Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Great Turnout for the Callahan Lecture by Prof. Larson at the Birmingham Museum of Art

March 6, 2010
Folks, we had a great turnout for the events surrounding the Callahan Lecture on Southeast Asian Art.

Please click here for the slide show!

Dr. Larson examined the role and function of the goddess in South Asia in both religion and art during the 11th Annual Callahan Lecture. He explored the idea of the goddess in relation to the current women’s movement and feminist thought in South Asia. Dr. Larson is the author of 12 books and many articles on cross-cultural philosophy of religion, history of religions, classical Sanskrit, and South Asian history and culture.

Dr. Alston & Eivor Callahan were long time supporters of Indian and Southeast Asian art at the Museum, and their family continues this tradition. The Callahans began their lecture series in 2000, and since then such world renowned scholars as Olivier Bernier, Dr. Helen Jessup, Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, and Vishaka Desai have participated. The Callahan Lecture is one of the Museum’s most important and most anticipated events each year.

Prof. Larson’s lecture was opened and closed by Notinee group. Dr. Pia Sen, Founder and Director of Notinee, had created 2 specific pieces for the topic of Prof. Larson’s lecture. Co-incidentally, Notinee’s dance themes were based on Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore’s compositions.

Dr. Sanjay Singh played a key role in arranging several aspects of the event working with the Birmingham Museum of Art.

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