Monday, October 2
11:00 a.m.

While European conquerors were drawn to the Americas by visions of untold quantities of silver and gold, the value systems of the inhabitants of this “new world” were very different. This illustrated talk by Janet Brody Esser, Ph.D. and SDSU professor emerita, examines the primacy of cloth and clothing in ancient American societies and the status of weavers, the vast majority of whom were women, many of them high-born. The ability of cloth, because of its portability, to spread beliefs and techniques will be examined as well as the vital economic function served by textiles. This talk is pertinent to two shows opening this fall: Art of the Americas at the Mingei International Museum and Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas at the Getty Center.

Sponsored by the Arts Education Council.

Free