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From Ancestral Worship to Pursuit of Immortality: Bronze Age to Pre-Buddhist Chinese Art

This presentation uses artefacts from the New Orleans Museum of Art and the exhibition Buddha and Shiva, Lotus and Dragon: Masterworks from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at Asia Society and visual materials from recent archaeological discoveries to discuss the changing ideas and attitudes toward life, death, and afterlife in pre-Buddhist China. From the Early Bronze Age to the first Empires, religious centers moved from family lineage temples to individual tombs, reflecting profound socio-political transitions in the declining of a hierarchical genealogical structure and the rising importance of one’s achievements through personal efforts. Read More

Remembering Bill Fagaly: Sentiments from the Curator’s Colleagues and Friends

Colleagues and friends of NOMA curator emeritus Bill Fagaly (1938-2021) reflect on his life and accomplishments. Speakers include Dr. Ndubuisi Ezeluomba, Françoise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art at the New Orleans Museum of Art, Emeritus Prof. Robin Poynor, Professor of African Art History of the University of Florida, Gainesville; Prof. Sara Hollis, Professor of Museum Studies at SUNO; Dr. Roslyn Walker, African Art Curator at the Dallas Museum of Art; Dr. Susan Cooksey, Retired African Art Curator of the Harn Museum in Gainesville; Florida; Dr. Carlee Forbes, Mellon Fellow at the Fowler Museum of Art, UCLA; and Erika Witt – PhD candidate at LSU, and librarian at SUNO. Read More

Reflecting on Bill Fagaly’s Contributions to Contemporary Art in New Orleans

In addition to the formative role he played in developing NOMA’s African art collection, Bill Fagaly was an important voice in contemporary art in New Orleans throughout his 50 year career. Before the first NOMA contemporary curator was hired in 2008, Bill conceived some of the most inventive and provocative contemporary art exhibitions in the museum’s history. He also helped foster a new generation of contemporary art galleries, curators, collectors, and supporters.  Read More

Reflecting on Ancestors of Congo Square

William A. Fagaly arrived at the Delgado Museum (now NOMA)  to fill the position of registrar in August of 1966. In his 50 years at NOMA, Fagaly’s success is apparent in the museums’s galleries of African art, and in the international regard for the collection he helped to build. His capstone project, Ancestors of Congo Square: African Art in the New Orleans Museum of Art, served as a culmination of his professional curatorial career. Read More

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