Panoply News. New Animation Next Week

It's been a busy and cheerful couple of months for the Panoply Vase Animation Project.

We've celebrated the release of a chapter about the Panoply vase animations in Advancing Engagement: A Handbook for Academic Museums, Volume 3. Written by me (i.e. Sonya!) and Amy Smith, curator of the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, ‘Using Animation for Successful Engagement, Promotion, and Learning’ offers details on the vase animation projects undertaken at the Ure Museum and guidance on including animation and storyboarding activities in teaching and museum practice. It’s also been a real pleasure to read the other chapters in the book, which offer insights into all sorts of projects and good practice in leading museums.

Another enjoyable development has been Panoply’s contribution to the 9th Nyon International Festival of Archaeological Films. Hoplites! Greeks at War was flying the flag for vase animation and we’re really pleased that it was shown at such a fantastic event.

This evening we’re exploring another artist’s experiments with ancient Greek pottery by attending the opening of The Labours of Herakles exhibition at the Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge. Marian Maguire has created original artwork drawing on black-figure vases, imagining Herakles as a New Zealand pioneer, taming the land. Wonderful work. You can see examples online and the exhibition is running until 15th August 2015.

In exciting further developments, we will have a new animation for you next week, and Steve is busy at work on a truly wonderful piece that will be out in the summer...

The World of Ancient Music: An Interview with Prof. Conrad Steinmann

Today we’re hearing from Professor Conrad Steinmann, a musician and musical archaeologist specialising in the instruments and music of Classical Greece. Prof. Steinmann lectures at the renowned music institute, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland, and leads the Melpomen Ensemble, a group who create and perform music in the classical Greek style. We love Melpomen’s music so much that Prof. Steinmann kindly allowed use it on a number of our animations, including Heracles, Sirens, and Medusa.
Prof. Steinmann talks to us here about the sounds and signs of ancient music…
(Please be aware that this interview contains an image of a human burial).

1. What sparked your interest in ancient music?
It’s my curiosity to know what we can find beyond the surface, to scratch this surface and to find a look into a space where things begin. Of course I loved always, since my childhood, the ancient Greek world.

2. You’re a musical archaeologist as well as a musician. Can you tell us a little about what musical archaeology involves?
It depends whether you focus more the musical side or rather the academic side of archaeology. I’m personally a musician with empirical experiences with deep and far going interests in history and archaeology, but my starting point will ever be music making with exactly reconstructed instruments, the sensual approach also to the music of Greece in the 6th and 5th c. BC.

3. How do you use vase iconography in your work?
Many musical scenes and musical instruments are depicted on vases. I found out that vase paintings between 510 and 480 BC show in an extremely realistic way all the details and proportions of the instruments, realistic enough to be of essential help for an instrument maker, in my case the Swiss Paul J. Reichlin.

A charming example of an ancient depiction of aulos playing.

4. Is there much difference in the representation of musical instruments between black and red figure vases?
As I said before, it’s less the difference between black and red figure vases, but much more the time period which shows useable paintings. Nevertheless it has to be said, that we have finally more red figured pottery surviving from antiquity, which serves us to give a lively impression of how instruments could have been.

A burial from Pydna which, unusually, includes a set of aulos pipes (left)

5. Playing the aulos looks really difficult; is it very different to playing other wind instruments?
Well, the aulos is definitely difficult to play and difficult to get prepared with its single reeds. Then, of course circular breathing has to be learnt as well as a special technique to articulate with the fingers instead of the tongue.

6. Who’s your favourite ancient Greek?
I always liked the Athenian comedy writer Aristophanes with his specific and at the same time timeless wit and humour. As a child I admired Herakles and now, as a musician of so called Greek music, I love songwriters such as Sappho or Anakreon with their eternal beauty and wisdom.

Many thanks to Professor Steinmann for sharing his thoughts with us. For more on Melpomen and their work, visit www.melpomen.ch and check out their albums, Sappho and her Time (2010) and Melpomen(2005).

The Procession and a procession of workshops

First things first, we hope you like The Procession, our shiny new animation made for the University College Classical Museum. For more information on the project in which it was developed, scroll down to the previous post.

It’s been a busy time for Panoply. Sonya was at the lovely Loughborough High School in Leicestershire talking vases and ancient warfare with their super switched on classics loving girls.

Shortly afterwards, Sonya gave a presentation for classicists, historians and theologians at the Digby Stuart research centre for religion, society, and human flourishing at the University of Roehampton. This paper was encouraging people to use vase animations or animation related activities for teaching about ancient religion – particularly about ancient depictions of gods and religious activities.

Then it was off to the East Oxford Community Classics Centre. Year 9 sessions on vases and ancient religion led to lots of great questions and great ideas. At a follow-up public kids’ session we watched The Procession, talked about gods, festivals and sacrifices, and followed up with some arty decorating of bulls heads – the perfect offering for the gods who has everything. Always plenty of ancient action at the EOCCC.

Next stop Nottingham, for a BA students’ special workshop on communicating classics. This was part of the classics department’s independent research module. Sonya outlined what Panoply have been doing over the last few years and we watched Clash of the Dicers, The Cheat, and The Procession. Sarah Cole of Time/Image talked digital projects, not least the rise of 3D printing. And John Swogger presented the very cool work he does presenting proper archaeology in comic book format: https://johngswogger.wordpress.com. The Uni of Nottingham students will plan their own classics projects – can’t wait to see what they come up with. Great module. Thanks to Dr Lynn Fotheringham for the invite to talk.

Meanwhile work has begun on our new project; more on that soon. Our next bog will feature an interview with ancient music specialist, Prof. Conrad Steinmann.

Adventures at The University College Dublin Classical Museum

This week we're celebrating the success of a recent project at the University College Dublin Classical Museum. The museum is located in the heart of the university’s School of Classics. It houses Ireland’s leading teaching collection, including a very fine coin collection, a range of inscriptions, and vases from right across the span of classical antiquity. The UCD Classical Museum was also the place where we first presented our ideas for using vase animations in museums at 'The Museum Artefact and Cultural Space’ back in 2009, so it’s extra nice to be back there working with the collection.

The recent project has focused on a late classical krater vase. The vase depicts a festival scene, in which the goddess Nike, holding a bull on a halter, appears before two torch-bearing youths. In a seminar on the Ancient Materialities module, part of the UCD MA in Classics, postgraduate students explored the role of vase animation in exhibiting classical collections, and then worked together to interpret the vase and to plan an enjoyable vase animation that would help visitors to understand the scene. Here you can see a couple of shots of the planning session:

Curator Dr Jo Day picks out a detail on the vase

MA students planning the animation

Sonya talking vase animation with the MAs

The storyboards created by the MA students’ have now been transformed by Steve into a beautiful animation. The animation will be available on a tablet in the museum for visitors to watch as they look at the vase. It will also be available on the Panoply and UCD websites, so that it can be seen by people who can’t make it to the museum and those who just want to see it again! The animation is only one part of the students’ new presentation of the vase. They have developed and set-up an exhibition exploring the themes in the vase scene, such as ancient festivals and the goddess Nike. Their exhibition also explains how vases were made, decorated, and used in classical Greece. Here they are setting it up:

UCD MA students preparing the museum exhibition

Preparing the case

Finishing touches

The animation on display with its vase

Pop along and see the exhibition for yourself! The museum is open during term time on Tuesdays (11.00 - 16.00), Wednesdays (14.00 -15.00), and Fridays (11.30 - 14.30). School groups are always welcome, although they should book in advance.

The animation will be online with its own page soon. Visit again soon to see it, and keep track of updates through Twitter (@SonyaNevin) or through our new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/panoplyvaseanimation.

If you’d like to know more about vase animations in museums (including the UCD project), you can now read ‘Using Animation for Successful Engagement, Promotion, and Learning’, by Prof. Amy Smith and Panoply’s Dr Sonya Nevin in Advancing Engagement: Handbook for Academic Museums, Volume 3, S. Jandl and M. Gold (eds.), MuseumsEtc Ltd: Edinburgh and Boston, 2014: 330-359.

Season’s Greetings

Season’s Greetings Panoply followers! We’re looking forward to getting properly stuck into our 2015 projects. Expect new animations in January, February, and in the summer. To keep track of what's happening, you can sign-up to the email list on this page and/or check out our brand new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/panoplyvaseanimation

Looking back at 2014, we’re pleased with the outcomes of the Every Soldier has a Story project. Over 12,000 people in 112 countries have seen Hoplites! Greeks at War already; making the Every Soldier photo-film was a lot of fun and we love all the other artwork that people made to go with it – check it out at the bottom of the project page if you haven’t seen it. A session-plan with activity sheet and PowerPoint slides is still on that page too if you fancy leading your own ancient warfare activities.

We’d like to give a big shout-out to CNET for including Panoply in their recent tech review; their positivity and enthusiasm for the animations was much appreciated. You can see the feature below (Panoply’s at 9.30 mins).



Wishing you a wonderful 2015!
Steve and Sonya x

Museum Internships: An Interview with Gabrielle Turner

In this latest blog we're delighted to be talking with Gabrielle Turner, a 3rd year Classical Civilisation student at the University of Roehampton in West London. Gabrielle recently contributed to the Panoply project Every Soldier has a Story as part of her internship at the University of Reading’s Ure Museum. In this interview she discusses her internship, curating a temporary museum case, and studying Classical Civilisation.

1) Tell us about your internship – what did you do?
At my internship at the Ure Museum I helped out with their database by logging in artefacts, and helping out with the exhibit. The latter was a job that I carried on working on after my internship was finished.

2) You curated the Every Soldier has a Story case – what pieces did you choose and why?
I put in a lamp that depicts a ship because there is not much art in the ancient Greek world that portrays the navy. I found this interesting especially as they played such a significant role. The reason for this was because the navy was made out of the poorest citizens and the rich would not want the lower class shown on their vases.

Another vase that I put in depicts a scene of young men performing athletics. I thought this one would be interesting to go in because it will show the visitors how important citizen soldiers were to the state. They had to be trained from such a young age; this vase will give visitors an idea of the intensity of their training.

An athlete holds up a strigil, Attic skyphos-cup, c.425-400BCE, Ure Museum 39.8.1

I also chose a vase depicting hoplites in full armour, looking as if they are heading to war. I chose this one because it highlights how glorified war can be.

Hoplites on the march, Boeotian aryballos, c.600-575BCE, Ure Museum 11.10.6

3) What are you studying at Roehampton for your Classical Civilisation degree?
My current modules this term are Latin and Demosthenes and the Rhetoric of Power. I am also writing my dissertation on the character Tydeus in the ‘Thebaid.’ I have found this great to work on as I have been able to be more independent in my study and chose a subject that I have a lot of interest in.

4) How did you arrange the internship, and would you recommend the experience?
I first sent an email to the Ure Museum telling them about my interests and future career prospects and asking if I could do an internship there. I got my lecturer to double-check my email. I also attached my CV to the email. The process was amazing, it felt great to have the responsibility that I was given. I enjoyed every moment of it and I would definitely recommend this experience to fellow students.

5) Who’s your favourite ancient Greek?
This is tough! I would have to choose Diomedes, son of Tydeus. This is because I find that he is extremely underrated in the Iliad, even though he plays such a prominent role in it. I also like how wily Diomedes and Odysseus are; they work well together as a team.


Many thanks to Gabrielle for taking part in the project and for talking to us today.

The completed 'Every Soldier has a Story' case.

Teaching and Learning Ancient Religion

This week I led a session at Senate House, London, for the Teaching and Learning Ancient Religion Network (TLAR). TLAR’s aim ‘is to establish an international network interested in teaching and learning about ancient religions. This reflects a sense that there is something distinctive about this particular area, even within the broad field of classics.’ A mix of academics, doctoral candidates, and BA students joined the session.

I began by describing some of the material that’s available on the Panoply site and how that relates to the teaching and study of ancient Greek religion. Some of our animations, such as Hoplites! Greeks at War, contain religious elements (such as a hepatoscopy and the erection of a trophy) that have been incorporated into a vase scene that has no religious features. Others animate religious features that already exist in the original artwork, such as The Love of Honour, in which a man receives a wreath and recounts his sporting victories. I also discussed an animation featuring Nike and a sacrificial bull which Steve is busy making now – more on that soon!

Watching Hoplites!

Other animations act out myths, such as Heracles and Persephone and the Sirens, while others animate scenes featuring well-known mythical characters, such as Achilles and Ajax in Clash of the Dicers.

All of these animations make a great springboard into discussions of ancient myth and religion. These could be directly related to the content of the animation, by asking questions such as ‘What are the objects that the characters have in The Love of Honour?’ or ‘What is the trophy’s function in Hoplites!?’. Alternatively, they can be less directly related, with, for example, Clash of the Dicers acting as a gentle introduction to a discussion of Ajax, Achilles, or the Trojan War.

The animations can prompt a number of other sorts of activities. To some extent these are activities that can be done just with vases, but the accompaniment of the animations seems to make students (young and older) more enthusiastic about the process and can also help people to look at the vases with more attention and more creative freedom.

One great activity is virtual curating. Set your students the challenge of creating a case that expresses the theme of ancient religion. They don’t need real vases, let them loose to pick artefacts from books and online catalogues. Ask them to write text for their cabinet and get them to pick (or plan) an animation to include in their display. This is a fun activity, but it’s also challenging and it encourages students to imagine themselves in a leading role using their knowledge to help others.

Another activity is review-writing. Ask you students to pick an animation to review and analyse, paying particular attention to the representation of gods, heroes, or religious activities. Alternatively, ask them to write scripts for the animations, working in groups or on their own. As the Panoply website has so much information about ancient topics, it’s also a safe place for teachers and lecturers to leave students to explore and research. Set them a question or a topic and let them spend time on the website putting together their response. The Panoply website can also be used for the curating challenge as there are so many images and links to ancient literature.

One of our favourite activities at Panoply is storyboarding. Storyboarding based on vases encourages people to pay close attention to the details within a vase scene and it’s a fun yet thought-provoking way for people to bring together and draw on what they’ve learned. If you’ve been covering Greek religion with a class for a few weeks, let them process some of what they’ve learned by putting together a story for an animation through a storyboard. This will really help them to make connections. By working in groups they can weigh-up different possibilities. If lots of animations are planned from the same vase, this will also help to release students from the tyranny of ‘one interpretation’ when they see the different directions their class-mates have taken their animations in. There will be an interesting discussion when the groups share and compare their work.

Towards the end of the session we created some storyboards ourselves. It was great how everybody got on board; ideas and a happy buzz soon filled the room. You can see a few here: