March 9 – Tour of “Materia Magica: Materiality and Ritual in the Greco-Roman World” exhibit

Monday, March 9 at 12:00 pm

Hatcher Library North, First Floor, Room 100J

Join Abigail Staub (MSP22 and PhD Candidate, Interdepartmental Program in Mediterranean Art & Archaeology) for a tour of an exhibit she curated in the Hatcher Gallery “Materia Magica: Materiality and Ritual in the Greco-Roman World.”

A half hour tour will be led by Abigail Staub (MSP22, PhD Candidate in Interdepartmental Program in Mediterranean Art & Archaeology).  The exhibit is a collaboration and displays items from several University of Michigan units: the library’s Special Collections Research Center and Papyrology Collection, the Museum of Natural History, and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.  Artifacts include a diverse array of items which were created to communicate with and call upon various unseen, supernatural forces for aid and protection. While the objects on display are disparate at first glance, ranging from lead tablets and amulets to papyrus and parchment leaves, they all share a common thread: they have long been labeled as “magical” in traditional Western scholarship.  However, each of these artifacts is better understood on a broad spectrum of ancient ritual, from subversive and transgressive acts to highly social and visible ones. The exhibit highlights the objects’ oft-overlooked material dimensions, asking us to consider how qualities like color, texture, and weight shaped an object’s perceived efficacy and meaning.

The tour is limited to 10 attendees, so please sign up as soon as possible!