IU Art Museum offers Wednesday noon talks

IU students and members of the IU and Bloomington communities gathered Wednesday in the second floor gallery of the IU Art Museum for another installment of the museum’s popular noon talk series.

Ann Fields, a member of the curatorial staff who oversees the talks, called the group to attention and began an introduction of Steve Vinson, associate professor and director of graduate studies for the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.

With that, the group of 18 fell quiet and gathered around as Vinson began to explain that he would be talking about the exchange of ideas and objects through the use of objects in the gallery.

This particular talk is part of the effort to tie the series into the College of Arts and Science’s Themester, Connectedness: Networks in a Complex World, and is overseen by curator Juliet Istrabadi.

Every curator is involved in the noon talk series, and speakers can be curators, IU faculty or even visiting speakers or professors, all on a volunteer basis.

Vinson was invited to participate by Istrabadi and said he was glad to have the opportunity to put objects in a historical context.

“Just like its important to know people from your generation, if you study history, you can get to know people from previous generations,” Vinson said.

Fields presented a similar view, highlighting the fact that most of the objects the museum has on display in this gallery weren’t made to sit in a museum, but rather to serve a function. She said that the historians who visit for noon talks can give very valuable insight into what these functions were.

“Its an opportunity to, through an informal and comfortable environment, gain access to specific objects in the museum and gain perspective,” Istrabadi said.

Istabadi said she enjoys the opportunity to meet IU faculty who can add something to how she approaches the collection.

One of Vinson’s students, Holly Johnson, was in attendance. Johnson is a senior majoring in anthropology with a focus in archaeology.

“Using objects to teach history can make things much more valuable and important to students,” Johnson said. “It’s a much more active way of learning.”

In Vinson’s talk, like in many other noon talks, the objects serve as a stepping stone with which connections and history can be explored.

“Each of these objects provides a way we can understand our past and our histories and ourselves,” Istrabadi said.

This talk was conducted similar to a tour of the gallery. Vinson lead the group from display to display to discuss the evolution of networks between ancient Egyptians and Greeks.

Speakers are free to decide how they conduct their talk and can follow whatever format they feel would be most effective.

Istrabadi said she thinks the variety is part of what makes the series so successful.
 
With this engagement in mind, Istrabaldi feels that the talks can be incredibly valuable to students.

“I think it makes for a richer community here at IU,” Istrabadi said.