For Immediate Release
August 21, 2024

CLARK ART INSTITUTE RESEARCH AND ACADEMIC PROGRAM PRESENTS LECTURE:
“TO REPRESENT, OR NOT: AN IDEOLOGY OF
THE IMAGE IN THE KINGDOM OF ETHIOPIA”

Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Thursday, September 24 at 5:30 pm, the Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program presents “To Represent or Not: An Ideology of the Image in the Kingdom of Ethiopia,” a lecture by Clark Fellow Claire Bosc-Tiessé of the National Center for Scientific Research and School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences in France. The talk takes place in the Clark’s auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.

Bosc-Tiessé will look at what Ethiopians, depending on their position in society—rulers, high-ranking lay or religious dignitaries, parish priests or ordinary believers, women or men—did with their images and in their images: how they thought about them, how they made them or had them made, what they represented or what they did not represent, how they placed and moved them in space. Through a corpus of images dating from the thirteenth to the twentieth century, she will observe material transformations and changes in use, and how this tells us about the importance attached to a singular object, what might be expected of its visual effect, about the religious character ascribed to it, its use in strategies of power and, finally, about the status of the image in the Kingdom of Ethiopia more generally. 

Bosc-Tiessé is a research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and professor at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris. Her research interests pertain to creation in the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia from the thirteenth century onwards. She has published Les Îles de la mémoire: Fabrique des images et écriture de l'histoire dans les églises du lac Tana, Éthiopie, XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle; Peintures sacrées d’Éthiopie: Collection de la mission Dakar-Djibouti with A. Wion, and Lalibela: Site rupestre chrétien d'Éthiopie with M.-L. Derat. More broadly, her work addresses the modalities of writing a history of the arts in Africa before the twentieth century and the issues at stake. She has also led an online mapping of the African collections in French museums. At the Clark, Bosc-Tiessé will complete an anthropological history studying the use and status of images in Ethiopia since the thirteenth century.

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A reception at 5 pm in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.

ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, 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, consisting of some 300,000 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, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday from September through June, and daily in July and August. Open 10 am to 9 pm on Wednesdays from June 19 through September 25, with free admission from 5 to 9 pm. Admission is free January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

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