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The British Museum
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Free Seminars (4)
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Agatha Christie and Archaeology
From: The British Museum
In 1930, the famous crime and mystery writer Agatha Christie married the archaeologist Max
Mallowan and accompanied him thereafter on all his excavations in the Middle East. In this
seminar, Henrietta McCall, special curator for the "Agatha Christie and Archaeology"
exhibition at the British Museum, retraces Agatha Christie's travels to the ancient sites, and
explores how life on archaeological digs provided a constant inspiration and setting for many of
her books.
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Brushes with Surprise: The Art of Calligraphy in Modern China
From: The British Museum
Calligraphy is a defining feature of China's culture. Both a means of communication and a
revered form of art, the dividing line is often vague, and this ambiguity has given it an
important role in shaping the history of modern China since the creation of the People's
Republic of China in 1949. Unlike in the West, there is no tradition of political oratory in
China, so it is the printed word that bears political influence. In this seminar, Gordon Barrass,
who has been collaborating with The British Museum since 1993 to build a collection of modern
Chinese calligraphy, presents an integrated portrait of modern China, presenting historical events
within the context of the artists' responses, and providing a short exegesis of some of their most
intriguing pieces of work.
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Creating a Great Museum: Early Collectors and The British Museum
From: The British Museum
In this seminar, Marjorie Caygill, historian for The British Museum, introduces us to some of
the great British collectors of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, whose
appetites for acquisition have been of great benefit to the viewing public ever since. Rather
than a definitive study of English collecting, or a complete list of collectors whose donations
have enriched The British Museum, this seminar provides interesting vignettes on the lives of
several collectors, and attempts to address the question, 'What is a collector?' What emerges is
also a portrait of collecting itself--its passions and eccentricities--as well as the diminishing
opportunities in our day for vast accumulation of materials by a single individual.
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Spices, Gold and Precious Stones: The South Arabian Spice Trade
From: The British Museum
According to the Bible, the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon in Jerusalem with a great
camel caravan laden with gifts of "spices, and very much gold, and precious stones"
(1 Kings 10:2). She is thought to have come from Saba', the most powerful of the South Arabian
caravan kingdoms, which was located in present-day Yemen. Although there is no archaeological
evidence to prove the existence of the Queen of Sheba, calcite-alabaster statues, limestone
funerary stelae, gold jewellery and bronze inscriptions tell of the rich civilization that
was Saba'. The "spices" the Bible lists as part of the queen's cargo probably included
incense, namely frankincense and myrrh, which were ancient South Arabia's main exports and were
in great demand throughout the Near East and the Mediterranean. In this seminar, Alexandra
Porter, assistant curator for the "Queen of Sheba: Treasures from Ancient Yemen"
exhibition at the British Museum, provides an introduction to the archaeology of the South
Arabian caravan kingdoms.
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