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Installation view of Being and Believing in the Natural World: Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America on view 10-22-2022 through 06-04-2023 at the RISD Museum.

Being and Believing in the Natural World

Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America
October 22, 2022 - June 4, 2023
Installation view of Being and Believing in the Natural World: Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America on view 10-22-2022 through 06-04-2023 at the RISD Museum.

Introduction

Human relationships with the natural world are explored across these ancient Mediterranean, Asian, and Indigenous North American objects. Rather than searching for similarities across cultures, this exhibition embraces the layers of meaning that emerge in bringing these different perceptions together. Dating from 2000 BCE to the present day, many of these objects could be presented within multiple contexts. Grouped as they are, they consider how diverse makers interacted with the natural world and suggest points of departure for thinking about our own narratives today.

Across the exhibition labels, different terminology describes the makers and their affiliations. “Artist once known” is used for Indigenous North American art and “unidentified maker(s)” for objects from Asia and the ancient Mediterranean. Specific geographical locations of origin are included when known, as are cultural designations. The information for each object is formatted to reflect current leading practices in the study of ancient, Asian, and Indigenous North American art.


Gina Borromeo (GB), former chief curator and curator of ancient art

Wai Yee Chiong (WC), associate curator of Asian art

Sháńdíín Brown (SB), Henry Luce Curatorial Fellow for Native American Art 


RISD Museum is supported by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and with the generous partnership of the Rhode Island School of Design, its Board of Trustees, and Museum Governors.

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Events

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Open Studio

Pastel Passages
May 21, 2023 / 2-4 pm
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Family See & Sketch

May 20, 2023 / 10:30-11:15 am
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Faculty Exhibition Workshop

Being and Believing in the Natural World
February 17, 2023 / 12-1 pm

Being and Believing in Nature

Perspectives from Ancient Mediterranean, Asian, and Native American Art
October 8, 2022 - June 4, 2023

Teachers' Lounge

Best Practices for Teaching and Learning about Native People, Part 2. Engaging with Native Art and Objects in Museums
March 14, 2022 / 1-3:30 pm

Articles

Confronting our Carbon Footprint

Related Objects

Turquoise amulet of a crouching pelican-like bird with a long beak pointed downwards, head tucked into its neck, where there is a small loop.

Unknown Maker, Egyptian

Ibis Amulet, Ptolemaic
Tan cloth with angular geometric patterning in bright reds, yellows, blues and greens, folded into its center and secured with tan laces.

Unknown Maker, Pikuni Blackfeet (Piegan)

Parfleche
A woodblock print of a partially sunlit mountain against a cloudy blue sky. The mountain's blue shadowed base is forested whilst the red sunlit tip of the mountain is snowy.

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎

Fine wind clear weather (凱風快晴 Gaifū kaisei), Edo Period
Purple and white beaded belt with a geometric diamond pattern and loose maroon warp thread ends.

Elizabeth James Perry

Star Scape Wampum Belt

Unknown Maker, Roman

Mirror Cover, Imperial Roman period

Unknown Maker, Ute

Tipi Bag
  • More objects +

Being and Believing in the Natural World : Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America

October 22, 2022 - June 4, 2023
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