New York University’s Center for Ancient Studies will host “Persepolis, Then & Now,” a one-day conference that will explore the impact of this ancient city on modern artists, on Thurs., November 21, in NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, Silver Center for Arts and Science, 100 Washington Square East (enter at 32 Waverly Place or 31 Washington Place [wheelchair accessible]).
“Persepolis, Then & Now,” this year’s Rose-Marie Lewent Conference, will introduce the audience to ancient Persepolis, invaded by Alexander the Great and situated in present-day Iran, through its history, archaeology, and art, and then explore how and to what ends modern artists in different genres have used that past in their work. Session I will focus on “Ancient Persepolis and Its Rediscoveries” and Session II will examine “Persepolis in the Modern Artistic Imagination.” The conference is held in conjunction with the exhibition Modernisms: Iranian, Turkish, and Indian Highlights from NYU's Abby Weed Grey Collection, on view at NYU’s Grey Art Gallery from September 9 to December 7, 2019.
The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required at http://as.nyu.edu/ancientstudies/news.html. For more information, call 212.992.7978 or email ancient.studies@nyu.edu. Subway Lines: 6 (Astor Place); R, W (8th Street)
1:00pm Welcome
Matthew S. Santirocco (Classics/Center for Ancient Studies, NYU)
Lucy Oakley (Grey Art Gallery, NYU)
1:15pm SESSION I – Ancient Persepolis and Its Rediscoveries
Moderator: Hallie Franks (Gallatin School, NYU)
1:30pm Builders, Sculptors and Painters on an Archaeological Site in Iran, c. 520-330 BCE
Alexander Nagel (SUNY-FIT and the Smithsonian Institution)
2:15pm The Power of Persepolis: From Sābūr Sakānšāh to Cornelis de Bruijn
Daniel T. Potts (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU)
3:00pm BREAK
3:15pm SESSION II – Persepolis in the Modern Artistic Imagination
Moderator: Ali Mirsepassi (Gallatin School/Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, NYU)
3:30pm Persepolis and Modern Cinema: Redemption of Ruin and Nation
Farbod Honarpisheh (Film and Media Studies, Yale University)
4:15pm Iannis Xenakis and Persepolis: Music as Spectacle
Carey Lovelace (Independent Curator)
5:00pm Parviz Tanavoli, Persepolis, and the Reinvention of Persian Sculpture
Lucy Oakley (Grey Art Gallery, NYU)
5:45pm RECEPTION AND EXHIBITION VIEWING