya Nevin (ignoring the good advice not to give a presentation at a conference you're organising). In 'Digital Images of Vases in a Museum Context' (catchy), we showed <u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/clash-of-the-dicers.html"> Clash of the Dicers</a></u> and discussed the potential that we saw for showing digital animations of vases alongside the original pots in museums. People's reaction to the animation was absolutely great and we knew we were on to a good thing...<br><br>
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<i>Above, flash forward, Steve and Sonya at one of the <a href="http://irisproject.org.uk/">Iris Project's</a> epic classics festivals.</i><br>
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Christina Haywood and I tried to secure funding to make animations for the UCD Classical Museum, but it wasn't to be (...yet). But wide awake at <i>The Museum Artefact</i> conference had been <u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2019/06/ure-voice-panoply-interview-with.html"> Professor Amy Smith</a></u>, curator of the Ure Museum in Reading. She immediately saw the potential of the animations and before long had put us in touch with the Open University, which was getting ready for the 2012 Olympics. This led to <b><u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/the-cheat.html"> The Cheat</a></u></b>, a cheeky little number made from a pot sherd in the Ure, which became part of the OU's free online course, <u><b><a href=" https://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/health/sport-and-fitness/the-ancient-olympics-bridging-past-and-present/content-section-0?intro=1"> The Ancient Olympics: Bridging Past and Present</a></u></b> . This was followed by <b><u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/animations.html#urev">Ure View</a></u></b>, a hugely successful and enjoyable outreach project in which we joined the Ure Museum team in teaching local teens about ancient pottery and culture over several months. The teens then developed their own responses to pots that they chose from the collection, and their ideas and storyboards were transformed into three striking animations. Amy and I published an account of this project in the 2014 book, <i><u><a href=" https://museumsetc.com/collections/collections/products/advancing-engagement"> Advancing Engagement: A Handbook for Academic Museums</a></u></i>. <u><b><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/animations.html#ured"> Ure Discover</a></u>y</b> followed, building on the momentum of Ure View and involving more schools. Six new animations were created, all under the artistic direction of enthusiastic teens. The Ure created a tablet trail so that visitors can locate the pots and watch the animations alongside them.<br>
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<i>Above, on the big screen! A Ure View animation was selected to be shown at the Palace of Westminster.</i><br>
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During this time we learned a lot from talking to teachers and their pupils. We found that people loved the animations but weren't always confident about using them in class or about how to integrate them. This inspired the teaching focus of our new website! At the Classical Association Annual Conference, Sonya gave a presentation about the animations (another organiser/presenter coincidence :/) and introduced people to our website and <b>our new name: The Panoply Vase Animation Project</b>. The <u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk"> website</a></u>, then as now, housed all the animations so that people could watch them for free and we provided information about the subjects of the animations, the artefacts themselves, and the music, and we suggested activities that would go well with the animations. We hope you've enjoyed using those resources over the years and thanks to everyone who has sent feedback or examples of their work – we love them!<br><br>
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<i>We love seeing people's creative responses to ancient pottery and the animations. Above, Dr Divine Che Neba, Associate Professor of African and Comparative Literature in the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon, shows off his Sisyphus vase.</i><br>
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Through Oxford University's Archive for Performances of Greek and Roman Drama, AHRC funding followed for the creation of <u><b><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/everysoldier.html"> Hoplites! Greeks at War</a></u></b>. This was an enormously enjoyable project. Sonya has a long-standing research interest in ancient warfare and was working at that time on her book, <i><u><b><a href=" https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/military-leaders-and-sacred-space-in-classical-greek-warfare-9781784532857/">Military Leaders and Sacred Space</a></u></b></i>. <i>Hoplites!</i>, a journey from the gymnasium to the battlefield, was an opportunity to bring aspects of that world to life. Huge numbers of people contributed to the accompanying project and film, <i>Every Soldier has a Story</i>, and we had the pleasure of working with the <b><u><a href=" http://www.thiasos.co.uk/ "> Thiasos Theatre Company</a></b></u> who created music and played live at the animation's launch at the University of Reading. Just so you know, I love that animation!<br>
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<i>Above, a screenshot from our longest animation, Hoplites! Greeks at War.</i><br>
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We continued to hear positive feedback from people using the animations in their teaching and Sonya was often using them in her own undergraduate lectures and in outreach work. We then heard from <u><b><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/08/magic-and-play-panoply-interview-with.html"> Professor Véronique Dasen</a></u></b> at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. She was preparing for the launch of an exhibition on play and games in antiquity and wanted to feature <i>Clash of the Dicers</i>. We were happy to agree and that animation became part of <u><b><a href=" http://www.venividiludique.ch/fr/"> Veni, Vidi, Ludique</a></u></b>, an exhibition which has travelled across Switzerland and France and which will head to the UK next year.<br>
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<i>The educational aspect of what we do is very important to us. Above, trainee classics teachers at the Faculty of Education in Cambridge during a session on vase animations in the classroom. A big thank-you to <b>Dr Frances Foster</b> for arranging these sessions.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Sonya introduces the forthcoming Heracles animation during 2017's Mythology & Education workshop at the University of Cambridge. A follow-up event will take place in Feb 2020; see <u><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mythology-and-education-tickets-81986713467?aff=ebdssbeac">Eventbrite</a></u> for details. </i><br>
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Good times ahead in Dublin. We had long wanted to work with the vase collection in the <b>UCD Classical Museum</b>. Curator, Dr Jo Day, shared her predecessor's enthusiasm for the idea, and in 2015 it happened. During the first project, funded by UCD itself, we worked with MA students to plan an animation that would help visitors to the museum to understand the scene better. <u><b><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/nike.html ">The Procession </a></u></b> was the result, and you can see more about that project in this <u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/01/adventures-at-university-college-dublin.html
"> brief write-up</a></u>. We returned thanks to funding from the Classical Association of Ireland-Teachers, for the launch of a National Schools' Storyboarding Competition. The winning entry, <u><b><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/nike.html#karma ">Bad Karma</a></u></b> was turned into an animation of the same name and there was an enjoyable <u><b><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/10/animation-launch-for-bad-karma.html
"> launch and exhibition </a></u></b> at the museum. Both animations can now be seen in the museum alongside the vase that they were made from.<br><br>
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<i>Above, The Procession and Bad Karma now on display in the UCD Classical Museum alongside the pot they were made from.</i><br>
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2015 also saw some of the animations appear in <i><b>Olympus</b></i>, a blockbuster exhibition in Canada (<u><a href="http://olympus.wag.ca/">http://olympus.wag.ca/</a></u>, with our write-up (<u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/08/panoply-in-canada-adventures-at_11.html"> here </a></u>). The following year, edited sections of the animations also appeared in an exhibition documentary in the <b><a href=" www.museiduomonovara.it"> Musei della Canonica del Duomo di Novara</a></b>, in Italy. Meanwhile, exciting events were afoot in Oxford; it was symposium time! We worked with Dr Mai Musié and Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson of <b>Classics in Communities</b>, the University of Oxford outreach initiative, and with funds from Oxford's Knowledge Exchange, to develop <u><b><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/the-symposium.html"> The Symposium</a></u></b>. Symposium culture often features in UK primary school study of classical culture, so an animation of a sympotic cup, featuring a symposium scene, with aulos-playing and a game of <i>kottabos</i>, was a good fit as a teaching resource. We popped back in to see that cup just the other day. Watch this space for a short film about <i>The Symposium</i> coming soon.<br><br>
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<i>Above, the Winnipeg Art Gallery block-buster, Olympus; children check out Panoply animations in-between pots.</i><br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIAe0dijycqfoYcziQjzetfYoGwxINtbLmecXlM1TcMtiON8SZr4ceoPFbv1DRiJodv8l4eUzWQ9vPotfbfJ9bdJicYl9FNR6_DBNxTnxZRTtMUPb_5ZFIBNri802YasXoSOAhfXr2wg/s1600/Ashmolean+symposium+Sonya+Panoply.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIAe0dijycqfoYcziQjzetfYoGwxINtbLmecXlM1TcMtiON8SZr4ceoPFbv1DRiJodv8l4eUzWQ9vPotfbfJ9bdJicYl9FNR6_DBNxTnxZRTtMUPb_5ZFIBNri802YasXoSOAhfXr2wg/s320/Ashmolean+symposium+Sonya+Panoply.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div>
<i>Above, at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford to revisit our old friend from The Symposium</i>.<br>
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In Poland, things were hotting up for the beginning of <b>Our Mythical Childhood</b>. <i>Hoplites! Greeks at War</i> was chosen for inclusion in an exhibition, <b><u><i><a href=" http://www.mnw.art.pl/en/temporary-exhibitions/hoplites-on-the-art-of-war-of-ancient-greece,13.html"> Hoplites. On the Art of War in Ancient Greece</a></u></b></i>. Thanks to its curator, Dr Alfred Twardecki, the hoplites now marched to the sound of the Spartan war poet Tyrtaios – with his poetry sung by a team of Warsaw ancient Greek enthusiasts. Further publications were coming out. An article in the <i><b>Journal Classics Teaching</i></b> outlined ways of integrating the animations into secondary school teaching (<u><a href=" https://doi.org/10.1017/S2058631015000057 ">free to download here</a></u>). A chapter in <i><u><b><a href=" https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/teaching-classics-with-technology-9781350110939/ "> Teaching Classics with Technology</a></u></b></i> recently followed that up with focus on the animations as used within primary school teaching. In a rather different chapter in <i><u><b><a href=" https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/war-as-spectacle-9781350005884/ "> War as Spectacle</a></u></b></i> we analysed the ways in which we had represented ancient warfare in the vase animations. The latest, about the creation of our forthcoming animation of Sappho, will be out soon in <u><b><i><a href=" https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/clotho "> Clotho</a></u></b></i>, journal of the University of Ljubljana.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4MD77_TcKqjqQPEPUHOCYfSZwHwv-w3hlplVUCVEqE0fIiEfL3CcVaC7jwi3iv1zrmdSXJ4y_6rB2ljiobQ9q9uXOTgCxmGJdwd4uvPM7we5g-Yrn7tzJ_-EXpTde4PJnNVQy_iCJfQ/s1600/teaching+classics+flyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4MD77_TcKqjqQPEPUHOCYfSZwHwv-w3hlplVUCVEqE0fIiEfL3CcVaC7jwi3iv1zrmdSXJ4y_6rB2ljiobQ9q9uXOTgCxmGJdwd4uvPM7we5g-Yrn7tzJ_-EXpTde4PJnNVQy_iCJfQ/s320/teaching+classics+flyer.jpg" width="320" height="160" data-original-width="1024" data-original-height="512" /></a></div>
<i>Above, we're delighted to have contributed to <u><a href=" https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/teaching-classics-with-technology-9781350110939/ "> Teaching Classics with Technology</a></u></i>.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymwQsJlsncV1XB6leaeYHhv_U8XMCHtNeBS3jgtO-YXhcwIs97xt-v1oYs7Hp4Mim0TKskZUsgDoorIhy9Mo6Jb4vXzjyzkjZq2zpRbLBe1cs6sRFAWljXlMEg5EUN0KsR9c9uae93g/s1600/shop+advert+for+web+ancient+warfare.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymwQsJlsncV1XB6leaeYHhv_U8XMCHtNeBS3jgtO-YXhcwIs97xt-v1oYs7Hp4Mim0TKskZUsgDoorIhy9Mo6Jb4vXzjyzkjZq2zpRbLBe1cs6sRFAWljXlMEg5EUN0KsR9c9uae93g/s320/shop+advert+for+web+ancient+warfare.png" width="320" height="229" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1147" /></a></div><i>Above, <u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/shop.html">we launched a shop</a></u>! Vase animation action on mugs, cards, t-shirts, and calendars.</i><br>
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Big changes were ahead for us with the beginning of <b>Our Mythical Childhood</b>, the ERC-funded project led by Professor Kararzyna Marciniak at the University of Warsaw. This project (<u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/#">http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/#</a></u>) is analysing the representation of antiquity in modern young people's culture. For our part, we're creating five new animations and a short documentary about the animations and their vases. As frequent readers of this blog will know, we've been working on these for some time now, some of them are made, and we're looking forward to their full release. We'll see <b>Sappho</b> performing, the gods at home, <b>Heracles</b> on the hunt, <b>Dionysus</b> bringing the party, and <b>Iris</b>, Bringer of Storms, bringing the storm.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9TiO7jR5GnkgKrirKmH8GRjAisYPmixXWBOU8HCdaiKK4DCyJALbqzlUk_XW6Jvtiqk9bcg7nLbr_N4RcOsnfcoVsyhTwaibRif82Fgxe6nuszqNwHNWpw_XG813-RlwB20-2sL1tw/s1600/Dasen+Simons+Marciniak.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9TiO7jR5GnkgKrirKmH8GRjAisYPmixXWBOU8HCdaiKK4DCyJALbqzlUk_XW6Jvtiqk9bcg7nLbr_N4RcOsnfcoVsyhTwaibRif82Fgxe6nuszqNwHNWpw_XG813-RlwB20-2sL1tw/s320/Dasen+Simons+Marciniak.JPG" width="320" height="227" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1135" /></a></div><i>Above, Panoply's Steve Simons with true legends Véronique Dasen of Locus Ludi (l) and Katarzyna Marciniak of Our Mythical Childhood (r).</i><br>
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Also in development are animations for a further ERC-backed project, <b><u><a href=" https://locusludi.ch/"> Locus Ludi </a></b></u> – a study of play and games in antiquity led by our long-term supporter, Véronique Dasen. We're making some new vase animations to show scenes of Greeks at play. We're also branching out(!) to create animations from a variety of ancient artefacts, adding frescoes and relief sculpture to the mix. This is an artistic and technical challenge and it's been great fun to explore this new area. More on this soon!<br><br>
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<i>Above, Sonya talking animated...frescoes(!) at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.</i><br><br>
We're delighted to have worked on all these projects and to have brought movement to the pots that we love so much. <b>Many thanks</b> to all of you who have watched the animations, got in touch with us over the years, and for inviting us for talks, workshops, festivals, and projects, it's been great to share what we've made and to see people's wonderfully creative responses. Some special thanks are in order for people who have supported us along the way: to <b>Amy Smith</b> and <b>Christina Haywood</b> for their vital support early on and since then, to <b>Katarzyna Marciniak</b> for her great vision and efforts in getting <i>Our Mythical Childhood</i> afloat and for bringing us aboard, to <b>Véronique Dasen</b> for her consistent support for the animations, to <b>Jo Day</b> and <b>Ian and Louise Maguire</b> for campaigning for the projects in Ireland, to <b>Arlene Holmes-Henderson and Mai Musié</b> for all their help on <i>The Symposium</i> project, to <b>Armand D'Angour, Conrad Steinmann</b>, <b>Yana Zarifi-Sistovari</b> and all the other musicians who have generously supported us on the musical front, to <b>Steve Hunt</b>, <b>Anastasia Bakogianni</b>, and <b>David Movrin</b> for inviting us to contribute to publications and patiently editing them, and to those who have given such interesting, thoughtful answers to the Panoply <u><b><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/search/label/Interviews
"> interviews</a></u></b>. <b>Thanks for watching. We look forward to another ten years of ancient animations!</b>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-24464351433070388822019-09-24T19:02:00.000+01:002019-09-24T19:02:42.078+01:00Pottery in Cambridge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6fpocYAtl2Qnmwdpd8XvxN0gEPePJ6vDOO9kgvHS9Ofz7TU4QT7fqhLxYOswzgHmQPu9hRebSHvMyYe1tsoB3SegqzSBHQStpLj-HgZbUb3fkZrLRyHcmbulKzQAXq_fRkVEy1zwnA/s1600/a+jennifer+lee+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6fpocYAtl2Qnmwdpd8XvxN0gEPePJ6vDOO9kgvHS9Ofz7TU4QT7fqhLxYOswzgHmQPu9hRebSHvMyYe1tsoB3SegqzSBHQStpLj-HgZbUb3fkZrLRyHcmbulKzQAXq_fRkVEy1zwnA/s320/a+jennifer+lee+poster.jpg" width="225" height="320" data-original-width="1123" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div>
A new term is here again. We've had an interesting summer at Panoply. We've been making progress on with some lovely animations that we're looking forward to sharing with you in the not-too-distant future, and we've been getting creative in the community with young people in Cambridge thanks to some fun events at the Museum of Classical Archaeology. We have a couple of nice pictures from those events below and we're also celebrating a super exhibition that's been in town – Jennifer Lee's <i>The Potter's Space</i> at Kettle's Yard. As we love a bit of pottery, here are a few highlights from the exhibition...<br><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFUhI3i0cVbEH7OLx5ovlGXO2lbkJaFal9Kaf3wMakKhfj2PiiP7zcgQX9LSHkBQPkbIjOGIZAbCWgtZJ-pOtSXaLtIy2krcLoSmxmsAd3GvSbOkeo_Ho6s6adCP8MqSGuOkJmtEXbnw/s1600/b+jennifer+lee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFUhI3i0cVbEH7OLx5ovlGXO2lbkJaFal9Kaf3wMakKhfj2PiiP7zcgQX9LSHkBQPkbIjOGIZAbCWgtZJ-pOtSXaLtIy2krcLoSmxmsAd3GvSbOkeo_Ho6s6adCP8MqSGuOkJmtEXbnw/s320/b+jennifer+lee.jpg" width="180" height="320" data-original-width="900" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><br>
Jennifer Lee is from Aberdeenshire in Scotland. She trained in ceramics at the Edinburgh College of Arts and the Royal College of Arts. Her works are influenced by ancient pottery, particularly that of Native American cultures and ancient Egypt. Many of her pots are unglazed and she typically begins with a pinch pot to which coils of clay are gradually added. As you can see, her pots feature beautiful subdued colours and intriguing shapes. The exhibition, curated by Sarah Griffin of Kettle's Yard, brought together pots from all eras of Lee's work and included a short video of Lee working in her studio:<br>
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<i>Above, Jennifer Lee at work</i><br>
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<i>Above, pots by Jennifer Lee beautifully exhibited in Kettle's Yard</i><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxjBX3xqqKOkwzs2DrWw-Ar-LPz8Wxe2nPe6rw0_uhBDhS5tYF5566H8AHN_dCr1G3ZN5Jpv7bxvZ7wliICY0EerMlVQCf50zS8E-RirumlUZyt-6pqBx8mrZjNwXs1-gbezxsA5pZg/s1600/g+jennifer+lee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxjBX3xqqKOkwzs2DrWw-Ar-LPz8Wxe2nPe6rw0_uhBDhS5tYF5566H8AHN_dCr1G3ZN5Jpv7bxvZ7wliICY0EerMlVQCf50zS8E-RirumlUZyt-6pqBx8mrZjNwXs1-gbezxsA5pZg/s320/g+jennifer+lee.jpg" width="320" height="248" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1240" /></a></div>
<i>Above, upstairs in the gallery sketch books and other images gave a fascinating insight into the planning behind the pots</i><br>
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Hats off to Kettle's Yard (<a href=" https://www.kettlesyard.co.uk/">https://www.kettlesyard.co.uk/</a>) for an interesting exhibition that demonstrates the vibrant world of modern pottery.<br>
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...and as promised, a couple of cheery images from Panoply activities over the summer...<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTphe3ZZv3RSNfzyafWJvHUsXhDm4jJGcDt5DDWWlBvMgSHeOGXjeP_6qBpGVmlS5YxlgDkXDg7_Q1hV_pa4XSa5pgjz0q3G88kDANgjtoJjdpLZQVHjp3PfDnQG9dahaMPGSdfW7u_Q/s1600/Panoply+Kronos+vase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTphe3ZZv3RSNfzyafWJvHUsXhDm4jJGcDt5DDWWlBvMgSHeOGXjeP_6qBpGVmlS5YxlgDkXDg7_Q1hV_pa4XSa5pgjz0q3G88kDANgjtoJjdpLZQVHjp3PfDnQG9dahaMPGSdfW7u_Q/s320/Panoply+Kronos+vase.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div>
<i>Above, Kronos eats his children(!)</i><br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXjeKkMvga8wnzpWRj2N4fXYqBXrnV7BFI1WTwWxCPoPMgXHK_uC6Z34As0afSBt47VgkHTzuF_xyyVwnSlWKOxus5otSaYSsvXuKtXdMNSE4dkEkXW35L-M2A4tbQhP0ot-SbT_ZrA/s1600/Panoply+Achilles+ST.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXjeKkMvga8wnzpWRj2N4fXYqBXrnV7BFI1WTwWxCPoPMgXHK_uC6Z34As0afSBt47VgkHTzuF_xyyVwnSlWKOxus5otSaYSsvXuKtXdMNSE4dkEkXW35L-M2A4tbQhP0ot-SbT_ZrA/s320/Panoply+Achilles+ST.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div><i>...and Achilles kills Penthesilea the Amazon Queen.</i>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-44922991478068359872019-06-04T19:01:00.000+01:002019-06-04T19:04:10.069+01:00Ure Voice: A Panoply Interview with Professor Amy Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUpzC9viUbXXr1XCTWuKj73HApy2-Fw-wK2J9Dk72t0CHsmIK_nuGuG-jVJB5bM3bxUaph0zh9wLThE2h2wNe5Xh1_-lTCOiaWt4FvjTakHoMdO5mT0Mau8zH-wGKQHKcEnP7BNnNGg/s1600/amysmithnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUpzC9viUbXXr1XCTWuKj73HApy2-Fw-wK2J9Dk72t0CHsmIK_nuGuG-jVJB5bM3bxUaph0zh9wLThE2h2wNe5Xh1_-lTCOiaWt4FvjTakHoMdO5mT0Mau8zH-wGKQHKcEnP7BNnNGg/s320/amysmithnew.jpg" width="320" height="247" data-original-width="180" data-original-height="139" /></a></div><br>
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Time to talk pottery! ...we're delighted to be talking pots with classical archaeologist and curator of the UK's fourth largest collection of Greek art, Professor Amy Smith. Professor Smith curates the <u><a href=" https://www.reading.ac.uk/Ure/index.php
"> Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology</a></u> at the University of Reading, where she lectures on her numerous research interests, including ancient art, iconography, material culture, museum studies, and digital classics. She is also a founding member of the Pottery in Context Research Network, the International Network of Classical Archaeology University Collections, an emerging Specialist Subject Network on Classical Collections UK and a research associate of the <u><a href=" https://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/archive/default.htm"> Beazley Archive </a></u> at the University of Oxford. Professor Smith has authored <u><a href=" http://www.reading.ac.uk/classics/about/staff/a-c-smith.aspx
"> numerous important works on ancient Greek pottery</a></u>, as well as co-editing <u><i><a href="https://www.store.reading.ac.uk/product-catalogue/faculty-of-arts-humanities-social-science/ure-museum-of-greek-archaeology/winckelmann-and-curiosity-in-the-18thcentury-gentlemans-library">Winckelmann and Curiosity in the 18th-century Gentleman’s Library</a></i></u> and Brill's definitive <i>Companion to Aphrodite</i> (2010, with Sadie Pickup). She is a long-time friend of Panoply, having known us for many moons and summers and having invited us to make vase animations from the Ure collection for the <u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/animations.html#urev
">Ure View</a></u>, <u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/animations.html#ured
">Ure Discovery</a></u>, and <u><a href=" http://www.panoply.org.uk/everysoldier.html"> Every Soldier has a Story</a></u> projects. We caught up to talk pottery, Pan, and the future of tech in museums...<br>
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<b>1) How did your love of ancient Greek art develop?</b><br>
I was born in Libya and—‘tho we left when I was young (so I don’t remember it)—my Dad liked to say I became a classical archaeologist because of him taking me to Lepcis Magna <i>in utero</i>. When we left Libya we flew to Athens, which again I don’t remember, but.... Maybe it was London, whose museums I always loved. In my formative primary school years, we lived in South Kensington, and I used to walk <i>through</i> the museums on the way home from school, especially on rainy days. My mother kept my drawing of the National History Museum’s giant squid, with its Victorian case, labels & hardware included. I remember the excitement of going to big exhibits at the British Museum. I didn’t focus on Greek art & archaeology until I was an undergraduate at Dartmouth College. On their Foreign Study Programme to Greece we travelled to monuments & museums throughout the country & it’s that first-hand exposure to the real art that really got me going.<br>
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<i>Above, nothing like visiting Greece to encourage a taste for classical art.</i><br>
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<b>2) You're the curator of the Ure Museum. What does a typical week as a curator involve?</b><br>
The best thing about my job is that there’s no ‘typical week’. As a full-time professor I have to wrap my curatorial work around my teaching and research. Term-time that means I’m in class whenever the timetabling office dictates and, as at other times, I have oodles of meetings with staff & students, course preparation, marking and related paperwork. The museum-specific work entails lots of paperwork and organisation too—applications for funding, arranging finances if someone’s kind enough to donate, purchasing equipment, organising events, etc.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oqNe018q_8p5ai81XGtxi-A0OLQfO72k9hngrN9vtfMiMkn2pt_hwaT1qgsX4ViL8PJQ1zw2ej11UvQb1SS2MrcSNyerctXB42TM0VbDR_Xjnn8xyeHG_jeFNE5KFgo7Ia5oj9ToEw/s1600/2012-09-28+12.09.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oqNe018q_8p5ai81XGtxi-A0OLQfO72k9hngrN9vtfMiMkn2pt_hwaT1qgsX4ViL8PJQ1zw2ej11UvQb1SS2MrcSNyerctXB42TM0VbDR_Xjnn8xyeHG_jeFNE5KFgo7Ia5oj9ToEw/s320/2012-09-28+12.09.20.jpg" width="290" height="320" data-original-width="1451" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div>
<i>Above, Aphrodite greets visitors to the Ure Museum</i><br>
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I have pop-up and scheduled meetings with the museum's Assistant Curator and Education Officer. Our staff have traditionally been people at the beginning of their careers who quickly move on to other opportunities, so for years I was constantly helping them in their career trajectories, then negotiating with the University to make the job more rewarding for the next person. Generally the part-time staff do the hands-on supervision of volunteers, interns and students on work-experience ‘tho I do a lot of correspondence related to that. I also supervise students and volunteers doing museum displays and/or text. I welcome visiting researchers and lay out the stuff they want to study. Either I or Jayne Holly, our Assistant Curator, has to be available to take artefacts out of display cases, for study, display in another exhibition, or conservation.<br>
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While my research mostly takes me into libraries—so I try to reserve one day a week as a library day—I also need to go to museums from time to time for my research. It’s nigh impossible to get someone to pay for you to visit collections so I tend to schedule such trips when I’m travelling anyway for family, lecturing or teaching reasons. So on such visits and at conferences I’m also serving as an ambassador for the museum and its university. So I’m not a typical curator but I doubt there is such a person.<br><br>
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<i>Above, the Symposium case in the Ure Museum, featuring a number of symposium-related pots and the famous Reading aulos.</i><br>
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<b>3) What makes pottery a good source for finding out about the ancient world?</b><br>
Throughout the world and most cultures from the last 3 millennia or so, pottery is the most prevalent archaeological artefact. <b>Each pot or fragment thereof has markers of its history, even if it doesn’t have artist’s signatures or dates</b>: its mineral composition helps us judge its origins or those of its creators; chemical traces and other contents attest its use and age; its archaeological findspot (if known) tell us also about its age, function or use/reuse, and maybe something about its owner(s); there’s also economic and technical matters to be learned from ancient pots. On top of all of that, however, ancient Greek pottery is usually decorated with figural images, which are our best window into the cultures of ancient Greece: <b>we’ve only a few dozen Greek plays preserved but more than 200,000 ancient Greek pots</b> in the museums of the world.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8WXQsqSEhExifKc6zLegYHqfswds8Kyh8QzOHixF3ai7OyjXjZR10iKvKll3fJqebAOZGJkzE-rhYGZp865PFvsiNLgoG-cQ02GCtRnBfvJcDg3oJeBCrZdsoeCBx5yDxIUYYgPfApg/s1600/Pan+Painter+MFA+Boston+SC134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8WXQsqSEhExifKc6zLegYHqfswds8Kyh8QzOHixF3ai7OyjXjZR10iKvKll3fJqebAOZGJkzE-rhYGZp865PFvsiNLgoG-cQ02GCtRnBfvJcDg3oJeBCrZdsoeCBx5yDxIUYYgPfApg/s320/Pan+Painter+MFA+Boston+SC134.jpg" width="320" height="265" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1327" /></a></div>
<i> A red-figure bell krater by the Pan Painter now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (10.185). See more on this pot at: <u><a href=" https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/mixing-bowl-bell-krater-153654"> https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/mixing-bowl-bell-krater-153654</a></u>. </i><br>
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<b>4) You're an expert on the Pan Painter. Where does a name like that come from and how do you know a Pan Painter pot when you see one? </b><br>
Painters of ancient Greek pots were craftsmen, not artists in the modern sense, so their own names don’t seem to have mattered much to the purchasers. Where we have named individuals on the pots, certainly those decorated in the 5th-century, the names are those of the ‘makers,’ presumably potters or owners of the potteries whose products the painters painted. So <b>some painters are named for those artists they worked for</b>, e.g. 'The Meidias Painter' who painted a famous pot potted by Meidias. <b>Others are named for the findspot or museum of their most famous pot</b>, e.g. 'The Empuries Painter' or 'The Berlin Painter' or for the person who owned the pot, e.g. 'The Macmillan Painter'. Sometimes these names conflict, so a while back it was realised that 'The Macmillan Painter' was one in the same as 'The Chigi Painter.' <b>Some painters are named for what they painted</b>, e.g. 'The Elbows Out Painter' or 'The Painter of the Woolly Satyrs.' 'The Pan Painter' is one of the painters known for a particular image he painted on his so-called name vase, a notorious image of the woodland god, Pan, chasing a shepherd boy, on a bell krater in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.<br>
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The Pan Painter’s oeuvre has been well studied by scholars before but I’m still visiting and assessing the vases that have been ‘attributed’ to this artist, sometimes by overly optimistic excavators and curators. I saw one just before Easter in the Nasher Museum of Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina. <b>I’m confident that the Pan Painter painted one side of the vase, because it had his characteristic anatomical features—short nose, round chin, broad neck, deep chest—as well as drawing tendencies, like an invisible “sketch line” (etched lightly into the surface) vertically through the neck</b>, presumably to help the painter put the head in the right position above the torso. The other side of the same pot had none of these features and presumably was done by another lesser painter in the workshop.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGedN7g8i9hDsU6zhV8hW6532AsgT4vIv8GOmJZfFQsatQJwnqGeTeDGc7MoEEiTVodR7i121JP2wv3aaUUC8nLkGsOspLay98jGsw5Z-0lbNYt_R0w1hlbRzAL714rKYbsfE_UfGgXQ/s1600/Pan+Painter+MFA+Boston+Artemis+side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGedN7g8i9hDsU6zhV8hW6532AsgT4vIv8GOmJZfFQsatQJwnqGeTeDGc7MoEEiTVodR7i121JP2wv3aaUUC8nLkGsOspLay98jGsw5Z-0lbNYt_R0w1hlbRzAL714rKYbsfE_UfGgXQ/s320/Pan+Painter+MFA+Boston+Artemis+side.jpg" width="320" height="258" data-original-width="1024" data-original-height="827" /></a></div>
<i>The other side of the Pan Painter's famous krater in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (10.185). This side features Artemis finishing off Actaeon as his own hounds lay into him:
<u><a href=" https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/mixing-bowl-bell-krater-153654"> https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/mixing-bowl-bell-krater-153654</a></u>.</i><br>
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<b>5) You've been a supporter of Panoply since our first adventures in vase animation. Tell us a bit about your thoughts on the role of technology in museums.</b><br>
From the birth of museums, alongside neoclassicism, their creators and curators have aimed to welcome people to them, to share knowledge of art, history, and the origins of civilisation, yet by the 20th century they had become misunderstood as bastions of privilege, because of limiting factors like cost, distance and opening times that unfortunately restricted access. Technology has changed all that: social media and web resources share museum content and activities on a 24-7 basis and allow us to reach audiences who never even heard of some of the smaller museums without advertising budgets. <b>We can and should do more with 3D visualisations, like holograms and prints. 3D prints can be used to rejoin disparate materials in two or more museums/countries, like broken pots separated into multiple collections, or even to display objects that might be risky or impossible to move</b>. In the Museum of Cultural History at University of Oslo this December I saw a brilliant 3D print of the tomb of Seti I from the Soane Museum in London. This is sustainable curation. It might help reduce the huge expenditure on travelling expeditions: this money might be better spent on preserving and protecting cultural heritage.<br>
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<i>Above, the Ure Discovery museum trail, featuring vase animations and links to the museum catalogue.</i><br>
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<b>6) Who's your favourite ancient Greek?</b><br>
Athena—goddess of war, wisdom, crafts, and much else—has always been my favourite goddess, even before I knew what feminism was. I might have learned about her first through Herakles, one of the many heroes she protected. She is the city goddess who gave her name to Athens, where I lived for a few years while working on my PhD. I named my daughter, Sophie, for her (in part). Sophia is Greek for wisdom (and poetry) and the owl is their shared symbol; like Athena my Sophie was born at dawn. Athena should be an icon of the #MeToo movement, because she famously repelled Hephaistos’ attempted rape of her. Maybe we should do that story in a Panoply animation?<br>
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<i>Many thanks to Professor Smith for talking to us and sharing these insights.<br>
You can find out more about the collections research going on at the Ure Museum by visiting</i>: <a href=" https://research.reading.ac.uk/curiosi/"> https://research.reading.ac.uk/curiosi</a><br>
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<i>In other news, we're not long back from an Our Mythical Childhood get-together in Warsaw. Thanks to everyone who helped to organise or took part in the vase workshops (whoop whoop!). We promise a write-up of the many superb presentations on antiquity in young people's culture in our next blog post.</i><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rxIQhQ2CY1G-9UVRTWzf2TFoPOPSClAVwEItMgB4NmISkgGIoC4zozJ1WkmJQIQfbngJ7aKkqtTYPvQQY9_DgTu3xlTtAw4mpNmM7qsigkZFSQKt1FMANKm86IDkxOmngpehpG7MyQ/s1600/Pan+Painter+AandB+MFABoston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rxIQhQ2CY1G-9UVRTWzf2TFoPOPSClAVwEItMgB4NmISkgGIoC4zozJ1WkmJQIQfbngJ7aKkqtTYPvQQY9_DgTu3xlTtAw4mpNmM7qsigkZFSQKt1FMANKm86IDkxOmngpehpG7MyQ/s400/Pan+Painter+AandB+MFABoston.jpg" width="400" height="94" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="374" /></a></div>
<i>A unified look at the Pan Painter krater (Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, 10.185)</i>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-2841319810825662352019-05-01T15:42:00.002+01:002020-11-04T17:21:23.135+00:00A Panoply Interview with The Acropolis Gallery.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikFMEMAN8X4kAK4GH36mxqBS9jI8grjdaQ5i2_fTo9RN3SXqrmdy9KSEYDMyA7BMKVcgtA7ugQDJmJKXx0G_qzCG-2f-UYnbu5KIYE_n5fi2jqQokW6NWIWbb1lijd3VJ0YWoxYH0vrQ/s1600/1+Acropolis+Gallery_Panoply.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikFMEMAN8X4kAK4GH36mxqBS9jI8grjdaQ5i2_fTo9RN3SXqrmdy9KSEYDMyA7BMKVcgtA7ugQDJmJKXx0G_qzCG-2f-UYnbu5KIYE_n5fi2jqQokW6NWIWbb1lijd3VJ0YWoxYH0vrQ/s320/1+Acropolis+Gallery_Panoply.JPG" width="214" height="320" data-original-width="1068" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div>
Antiquities belong in museums! (*Indiana Jones shouting*) So what do you do when you want to brighten up your home or classroom with a bit of classical pottery action? One answer of course is to turn to a replica maker. Today we're talking to the team at The Acropolis Gallery (<u><a href=" https://www.etsy.com/shop/AcropolisGallery">https://www.etsy.com/shop/AcropolisGallery</a></u>). The Athens-based artists at Acropolis Gallery create replicas of ancient works on ancient shaped vessels and new designs based on ancient iconography. Replica-lovers will find a shop link and discount code at the end of the interview. In case you're wondering, Panoply and the Acropolis Gallery are not connected businesses, we're just mutual vase enthusiasts!<br>
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<b>1) You have a pretty enjoyable line of work. Tell us a bit about how you got into it. </b><br>
From my very first years I loved to paint. I just painted on everything...with all types of different oil paint, graphics and pencils. Everything started when I chose to live permanently in this wonderful place. I met people who love this type of ceramic and a potter who lives here in Athens. It was that step - he impressed me with his skills. It was magic, to go from a piece of clay to this amazing result with so much history of beauty from the past. Greece is a historic place full of art and colours; that motivated me to work in that direction. After all these years I know that everything around Greece (the climate, sea, sun, the blue of the sky) stole my heart. I choose to stay here to work and give to the world pieces of Greek art. So, in our store we not only sell Greek handmade ceramic souvenirs, we give the positive energy of this place to our customers.<br>
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<i>Above, an Acropolis Gallery plate featuring the Minotaur</i>.<br><br>
<b>2) Do you feel that it's important to keep this tradition alive in Greece?</b><br>
Pottery was important to the ancient Greeks for storage. Everything from wheat to wine was stored in pottery. Pottery was made by shaping clay on a wheel, decorating the pot, and then heating the clay in a kiln... All these steps and that history come from the past. We have to continue it, to make people feel excited about them. I think that when you come to Greece you can see a lot of wonderful things. We can start with the history, the sea, food... the amazing places, hospitable people all of that... but if you want to take something back home it must be a Greek souvenir, something that you can keep in your house and feel all that positive energy from this historic place. Acropolis Gallery is all about that - you can discover the world of ancient Greek art with wonderful handmade ceramics.<br><br>
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<i>Above, familiar Greek pottery motifs.</i><br><br>
<b>3) What are some of the challenges that you face when you are making replicas?</b><br>
Greek pottery is one of the most fascinating and probably the oldest of the Greek minor arts. The first step is to make the same material from clay. I mean, to make one vessel is easy, but to create the same dimensions as those used in antiquity is hard! So we always have the details from museums to work with. Because fired clay pottery is highly durable we need to buy only good quality clay and it's so hard to find. Believe it or not, only a few potters in Athens have that high quality clay in their pieces. It costs a lot of time to create one piece, sometimes many days and you must be so careful with it... the final result is always something that can bring tears. I love it so much, that's why I continue to make it... I always think of that history of the faces I am painting. That makes me work with more passion to finish it to a high standard however hard it is.<br>
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<i>Above, Acropolis Gallery's take on the familiar scene of Achilles and Ajax gaming - made famous by Exekias, imitated by a host of other pottery painters ancient and modern, and animated in Panoply's 'Clash of the Dicers' animation.</i><br>
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<b> 4) How do you navigate the balance between authenticity and innovation?</b><br>
Sometimes I start to make an amphora design, for example, from nothing. I might change the faces a little, or the colours. I'm a free artist but I keep some authentic feeling and features and "connect" them with new colours or new techniques to make something that is the same yet different; ancient yet new.<br>
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<b>5) Which do you feel are your most successful designs? </b><br>
The one I find most lovely is a Corinthian style piece on which you can see lions, panthers, boars, goats, sirens and swans. I love the feeling of painting more "freely" on these pieces...you can see nature in it all around. I also like Minoan period style which is inspired by the Aegean Sea and adorned with colourful dolphins (the symbol of Harmony), octopus, coral and fish. They make me feel good and having spoken to people about them I know that people enjoy having these designs around them in their homes. Maybe some of them made a beautiful Greek gift to a loved one. I'm happy with that...I enjoy it! <br>
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<i>Above, an amphora in the Corinthian style.</i><br>
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<b>6) Who's your favourite ancient Greek?</b><br>
I can say that is Athena. The goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilisation, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill. What more can I say?!! Back in history she helped all the people around, she gave the olive tree to them. I can tell you a short story about it... Athena, became Athens' patron goddess after a contest with Poseidon. The two gods competed for who would get the honour of becoming the patron god, and they offered gifts to the Athenians. Poseidon hit the ground with his trident and created a spring, showing that he would offer significant naval power. Athena, on the other hand, offered the olive tree, a symbol of prosperity and peace. The Athenians, led by King Cecrops, decided to take Athena's gift, making her their patron goddess. Here where I live, where everything started...<br>
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Thank-you for the chance to talk with you and all your fans. We invite you to visit Athens - that wonderful and historic place! For your fans we offer you a gift, a 20% off coupon to use in our store on ETSY (enter the code: PANOPLY20)<u><a href=" https://www.etsy.com/shop/AcropolisGallery">https://www.etsy.com/shop/AcropolisGallery</a></u>. Now you can decorate your house with lovely vases and feel the Greek culture around your place.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRuRRTpTFoX9tNSLY7yZsdBWLeKXSrwtntWR1gusKLx2rGyP-hIj2yGrSPFT98GGDdPLdofbhgmqaj7OhDA8l_63HsefKRgUnFB0edKvO039U-RMIiITgVjD_yzMpF-_MTHhyphenhyphenDigyzw/s1600/6+Athena+Acropolis+Gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRuRRTpTFoX9tNSLY7yZsdBWLeKXSrwtntWR1gusKLx2rGyP-hIj2yGrSPFT98GGDdPLdofbhgmqaj7OhDA8l_63HsefKRgUnFB0edKvO039U-RMIiITgVjD_yzMpF-_MTHhyphenhyphenDigyzw/s320/6+Athena+Acropolis+Gallery.jpg" width="320" height="214" data-original-width="794" data-original-height="530" /></a></div>
<i>Above, some Athena appreciation from The Acropolis Gallery.</i><br>
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<i>A massive thank-you to the Acropolis Gallery team for talking to us about their wonderful work. In other news, Panoply's very own Dr Sonya Nevin will be talking about vase animations and the 'Our Mythical Childhood' project at the University of Reading from 4pm on Thursday 8th May in the Edith Morley building – be there if you can!</i>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-18574764125174565102019-03-11T17:53:00.000+00:002019-03-11T17:53:52.704+00:00The Art of New Ancient Vases.Like a sonnet, a haiku, or a humble stamp, ancient Greek vases were created within certain constraints of form. Those constraints of shape and colour make the Greek vase a recognisable type which in turn lends itself well to being imitated – in ceramic or illustration. Frequent readers of this blog will know that at Panoply we're big fans of creating new vase scenes on card or clay as part of thinking and learning about antiquity. We've even looked in the past at how the conventions of vase painting have been adapted within <u><a href=" https://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-force-awakens-new-greek-vase-scenes.html"> <i>Star Wars</i> fan art </a></u> to create Greek vases from a galaxy far far away. In this post we'll look at a few more examples of modern 'ancient' vases and how people have worked within the constraints of the genre to make their point.<br>
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Naturally the way that the red and the black scream 'Greece' makes ancient pottery a great format for illustrators who are addressing Greek themes. This made vase themed cartoons a popular choice when the Greek financial crisis hit the headlines.<br><br>
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<i> Above, 'Grexit Vase' by Sunnerberg Constantin has heroically nude warriors in the classical style fighting back against an onslaught of be-suited modern day bureaucrats. <a href=" https://www.cartoonmovement.com/p/6347"> https://www.cartoonmovement.com/p/6347</a></i><br>
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<i>Above, Sergei Tunin's 'The Greek Divide' uses a similar contrast of classically nude figures resisting the clothed representatives of the modern world – in this case riot police rather than money-men. The crack through the vase acts as an instantly recognisable metaphor for division within society. <a href=" https://www.cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/638"> https://www.cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/638 </a></i><br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqp7vnuaD44bcp6yfHulQtNzuEFAfSm6-vV587DJ2O4jKxj0kmsnzF4n918u1wNIWO_WfMqGZXhFPwBmyqTDoUnr6LtyeC5_v4sr18haTHohakFUyf86kWAO1kICmsaVgK2rp1kvSSEw/s1600/3+Hajo_greek-vase_studiohajo__2015.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqp7vnuaD44bcp6yfHulQtNzuEFAfSm6-vV587DJ2O4jKxj0kmsnzF4n918u1wNIWO_WfMqGZXhFPwBmyqTDoUnr6LtyeC5_v4sr18haTHohakFUyf86kWAO1kICmsaVgK2rp1kvSSEw/s320/3+Hajo_greek-vase_studiohajo__2015.gif" width="226" height="320" data-original-width="425" data-original-height="602" /></a></div>
<i>Above, police force also seems to have been on the mind of Hajo of Studiohajo in creating his 'Greek vase'. Without the presence of antagonists, the focus falls more exclusively on the police, whose heavy protective gear adds to the sense of them as a modern iteration of the ancient soldier. All is not well, however. The gun is smoking and the vase is cracking, the cracks once again expressing stress on our social fabric.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Dave Granlund seems to have a more optimistic approach to the same subject with his work, 'Vase repair job'. The Greek economy vase is damaged, but EU glue is piecing it back together and not a rifle in sight. <a href=" http://www.davegranlund.com/cartoons/"> http://www.davegranlund.com/cartoons/</a></i><br>
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The format can work for topics beyond Greece of course...<br>
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<i>Above, Cleon Peterson, takes a far from optimistic view of the modern world. This is his 2017 work 'Trump', featuring a fiercely tiered and none too harmonious society. Peterson has a penchant for dystopian scenes realised in the stark reds and blacks of vase art (the original of 'Trump' was black and red too). The limited palate, constrained space, and bold figures all add to the power of the image. You can see more of his reimagined Greek vases here: <a href=" http://www.artnet.com/artists/cleon-peterson/"> http://www.artnet.com/artists/cleon-peterson/</a>. </i><br>
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This post has been a brief look at some political pots. More new ancient pots in the next post, but this time a promise of some funny ones.<br>
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Fancy drawing your own scene? Get stuck in on your own or <b>come and see us at the Iris Project Festival of Natural History, Classics and More</b>, Oxfordshire, 27th March 2019.<br>
Free – and no booking required unless you fancy bringing a school group. <a href=" http://www.irisproject.org.uk/index.php/resources/14-resources/215-iris-festival-of-natural-history-classics-and-more-27-march-2019
"> http://www.irisproject.org.uk/index.php/resources/14-resources/215-iris-festival-of-natural-history-classics-and-more-27-march-2019</a><br>
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Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-40283599572411181442019-01-01T18:34:00.000+00:002019-01-01T18:34:54.821+00:00Happy New Year, vase fans!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilxJpMBHimu4wR0kbbCM_c6xnc27iI-6AjWoN0JqtgzFtyj-T5eLk4yYgsVRZ8L8nZWPf6VJX1OQpImCMLZXgLPJEQT3UPnLa7b_ECsiFLb4C-DCMgnQdUqn4jM01u4bHiRaXAvTmj3A/s1600/Panoply-New-Year.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilxJpMBHimu4wR0kbbCM_c6xnc27iI-6AjWoN0JqtgzFtyj-T5eLk4yYgsVRZ8L8nZWPf6VJX1OQpImCMLZXgLPJEQT3UPnLa7b_ECsiFLb4C-DCMgnQdUqn4jM01u4bHiRaXAvTmj3A/s400/Panoply-New-Year.gif" width="400" height="267" data-original-width="960" data-original-height="640" /></a></div>
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2019 promises to be an enjoyable year for vase animation fans. September will see the <b>release of our Mythical Childhood animations</b> in coordination with the <b>opening of the new antiquities galleries at the National Museum in Warsaw</b>, where they are due to take a dramatic role amongst the pots. We'll be showing some of them at some events and schools before then, so come and see us if you fancy a sneak peak. And before then, have a quick look here.<br>
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Heracles, who you can see above, will be hunting a mythical beast in his adventure. Meanwhile, Dionysus will be looking to kick off some good times:<br>
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<i>Here he is looking for some likely helpers...</i><br>
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<i>...and here is a likely looking candidate. We're big fans of this little fawn.
(made from Nat. Museum Warsaw 142355 MNW)</i><br>
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You can also look forward to a simply extraordinary animation featuring <b>Sappho and her daydreams</b> about Troy. <b>Big shout-out to Prof Armand D'Angour</b> of the University of Oxford for creating the score for this animation, which recreates the melody of Sappho's own poetry. Pretty rad.<br>
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<i>Above, Sappho conjures up tales of long ago</i>.<br>
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We'll be bringing you something a bit different with a <b>supercool Iris animation</b>. Get ready to feel a little wonder. And you'll get a glimpse of the gods at home in what will be the final OMC animation to take shape. Watch this space for updates – and more – throughout the year.<br>
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<i>Above, storm-footed Iris, bringer of rainbows.</i><br>
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You may recall that we have also been dipping out toes in Roman waters courtesy of involvement in the Locus Ludi project. A fresco from the House of Deer in Herculaneum is the first of our Locus Ludi subjects. Below here you can meet one of the chubby fellows who will be bringing Roman games into the 21st century.<br><br>
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<i>Above, the House of the Deer erotes bring you season's greetings for the New Year.</i><br>
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A big thank-you to all the people and parties who are behind these projects: Prof Katarzyna Marciniak, the University of Warsaw, the National Museum in Warsaw, the University of Roehampton, Prof Veronique Dasen, the University of Fribourg, and the European Research Council. In new news, Steve and I have just been made associates of <u><a href=" http://www.cluster.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/">The Past for the Present </a></u> research & education programme, and we would like to thank the University of Warsaw again for that honour (cue little bow). Further thank-yous to everyone who came to our workshops and talks last year, everyone who wrote us nice letters, and to all of you for watching.<br>
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<b>Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2019, from Steve & Sonya at the Panoply Vase Animation Project.</b><br><br>
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Here's to a year of further adventures with ancient pottery!
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-54719699175213736612018-11-21T17:36:00.000+00:002018-11-23T17:45:10.160+00:00Adventures in Switzerland and London: Games and Comic Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivhFoxP6PyJU59AcYhUQ9beCMLT0C9El5iVhdHPfM59Wso_HEdLfARjnuunPsbVVn5QfbS_Eb7MMdtaDlCb2C4R3NtKhVDhc6e87ZAdgX5jmOC3jex54ItWeyqB_aWa2Zhrycog-Dq4w/s1600/switz+poster+2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivhFoxP6PyJU59AcYhUQ9beCMLT0C9El5iVhdHPfM59Wso_HEdLfARjnuunPsbVVn5QfbS_Eb7MMdtaDlCb2C4R3NtKhVDhc6e87ZAdgX5jmOC3jex54ItWeyqB_aWa2Zhrycog-Dq4w/s320/switz+poster+2018.jpg" width="227" height="320" data-original-width="417" data-original-height="587" /></a></div>
Games and Comics – this post celebrates the fun stuff! Time to fill you in on some recent Panoply adventures. We are not long back from a visit to Switzerland where vase lovers and other scholars had gathered for <b>Good or Bad Games</b> a conference on play that's part of the wider project<b><u><a href=" https://blog.unifr.ch/locusludi/"> Locus Ludi: Play and Games in the Cultural Fabric of Classical Antiquity</a></u></b> an ERC-backed project exploring the world of games in the classical antiquity (on Twitter at <a href=" https://twitter.com/Locus_Ludi">@Locus_Ludi</a>). Locus Ludi is run by <b>Professor Veronique Dasen</b>, a scholar well-known in vase-loving circles and one who has featured on this bog before via her <u><a href="http://panoplyclassicsandanimation.blogspot.com/2015/08/magic-and-play-panoply-interview-with.html"> fascinating interview on magic </a></u>. At the Panoply Vase Animation Project we're busy working on some animations of gaming scenes for Locus Ludi (as well as continuing our work on <u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/"> Our Mythical Childhood </a></u>) so it was a great pleasure to explore the project in greater detail and to show off a little of what we've been doing.<br>
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Games were played throughout antiquity, by children and adults, for education and recreation, with good outcomes and bad. <b>Good or Bad Games</b> brought together scholars from a range of disciplines to think about play and games – what roles they had in antiquity and now.<br>
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<b>Hanna Ammar</b> (Fribourg) <b>examined images of children playing found on ancient Greek vases</b>. These pots present a variety of play, including young children with rattles, rollers, balls, and animals, and older children playing knucklebone games and piggy-back games. <b>Silvana Dayan</b> (Fribourg) spoke about images of mythical childhood, drawing on her doctoral project on the relationship between <b>grandparents and grandchildren</b> in classical antiquity. She discussed the idea that future mythical heroes are rarely depicted doing normal childhood things (like playing), as they are already being represented with regard to their adult persona. An unusual exception to this trend (which can just about be seen in the photo below) is a sensitive image of Perseus as a child, holding out a ball as he is shut into a box by his grandfather (not a recommended form of grandparent-grandchild interaction!).<br>
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<i>Above, Silvana Dayan on a rare scene featuring the young Perseus with a ball, from an Athenian calix-krater, St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum, 637.</i><br>
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There was also talk of applied gaming in the modern world. <b>Francesca Berti (Tuebingen)</b> advocated the use of <b>traditional toys and games</b> in schools to boost development and to bridge cross-generational/cross-cultural boundaries. Traditional toys, such as spinning tops, blocks, cup-and-ball, skittles have a haptic quality that is perfect for people who are learning to understand the physical world; encouraging children to ask adults they trust, "did you ever make a toy?" is a great route into shared play and conversation. The touchable, haptic elements of play were also stressed in <b>Thierry Collaud</b>'s (Fribourg) presentation on play therapy for those with <b>Alzheimer's disease</b>. While computer games (including VR) have growing use and benefits in the care and entertainment of the elderly, those living with Alzheimer's benefit rather from play based on touch – such as building blocks, pick-up-sticks, and percussion instruments. This form of play helps them with the challenge of maintaining a sense of the difference between what is in their heads and what is happening in the physical world beyond. Play is good for all of us, but some forms suit some situations better than others.
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<i>Above, Francesca Berti makes a case for the particular strengths of traditional toys.</i><br>
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Our contribution to Locus Ludi is to create animations of ancient scenes depicting play. They will be informed by Professor Dasen's research into play and games, with the animations demonstrating how games were played and drawing out some of their wider social significances. The first piece we're creating is an exciting departure from our normal adventures with vases – <b>we are animating a Roman fresco!</b> The fresco comes from the House of the Deer in Herculaneum. It depicts three <i>erotes</i> (winged children) playing a hide-and-seek style game. The animation will show them playing the different forms of this game described by Roman author Pollux: <i>Myinda</i>, a sort of Blind Man's Buff; <i>Apodiraskinda</i>, a game with many names in English (such as PomPom 40, FortyForty, and 1,2,3, In!) in which players hide and then return to a base; and <i>Chalke Muia</i>, a chasing game where players pursue the odd one out with strips of papyrus. You'll be able to watch all three of these games being played as the fresco moves and decide which one you think fits best. The other animations that we'll make for Locus Ludi will be made from Greek vases, and naturally the presentation also included discussion of the creative activities that can be done with vases and vase animations. You can see videos of many of the Good or Bad Games talks on <u><a href=" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWOL3y74G_p3QDojm9iJK1w/videos"> Locus Ludi's YouTube channel </a></u>. We'll keep you posted on our progress on the project and, until then, a big Thank-You to Professor Dasen and her team at the University of Fribourg for a warm welcome and an interesting time.<br>
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<i>Above, Sonya in Fribourg talking about the fresco Panoply are animating, and the creative things you can do with artefacts.</i><br>
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I would also like to give a big shout out to the organisers of <b>Drawing on the Past. The Pre-Modern World in Comics</b> (<b>Drs Leen van Broeck</b> (<a href=" https://twitter.com/LeenVanBroeck
"> @leenvanbroek</a>), <b>Zena Kamash</b>, and <b>Katy Soar</b>). This two-day conference in London looked at the many and varied ways in which the pre-modern world is represented in comics and graphic novels. There was fascinating stuff on the <i>Silver Surfer</i> and the <i>Odyssey</i> from <b>Christopher Bishop</b>, <b>Glynnis Fawkes</b> discussed her work adapting the <i>The Homeric Hymns</i> into graphic novels, and my personal favourite was <b>David Anderson's “The Aliens from 2,000 B.C.!” – Or, How Comic Books Have Paved the Way for Pseudoarchaeology"</b>. There was a fantastic practical workshop element to the conference too. Zofia Guertin, Kristin Donner and Laura K. Harrison, Karen Pierce, and John Swogger described their work interpreting archaeological excavations in comic form, with Drs Pierce and Swogger helping us to get creative and give drawing a go. My presentation introduced the <b>Our Mythical Childhood <u><a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey">survey database</a></b></u>, which is an excellent resource for exploring the way antiquity is represented in comics, graphic novels, and illustrated works. I even made this lovely poster as an example – it's based on my database entry for the graphic novel <i>Marathon</i>. <b>Short videos of the talks are available on the conference website</b>: <u><a href=" https://drawingonthepast.wordpress.com/digital-archive/"> https://drawingonthepast.wordpress.com/digital-archive/</a></u> and highly recommended.<br><br>
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<i>Above, Sonya's Drawing on the Past poster, based on her entry in the Our Mythical Childhood database of antiquity in children's culture (which you can read here: <a href=" http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/335">http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/335 </a>).</i><br><br>
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<i>Above, Minimus considers the Battle of Marathon! <u><a href="https://twitter.com/minimus_latin"> Minimus author Helen Forte</a></u> was at Drawing on the Past and created unique Minimus pics of each talk - you can see all of them through the link to the conference videos above.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Sonya weighs up some happy book choices from <u><a href="https://twitter.com/CarolineLawrenc">Caroline Lawrence, supercool author of fiction set in antiquity</a></u>, who joined in at the conference.</i><br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAlf7zpdjpaaNeMuK5oD3BLEaj5HObLTTML2vYROz2y4NYKSuFyKUPzHWnTcZ1FGNurjbth6qC2xIEsQUuX4aOjvmQSJdpT9wCskDgY0lrw35Z8le9YCdfWmA3s5henBMiMYV-ou-URg/s1600/drawing+on+the+past.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAlf7zpdjpaaNeMuK5oD3BLEaj5HObLTTML2vYROz2y4NYKSuFyKUPzHWnTcZ1FGNurjbth6qC2xIEsQUuX4aOjvmQSJdpT9wCskDgY0lrw35Z8le9YCdfWmA3s5henBMiMYV-ou-URg/s400/drawing+on+the+past.jpg" width="400" height="300" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div><i>What's your favourite comic featuring antiquity?</i>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-55935602535097205372018-09-23T14:35:00.001+01:002018-09-23T14:38:03.193+01:00Antiquity-Camera-Action! An Interview with Teen Animator of Myth, Gabi Bania<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsaEG_Xt9lxpeM7xHuHqvsA6NmL3jhqvUEqLjkxp_leZKvNifBSzLha2WfG5wQo7baEf8t8ohpOORRi1K2WkRBsLF6hpbyKpJNcpxw5i2TTlUz2puH5FbdrVTS0GYa9TemkTcIC6UzyA/s1600/Sonya+Nevin+Gabi+Bania.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsaEG_Xt9lxpeM7xHuHqvsA6NmL3jhqvUEqLjkxp_leZKvNifBSzLha2WfG5wQo7baEf8t8ohpOORRi1K2WkRBsLF6hpbyKpJNcpxw5i2TTlUz2puH5FbdrVTS0GYa9TemkTcIC6UzyA/s320/Sonya+Nevin+Gabi+Bania.JPG" width="320" height="234" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1171" /></a></div>
(left) Sonya Nevin of Panoply, (right) with Gabi Bania.<br><br>
Earlier this year, Steve and I at Panoply had the pleasure of acting as jurors on the Our Mythical Childhood-led schools competition, <b>Antiquity-Camera-Action!</b> This was a national competition held across Poland in which teens (15-18) were challenged to create a video (4 mins or less) about classical myth. At the Panoply Vase Animation Project we appreciate animation, so we're delighted to bring you an exclusive interview with finalist, <b>Gabi Bania, of Liceum Filmowe (Movie High School)</b>, whose impressive animation, <u><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-SMYSGr1Cc"> Arachne. Not a Spider Story</a></i></u> won 2nd place in the competition. Check out this beautiful mythical animation here. A new round of the competition has just opened – you'll find details at the end of the interview.<br><br>
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<i>Above, 'Arachne. Not a Spider Story' by Gabi Bania</i></b><br>
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<b>1) What did you want to communicate through this animation?</b><br>
Firstly I wanted to show that Greek mythology consists of such brilliant stories that, even now, after thousands of years, we can find fresh valuable messages and revealing lessons in them. I hope that my movie will encourage other people to rediscover these well-known myths and see them as something more than cruel and unreal stories as they are often perceived.<br>
Secondly I choose the Arachne myth because I consider this story to be unique and very different from others. And besides, the myth of Arachne is little known in Poland; the name 'Arachne' is mainly associated with arachnophobia or with pop culture, where this character functions as a simple, Halloween symbol of fear or disgust. However, <b>the story of Arachne conveys deep values that can help young people to perceive the world in a different way</b>. It's a great story which can be adapted to draw our attention to some of the most common and serious problems of today’s world, like hate and over-competitiveness.<br>
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<i>Above, Athena, from Gabi's 'Arachne. Not a Spider Story'.</i><br>
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<b>2) Tell us a bit about how you made it.</b><br>
When I got to know about the contest and chose the Arachne myth I started to think about the style of my movie. In the beginning I was considering stop motion animation, which I've worked with before, but then I decided to take up a challenge and create a 2D computer animation. <b>I have always dreamt about making movies with this technique but had never done it before and actually the contest “Antiquity-Camera-Action!” motivated me to start this new adventure</b>. Greek mythology, which is my passion, was also a great motivator towards creating the movie.<br>
To create a movie in 2D computer animation for a beginner means spending hundreds of hours in front of the computer. Learning new programmes, drawing (all by my computer mouse), voice acting, music creating, editing and so on took me more than two months of devotion towards it – all in addition to my normal school work.<br>
The thing that kept me on going was my deep love of Greek mythology and my desire to take a step in fulfilling my life's ambition to become a director of animated movies. <br>
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<b>3) What do you like to read or watch to get your ancient world fix?</b><br>
Over the years I've read many books on Greek and other mythologies, beginning with simple stories for children and going into more professional, more detailed texts about ancient life and beliefs. The one I like best is <i>The Greek Myths</i> by Robert Graves. He described everything in great detail. <br>
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<b>4) Do you study any aspect of the ancient world at school?</b><br>
Yes, I do. We study ancient culture and history during our school subjects such as: History of Art, Knowledge of Culture, and World History. We read many ancient texts during Polish language lessons too. As a student of a “Movie High School” I also had a basic course on writing plays and scripts according to ancient authors. Moreover I learn Latin language and rhetoric. <br>
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<i>Above, the Athena prize presented at the University of Warsaw.</i><br>
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<b>5) What do you think young people gain from finding out about classical antiquity?</b><br>
Classical antiquity is one of the pillars of the Western culture and without it we wouldn’t be able to understand the time that we live in. In ancient stories we find not only the truth about ourselves but we also learn from other people’s experience on how to live. <br>
Reading ancient texts enables us to notice connections between many aspects of culture, such as literature, art, music, theatre, cinema, etc. It helps us to see a bigger picture and to know the way to a source of constant inspiration. <br>
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<b>6) Who's your favourite ancient Greek?</b><br>
My favourite mythological character is the goddess <b>Hekate, one of the most mysterious figures in the Greek mythology</b>. She was considered to be the goddess of many things but especially of darkness, witches and magic. In ancient times, she was sometimes perceived to be a good and helpful character but as a creature of the Underworld she was also associated with evil powers, demons, and monsters. <br>
She does not have her own myth, but she plays a positive role in a story of Demeter’s lost daughter. What is important about Hekate is that, unlike many other goddesses, she seems to be always just and wise. <br>
Although Hekate is not a well-described character, everything that we know about her makes her really unique. I find this character very inspiring and I always look forward to finding her in other works of culture. For example we can meet her in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” (see esp. Act III. Scene 5). <br>
Because her person is not defined in detail, we can wonder about her and make her an interesting character of a book or film. I am thinking of making Hekate a main character of one of my works one day. <br>
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<i><b> Many thanks to Gabi to talking to us!</b> And congratulations to her again on a great achievement in the competition. In breaking news, Gabi's latest film, <b>"The Mystery of the Moonflower"</b> has been nominated at the international festival, "Screen & Sound Fest 2018. Let's see the music!" in the Animation category. It features an original story with influences from Slavic mythology and Polish legends. You can see it (<b>and vote for it!</b>) here:<br>
<b><a href=" https://www.screenandsound.pl/voting/action/show/id/61"> https://www.screenandsound.pl/voting/action/show/id/61</a></b><br><br>
You may also enjoy other prize-winning entries to </i>Antiquity-Camera-Action! 2018. <i>Even if your Polish isn’t up to much, you can still follow what's going on:<br><br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TxvF-M_7pdI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
Above, Tantalos .<br>
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Above, Pygmalion and Galataea.<br><br>
If you or anyone you know is aged 15-19 in Poland, you'll be pleased to hear that <b>entries for Antiquity-Camera-Action! 2019 are now open</b>. Go to <a href=" https://antykkameraakcja.wordpress.com/regulamin/">https://antykkameraakcja.wordpress.com/regulamin/</a> for details.</i>
Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4943016156513043560.post-5547648362218127032018-06-05T17:22:00.000+01:002018-06-05T17:25:32.320+01:00The Past Meets the Present: Further Adventures in Warsaw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnrk6coyjnRaKdYFw8FK9xZ4bbMO2gPw1xvCFV0rxvqZhyk8lqvNZRQq4NA4GQL3Asb0kknlIeSUue7r0OQ8pViHj4B0ExJO_ewZhHaKSnaAOeqbYTklalIdRkOCFTB4wXXUoGpIRIg/s1600/OMC+database+homepage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnrk6coyjnRaKdYFw8FK9xZ4bbMO2gPw1xvCFV0rxvqZhyk8lqvNZRQq4NA4GQL3Asb0kknlIeSUue7r0OQ8pViHj4B0ExJO_ewZhHaKSnaAOeqbYTklalIdRkOCFTB4wXXUoGpIRIg/s320/OMC+database+homepage.jpg" width="320" height="145" data-original-width="1303" data-original-height="590" /></a></div><br>
Kabooom! Good news, ancient world lovers! Your hosts at Panoply, Steve Simons and Dr Sonya Nevin, are recently returned from Warsaw where we witnessed the launch of the <b><a href="http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey">Our Mythical Childhood Survey database</a></b>. This database will prove a big deal for anybody interested in classical reception, and/or children's literature and culture. The OMC Survey is a goldmine (or should I say toy-shop?) of items of young people's culture which feature classical antiquity. There is a lot on children's literature, but also games, toys, oral traditions and more. Each entry features the publication or creation details of the item, a summary, and an analysis of the item's use and representation of the ancient world. So search 'Odysseus', for example, to bring up all the books or young people's TV programmes featuring Odysseus, or search 'Ariadne', to explore all the many ways that heroine has been represented in material for young people. Some entries are for obviously classical items, such as the one I wrote for Tom Kindley's <i><a href= " http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/379"> Heroes of the Night Sky. The Greek Myths Behind the Constellations</a></i>, while others are for items with more subtle classical components, such as <i><a href="http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/367">Star Wars: The Clone Wars</a></i>. Each entry is written by someone with specialist knowledge and then double peer-reviewed, meaning they've been well-checked to keep the standard high. The database is free to use and more entries are being added all the time. <b>Try exploring it yourself:<br><br>
<a href= "http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey">http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey</a></b><br><br>
The database was launched at a meeting of the <u><a href="http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/">Our Mythical Childhood</a></u> project at the University of Warsaw. Frequent readers of this blog will know that at Panoply we're busy making <b>five new vase animations</b> for Mythical Childhood. We gave a sneak peek presentation on the progress of three of the animations: <i><b>Sappho 44. Hector and Andromache. A Wedding at Troy; Heracles and the Erymanthian Boar</i></b>; and <i><b>Iris – Rainbow Goddess</i></b>. You'll be pleased to hear that they went down very well and we're really looking forward to showing you them in due course. We also made a visit to the <b>National Museum of Poland in Warsaw</b>, home of the vases we're animating. The renovation of the antiquities galleries is coming along well and will be well worth a trip to see come the grand reopening in Sept 2019.<br>
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<i>Above, Panoply's animator, Steve, heading cheerily into the National Museum in Warsaw.</i><br>
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<i>Above, Scenes from Sonya's presentation at the National Museum in Warsaw.</i><br>
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Another great delight of the trip was the awards ceremony for <b>Antiquity-Camera-Action</b>, a young people's antiquity-themed film competition held across Poland. Steve and I were proud to have been jurors on this competition and honoured to meet the talented young people who created some really impressive material. More on that in our next post.<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKrcr_J_qiGqcTL8qkFIePpK5KhaAO-svkP8NW07rncAFT5UmwzKrWPGvS_0sk4I-pmmCqioIAtiZBQqzkKoBj_g9Nx5NICIncTuHDnmIlz2a7DDyP6hVETaKaIEzIyyTi5gZrHhruA/s1600/20180515_111405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKrcr_J_qiGqcTL8qkFIePpK5KhaAO-svkP8NW07rncAFT5UmwzKrWPGvS_0sk4I-pmmCqioIAtiZBQqzkKoBj_g9Nx5NICIncTuHDnmIlz2a7DDyP6hVETaKaIEzIyyTi5gZrHhruA/s320/20180515_111405.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><i>Above, as well as winning a stack of books, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in Antiquity-Camera-Action won laurel wreaths and Athena-Oscars!</i><br>
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The Mythical Childhood meeting also featured a wealth of presentations and workshops. I'll say more about it when I have a few more pictures. Suffice to say, thank-you to everyone who took part in the Panoply pottery and vase drawing workshop – great work all round. A shout out also to <b>Roehampton's Helen Slaney and Susan Deacy</b> for tremendous workshops on ancient dance and autism respectively. It was also a great pleasure to hear from <b>University of Yaounde 1's Eleanor Dasi</b> on myth and female cults in Cameroon, and <b>Kunnej Takaahaj's presentation on Chyskhaan</b> – the Lord of extreme cold who is experiencing a mythical renaissance in Siberia. Doctoral candidates and post-docs from the Faculty of <i>Artes Liberales</i> at the University of Warsaw presented aspects of their research, including <b>Anna Mik</b> who shared her fascinating work on animals and other beasties in children's literature.<br>
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<i>Above, some delightful material from the vase workshop; and Eleanor Dasi explaining female cults....
and lastly, since this is a vase appreciation site, a couple of shots of some top house decoration in Warsaw's Old Town...</i><br>
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Sonya Nevin and Steve Simonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00946107268899662323noreply@blogger.com0