“Ancient Vases in Modern Showcases” – Allard Pierson, Amsterdam 26-28 January 2023

Ancient Vases in Modern Showcases. 
Future Possibilities for Exhibiting Ancient Greek Pottery in Museums

Upcoming conference from 26 to 28 of January 2023 in the Allard Pierson (Amsterdam) on the display of Greek painted pottery in museums.

Too often, Greek ceramics are exhibited as self-explanatory, aesthetically pleasurable objects of art, standing alone and apart, accompanied by text displays only offering straightforward analyses of the depiction, the dating, the hand of the painter, and the place of origin. Yet, over the last decades museums have changed and scholars have broadened the field of (iconographic) pottery studies, bringing new perspectives to the discipline and these objects – perceptions of ancient makers and consumers, differentiation between the elite and the lower classes, and also contemporary concerns like racial and gender issues. Furthermore, current museum practice deals with the complex history of collecting Greek vases and issues concerning provenance.

Over the last decade, the voices that contest the Greco-Roman monopoly of antiquity and plea for a more diverse past have become louder and louder. Museums can play an important part to alter the narratives on ‘Classical’ collections in the public domain, but are they listening to and anticipating new scholarship?

All lectures on Thursday and Friday will be broadcasted via Zoom Webinar for the attendees online.

To see the speakers’ abstracts

To register