‘RADICAL WORDS’ SPEAKER SERIES CONTINUES AT CLARK ART INSTITUTE

For Immediate Release

September 17, 2014

Williamstown, MA—In celebration of the Clark Art Institute’s exhibition Radical Words: From Magna Carta to the Constitution, Annelle Curulla, assistant professor of French at Williams College, presents the free talk “Radical Rewording: Olympe de Gouge’s Declaration of the Rights of Women in the French Revolution” on Thursday, October 2 at 5 pm in the auditorium.

This is the second of four free talks in the Clark’s Radical Words Speaker Series, which is held in conjunction with Williams College’s “The Book Unbound” initiative. The series, featuring presentations by faculty and students, explores the dynamics of language and what “radical words” may mean—historically, politically, culturally, and from the perspectives of different academic disciplines. A reception in the Museum Pavilion follows each presentation, and galleries will remain open until 8 pm.

Olympe de Gouges was a playwright, pamphleteer, and tireless social activist whose Declaration of the Rights of Women (1791) offered a pointed response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789. This talk considers the place of Gouges’s Declaration in her broader literary and social interventions, as well as in recent debates on women’s political participation in the French Revolution.

Annelle Curulla holds a Ph.D. in French from Columbia University. Her areas of expertise include literature and culture of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution; women’s studies; theater studies; and history of the book. Recent conference presentations include “ ‘What History Forgets or Disdains:’ Women in the Biographical Dramas of Mercier and His Circle” (March 2014) and “Theorizing Performance in an Age of Revolution” (November 2013). Before joining Williams College, Curulla was guest faculty in French at Sarah Lawrence College and visiting instructor of French at Bowdoin College.

ABOUT THE CLARK

The Clark Art Institute is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, open to the public with more than 240,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark opened its expanded facilities on July 4, 2014, unveiling new and enhanced spaces that accommodate the continued growth of the Institute’s programs. Included in this final stage of the project are the new 42,600-square-foot Clark Center designed by Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, expansion and renovation of the original Museum Building and the ongoing renovation of the Manton Research Center by Selldorf Architects, and a sweeping redesign of the grounds by Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture. The first phase of the campus expansion project was completed in 2008 with the opening of the Lunder Center at Stone Hill, a striking conservation and exhibitions facility also designed by Tadao Ando.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Opening season hours: Galleries open daily from July 4 through October 13, 2014, 10 am to 5 pm (Tuesdays until 6 pm and Fridays until 7 pm in July and August). From October 14, 2014 through June 30, 2015: Galleries open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20 through October 31, 2014 and free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

Press contact:
Amanda Powers
The Clark
[email protected]
413 458 0471