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Home » Museum Object Students Developing Exhibition of Nazca Ceramics

Museum Object Students Developing Exhibition of Nazca Ceramics

Published March 3, 2017

Museum Object Spring 2017 class

Each semester, a select group of Art History undergraduate students in the Museum Object course have the unique creative opportunity to mount their own art exhibition. From curating to promotion to exhibition design, the production is a unique hands-on learning experience for future museum professionals. This spring, Art History undergraduates in the Museum Object class under the direction of PhD candidate Gabriela Germaná are developing the exhibition Visions of the Nazca: Painted Images of an Andean Ancient Society, to open on April 6 in the WJB Gallery. The students are currently seeking support through a SparkFSU campaign. Donations will help them create an appropriate setting, build secure cases for the ceramics, and publish an exhibition catalogue.

Carter collection Nazca ceramicsThe exhibition presents a group of pre-Columbian ceramic items curated from the Carter Collection, which is held at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts for the Anthropology Department. The 29 selected ceramic objects were produced by the Nazca civilization which flourished between the first and seventh centuries AD on the southern coast of Peru. Nazca pottery features stunning naturalistic and mythological designs on thin-walled vessels in a variety of shapes.  In researching the materials, the students are focussing on the evolution of Nazca ceramics over time, as well as the cultural and religious significance of the painted motifs.

The Carter Collection was donated to the Department of Anthropology by John and Mary Carter in 1944 and includes a variety of objects from various Andean ancient cultures. Because the collection is not on permanent display, the exhibition at WJB Galley will be a unique opportunity to appreciate some rarely seen magnificent pieces of pre-Columbian art.

Visions of the Nazca: Painted Images of an Andean Ancient Society opens Thursday, April 6 at 5 pm in the WJB Gallery (room 1085 William Johnston Building) and will remain open to the public through April at times to be posted online and at the gallery.