In the Yellow River Valley of China, near modern Anyang, lies the ancient Shang dynasty capital of Yinxu. Here, royal tombs, ancient palaces, troves of oracle bones, and remnants of ritual sacrifice have been uncovered over the last century. The material culture makes clear that women played significant roles at court, especially the consorts of the king. However, there is an inherent tension between the power and status that these women held while their power was simultaneously dependent on their ability to produce a new descendant for the ancestral line—a male. Through a brief analysis of three artifacts—a yue axe, oracle bones, and a sacrificial ding vessel—the experience of elite woman of the Shang court’s narrative arc is expressed. Women were landowners, administrators, generals, ritual practitioners, and soldiers, but this was still a patriarchal society. Unless they produced an heir to the throne, their legacies died with them, and they would remain consorts—not ancestresses.

Elite residences in late Ming China underwent a profound transformation, evolving from venues of public-to-private male gatherings to female boudoirs, to gardens centered on the imitation of natural spontaneity. As articulated by Craig Clunas, elegant gatherings regularly convened by aristocratic hosts for literati are pivotal in transitioning the gardens from their economic origins to cultural epicenters. This study builds on Clunas’ concept of elite gardens as receptacles for the commodification of knowledge but reframes this phenomenon as a space where underrepresented women—particularly courtesans and concubines—voice their dissent against patriarchal norms, challenging the orthodox discussion on how male literati intellectualize and aestheticize gardens.

As contemporaneous handscrolls and woodprints document the operational similarities between brothels, with their literati clientele, and the spatial configurations of gardens, this study posits brothels as “third spaces” where courtesans and prostitutes authentically open the enclosed boundaries of gardens, thereby redefining gender hierarchies through distinct mobility and engagement. Concretizing in the Humble Administrator’s Garden, I argue that Liu Rushi exemplifies the courtesan-mistress who transcends the intellectual bottleneck of male literati philosophy, achieving the ultimate pursuit of a “city recluse.” Meanwhile, prostitute-concubines, thriving within mass media—particularly in secular, erotic literature like Plum in the Golden Vase—reimagine a socially decadent dystopia through the femme-fatale figure.

This paper culminates in a conclusion that the elite garden represents an inverted reflection of the central political arena, where the feminization of the declining late Ming mirrors the anxieties, nostalgia, and disillusionment of politically ambitious male literati. What begins as an idealized landscape of beauty and cultivation devolves into moral disintegration, revealing the collapse of an imagined order into chaotic reality. The courtesans’ capability to dominate the utopian space and the concubines’ power to blur, corrode familial hierarchies eventually expose the fragility of Neo-Confucian ideals under the garden’s apparent spontaneity.

Kano Tanshin’s trio of hanging scrolls, Eight Daoist Immortals, Cranes, and Gibbons, is a synthesis of styles and innovative visual decisions. The left hanging scroll is primarily in a kara-e, Chinese painting style, utilizing monochrome ink and varying intensities to create figural gibbons and looming landscapes. Conversely, the right scroll is primarily in traditional Japanese yamato-e style, including a detailed, figural depiction of a crane alongside pigmented trees. The middle scroll synthesizes the two styles, fusing kara-e and yamato-e elements alongside intentional artistic choices. Here, Tanshin’s dramatic, free-flowing contour lines create robes with the visual properties of liquid, existing as seemingly autonomous, ethereal extensions of the figures’ physical forms. Kara-e style ink forms the ground and trees in the foreground, while yamato-e pigmentation enhances the figures’ robes, illustrates the tree, and details the crane that carries an immortal in the top right. The thickness and concentration of the clothing contour lines drastically differ to that of the accompanying scrolls, giving the immortals a sense of animation and liveliness that radiates out of the art. Additionally, Kano Tanshin makes the immortals recognizable, including visual elements on their robes and canonized elements that individualize each character. Moreover, Tanshin further individualizes his work, combining witty, miniscule, and detailed creations that showcase his artistic skills. Li Tieguai is seen blowing a pathway of smoke into the air on which a detailed miniature version of himself walks. Liu Haichan is seen in the foreground with his mythical toad on the ground, meanwhile He Xiangu, the sole female of the group, is depicted as a traditional Japanese woman. Lu Dongbin is seen painting a dragon in the air, meanwhile Zhang Guolao releases his small, horse-like figure into the sky. Finally, the older Zhongli Quan flies on the crane descending towards the others.

In this paper, I address issues of iconography and ritual function within Tibetan art history by focusing on a nineteenth-century Tibetan thangka (scroll painting). The painting, often known as a masterwork of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism, depicts the assembly of one hundred deities in the bardo—the intermediate state between death and rebirth. In the first part of the paper, I critique the assumed correlation between this image and the well-known fourteenth-century funerary text Bardo Thodol (commonly known as The Tibetan Book of the Dead). By examining the thangka’s production process, Buddhist philosophy, and contemporary Tibetan discourses, I challenge conventional methodologies that often conflate paintings with scriptures, reducing visual art to mere illustrations of textual sources. In the second part, I argue that the lama and artist, through reshaping and reorganizing the bardo deities, create a ritual experience distinct from that prescribed by the historical text. Specifically, they transform the buddhas of the Dharmakāya (the ultimate Buddha body) and Nirmāṇakāya (worldly emanation body) into Saṃbhogakāya (celestial body) forms. This transformation condenses the bardo sādhanā (spiritual practice) into one focusing on the Bardo of Dharmata. Furthermore, by assembling the dispersed deities into two parallel realms, accentuating these realms with uniform-colored backgrounds, and arranging the deities within an architectural layout, the lama and artist remove the bardo deities from their original funerary context. Instead, they recontextualize them within a daily body-maṇḍala practice. Therefore, rather than a representation of a post-mortem vision, the painting serves as a support for practice, used by advanced practitioners in their daily lives.

Japanese feminism, or feminizumu (フェミニズム), emerged during the Meiji Restoration (1868–89), heavily influenced by Western ideologies. Initially tied to concepts like education and suffrage, it evolved during the Taisho era (1912–25) and beyond, emphasizing gender equality and challenging traditional roles. Central to the Japanese feminist discourse is boseiai (母性愛), or maternal love, which contrasts with Western feminist critiques of motherhood. While Western feminism views motherhood as a constraint, boseiai embodies a restrained societal power that complements the patriarchal system. Later, radical movements such as ūman ribu (ウーマンリブ), or women’s liberation, emphasized sexual liberation and body politics, further influencing women’s fashion and the cultural perception of femininity. Historically, Japanese women wore kimonos, garments symbolizing femininity and societal constraints due to their restrictive designs. Post-World War II, the introduction of Western-style dresses diversified women’s wardrobes but continued to reflect tensions between tradition and modernity. Feminist contemporary artists like Atsuko Tanaka, Kazuko Miyamoto, and Leiko Ikemura explore these themes through their work, showcasing the interplay of apparel, autonomy, and femininity. Tanaka’s Electric Dress (1956) reimagines the Western-style dress through the lens of Japanese tradition, combining neon-lit spectacle with the restrictive qualities of kimonos. Miyamoto’s Kimono Series (1987–2000) reconstructs the kimono using unconventional materials, softening its rigidity and imbuing it with personal and feminist narratives. Ikemura’s Usagi Kannon (2011) integrates Western and Eastern symbolism, presenting a maternal, protective figure through a hybrid dress motif. These artists highlight the complexities of Japanese feminizumu, balancing tradition with innovation. By reinterpreting iconic dress forms, they challenge patriarchal norms and propose nuanced feminist perspectives, fostering dialogue on gender, culture, and identity in modern Japan.

Mu Xin’s (1927–2011) series of thirty-three landscape paintings, created in the immediate aftermath of the Cultural Revolution and now housed in the Yale University Art Gallery, represents the only surviving body of his work completed before his relocation to the United States. Integral to the development of Chinese modernism yet understudied, Mu Xin stands among the few modern Chinese artists to achieve an organic synthesis of East Asian and European aesthetic sensibilities. His landscapes present an entanglement of traditional Chinese symbolism with glimmers of surrealism, reflecting his training under Lin Fengmian (1900-1991), a pioneer in integrating European modernism with Chinese art. Lin, through promoting lyricism as the polemic of Xu Beihong’s realism, influenced many Chinese painters including the Chinese-French painter Zao Wou-Ki. However, the political and social tensions in twentieth-century China meant that Lin’s ideas were rejected within China, and much of his work was destroyed during the Sino-Japanese War and the Cultural Revolution, leaving only photographic records from art periodicals as evidence of his early paintings. Nonetheless, traces of Lin’s artistic vision persist in works such as Mu Xin’s. By examining paintings, photographic records of works, and literary publications by Mu Xin and Lin Fengmian, this paper explores how Lin’s ideas were rejuvenated in the works of diasporic Chinese artists. With a special focus on Mu Xin’s landscape series, the paper scrutinizes how the transnational nature of Mu Xin’s works challenges the linear, Eurocentric narrative of artistic modernism.

This paper examines the evolving conceptualization of the Korean diaspora, mainly through the lens of art. Traditionally, the diaspora has been defined as a scattered population unified by shared spirit, experience, or trauma, often framed within a master narrative of ethnic homogeneity and collective national struggle. However, contemporary diaspora studies suggest that this understanding should be expanded into a spectrum of ruptures and discontinuities, reflecting the diverse experiences of diasporic individuals in a transnational context. This redefinition is explored through Korean diasporic art, focusing on how space is used to challenge the conventional master narrative.

The presentation unfolds chronologically, beginning with the first wave of Korean immigration to the U.S. in the 1960s and 70s, highlighting the work of artists like Sung Ho Choi and David Chung, who addressed urban conflicts in the 1980s through spatial metaphors. The second chapter explores how the 2000s’ promotion of multiculturalism led to the popularizing of the “Oriental Other” in artists like Kimsooja and Do Ho Suh, whose art reinforced stereotypes of passive, traditional spaces. The final chapter examines the works of Diana Yoo and Jane Jin Kaisen, whose works reflect liminal identities and the multiplicity of experiences within the diaspora. Through their art, these artists navigate the fluid and ever-evolving space between home countries, host countries, and identities, offering new insights into the complexity of diasporic existence. By analyzing these artworks, this paper contributes to diaspora studies by proposing a liminality framework, where diasporic identity is not fixed but continuously transformed through the interaction of space, memory, and generational experience. This approach provides a more nuanced understanding of the Korean diaspora and challenges the oversimplified narratives often found in mainstream scholarship.

This project addresses the situation of Chinese migrant culture within the UK, largely focusing on its manifestations in London. By use of ethnographic practices, the migratory experiences and histories of some second-generation immigrants will be used to foreground issues of cultural negotiation, alienation and differentiation. The term “Chinese” is used to refer to a shared foundation for disparate cultures; understanding its place in Britain requires acknowledgement of unique migratory histories to contest broad generalizations of culture.

Investigations into filmic representations of British-Chinese culture in the host country demonstrate alternatives to racialized tropes and realist aesthetics in conventional cinema. Po Chih Leong’s Ping Pong (1986) offers an engagement with clashing cultural values of individualism and familial collectivity in London’s Chinatown, and I will dissect this by means of linguistics, audiencing and homeland representations. Equally, the propagation of racial and cultural alterity derives from the invisibility of British-Chinese people and arts. An exploration of artist duo Mad For Real’s activist performances will evaluate the negotiations between visibility and representational agency in its dissemination through news coverage and online platforms. The selected works are Two Naked Artists Jump on Tracey’s Bed (1999) and Two Artists Piss on Duchamp’s Urinal (2000).

Finally, the importance of subjective aesthetics will be consolidated in a study of two paintings from Liu Xiaodong’s New England (2019) series. I will discuss the connotations of using paint as an alternative to film in ethnographic representation and propose time-based understandings of the images in relation to migration and in comparison to moving image. Personal aspirations and biases are ingrained within the whole project, whether through ethnography or selection of works. Therefore, this project is incidentally a qualitative look into my own migratory experience.

From the 1970s onward political reforms have opened the Chinese art world up to international influences and launched it onto a global stage. This has led to an increase in perspectives on Chinese art, influenced by Western postmodernism and art historical practice, that essentialize, de-emphasize and misrepresent aspects of it. Western critics have placed an expectation of political dissidence and subversiveness onto Chinese art, disregarding artists who do not clearly oppose their government and restricting more nuanced interpretations of the artworks that do critique it. An orientalizing otherness can also be created by art critics and historians who portray China as a locus of difference able to diversify the Western canon, while simultaneously restricting Chinese artists to a specifically “Chinese” frame of reference. On top of this, a disconnect between tradition and current practice is usually imposed on Chinese calligraphy, as the Western art world tends to expect either a deconstruction or a conservative continuation of past convention, leaving no room for the evolution of the medium into a contemporary context.

In this paper, I aim to decentralize these dominant Western narratives to pave the way for a more pluralist understanding of Chinese art. By taking the three aspects discussed above and providing counterexamples from avant-garde calligraphic art, which is a movement that is yet not often discussed by Western academics, this paper showcases that contemporary expressions of the medium of calligraphy can help problematize certain Western representations. The paper examines both inherent tendencies of the medium and individual avant-garde artworks, ultimately attempting to illustrate that avant-garde Chinese calligraphy generally does not have an overtly political message, is frequently concerned with intercultural dialogues, and breaks down both east-west dichotomies and those dividing historical and contemporary art.

This paper explores the transformative impact of Zanele Muholi’s visual activism in redefining the representation of Black LGBTQI+ identities within South Africa’s socio-political landscape. As a self-identified “visual activist,” Muholi employs photography to challenge the erasure and marginalisation of queer bodies, addressing the enduring legacies of apartheid and systemic homophobia. Muholi’s work transcends conventional artistic practices, blending aesthetics with activism to create a potent counter-narrative centred on dignity, resilience, and self-representation.

Through an analysis of key series such as Faces and Phases, Being, and Only Half the Picture, this research underscores how Muholi collaborates with their subjects to reclaim agency and disrupt colonial and apartheid-era visual tropes. Images like Aftermath (2004) and Katlego Mashiloane and Nosipho Lavuta, Ext. 2, Lakeside, Johannesburg (2007) reveal the layered complexity of queer South African lives, juxtaposing trauma with intimacy, and suffering with joy. Muholi’s work not only confronts the scars left by systemic violence but also celebrates the resilience and humanity of their subjects.

The paper situates Muholi’s activism within the broader history of South African photography, drawing comparisons with figures like Santu Mofokeng, who employed the medium to document Black resistance during apartheid. Furthermore, it examines how Muholi’s identity as a Black queer artist contrasts with the experiences of white queer photographers such as Robert A. Hamblin, illustrating the intersection of race, privilege, and queerness in visual representation. By engaging with both local and global contexts, this research highlights Muholi’s dual contribution: amplifying the struggles and triumphs of Black LGBTQI+ communities in South Africa while catalysing global conversations on queer visibility and social justice. This study ultimately positions Muholi’s work as a pivotal intervention in art history and queer activism, offering a critical reimagining of the politics of representation.

The female nude within ancient visual history has been confined to a narrow frame of depiction, constructed around appealing the Eurocentric male gaze. Thin, frail, and pale young women in unnaturally provocative positions, arranged precariously for the enjoyment of male artists and their counterparts. Historical depictions of Black women as enslaved individuals, servants, or victims of medical malpractices and mistreatment are additional contributions to a controversial aspect of art history that further complicates the nude bodies of women. Across various identities, sexuality, objectification, motherhood, and violence are few of the many topics prevalent in the oeuvre of Black female artists. Barbara Jones Hogu’s I’m Better Than These Motherfuckers, a psychedelic screen print of obscenities and empowerment to Wangechi Mutu’s collages of grotesque beauty are artworks featuring direct nudity as a means of empowerment. Nude contemporary depictions of Black women’s bodies at their most egregious state within society act as unapologetic displays of authority against oppressive systems of power. Something entirely different to notions of the past and explored through a variety of different mediums. Therefore, transiting the body away from depictions of pure eroticism and into embodiments of deeply vivid, complex lived experiences.

By all accounts, barbed wire was created in the latter half of the nineteenth century initially to keep animals in or out of an area enclosed by what some referred to as “devil’s rope.” Shortly after its invention, however, barbed wire also became an implement of racist exclusion. In racist advertisements for barbed wire, manufacturers appealed to the widespread belief in manifest destiny, claiming that their product would help settlers succeed in their sacred mission of “civilizing” the West and keeping “savage Indians” out of their occupied lands. Manufacturers also published racist advertisements that exploited the fear among Whites of Black slaves who were freed after the American Civil War.  No longer simply a product to contain livestock and farm animals, barbed wire has come to symbolize various kinds of harm and injustice to human beings, including racist exclusion, unjust incarceration, and infliction of pain.

Several African American artists have incorporated barbed wire in their art to symbolize violations against human rights. Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, and Ernest Crichlow depicted barbed wire in their artworks to represent the injustice, segregation, and exclusion caused by racism and sexism. In multimedia works of art, Whitfield Lovell juxtaposed barbed wire with images of anonymous African Americans to create poignant portraits that lead viewers to imagine the suffering endured by the people portrayed and to experience a strong sense of empathy. Melvin Edwards’s large installations composed of barbed wire and chains suggest the cruel barriers, enslavement, and unjust incarceration experienced continually by African Americans since the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade. What these works of art have in common is that they all express emotional and physical suffering, call for social justice, and reflect the dedicated activism of the artists who created them.

A piece of art’s inherent nature as an object that is viewed gives it the ability to convey a message or idea, and this can be used by an artist or creator to bring chosen subject matter to light in ways that it previously might not have been. Whether it be through direct visualization or subtle hints within a work, a piece of art can spark thoughts and feelings within a viewer which will, in turn, cause them to start a conversation that the artist feels is needed within the world. In the case of American artist Kehinde Wiley, the tools of both symbolism and iconography are used to draw attention to an issue very prevalent within the art world: the stereotyping and underrepresentation of Black individuals within fine art. In his works, Wiley places his Black subjects in surroundings of formal portraiture that give both agency and attention not previously allowed. Within this presentation, I will analyze three of Wiley’s works and discuss how each fits this idea, as well as how they interact with the wider art world as a whole. This analysis helps us as the audience understand the importance of representation in art and how powerful of a tool it can be.

Qualeasha Wood’s Jacquard loom weavings act as confrontational self-portraits. Untitled (God is a young hot ebony and she’s on the internet) combines traditional fiber arts with the contemporary digital sphere and the resulting intersectional interaction with labor. The suspension of use value inflicted upon both mediums during the creation of the tapestry elevates them into the realm of art objects. The immaterial space of the internet has gained materiality and is no longer usable as a digital space. The commodity of craft objects and implicitly gendered labor in their creation is thus tested after the object becomes art. This halt confronts us with a new type of interaction with the subjects, creating discomfort which is transferred into questions about the value of the object and the artist. I argue that the artist has elevated herself into the realm of art object, resulting in the commodification of her personhood and a material projection of the artists’ immaterial labor. The text, “God is a young hot ebony and she’s on the internet,” situates the politics of identity at play in Wood’s work, emphasizing the commentary on the commodification of black, queer, and feminine bodies in internet spaces. Her appropriation of Catholic imagery and her activation of portraiture, via the “Selfie,” grounds these arguments of identity and connects them with the culture of self-branding inherent in artistic practice. Using Alexander Gawronski’s “Art as Critique Under Neoliberalism” as a basis for understanding how artists can create critical artwork, I argue that Wood’s art is exceedingly self-aware and successfully critical. Two other works by Wood, Alter Egos Projected Selves and Untitled, both featuring Wood as a religious icon and internet sensation, illustrate how she has created a utopian Canon for herself. The materiality of Woods’ chosen medium, coupled with her depictions of Internet pages and Catholic symbolism, creates a dialectic between material and immaterial cultures, transforming her into a commodity which ultimately serves as a critique of neoliberal labor.

Throughout the course of human history, processional movements have functioned to organize the masses, provide visibility to a cause, or represent a shared ideology. Unlike the triumphal ceremonies of Greco-Roman antiquity or elaborate religious processions of ancient Egypt, processional culture in the context of African Americans is critical for social and political advancement in the face of suppressive and oppressive societal forces, such as economic inequality or racism. W.E.B. Du Bois, a prominent scholar of the Harlem Renaissance, recognized the importance of parades and protests in navigating class structures in an upward manner due to their demonstration of an organized and collective Black consciousness. This paper will seek to examine processions and protests during two crucial times of social and political advancement for Black Americans: the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Lives Matter Movement. By approaching the study of processional culture as an interdisciplinary field and providing legible artistic examples from both movements, this paper will establish intersections between organized protests, political theory, and artistic production. I will demonstrate that a collective consciousness is necessary for fostering large scale social and political change in the face of oppressive systems of power.

The exclusion of Black, African, and Afro-German artists and storytellers from Euro-centered modernist spaces has continuously reinforced systemic erasures of their contributions to art and cultural history. African art, one confined to museums and framed as relics of the distant and forgotten past, has gradually emerged as a force challenging normative perceptions of time, space, and power structures. Likewise, the Afro-German experience, often overshadowed in Berlin’s historical narrative, reflects a broader struggle for visibility and reclaiming of cultural agency. This work/presentation explores the intersections of Afrofuturism and the Afro-German artistic resurgence, examining how Black artists in Berlin and beyond use their work to dismantle colonial frameworks, bridge different diasporic histories, and shape art movements. By analyzing the role of international exhibitions, intellectual figures such as Audre Lorde and May Ayim, and the impact of decolonized spaces like the House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt), I am able to highlight how art serves as both a historical reclaiming and a radical reimagining of time and space. Ultimately, I am arguing that Afrofuturism not only transforms the global art scene but also empowers Black and Afro-German communities by redefining their place within Euro-centered cultural landscapes. 

The Venus Figurines are inextricably linked by their voluptuous proportions, crafting a motif not defined by the geographical location, nor by their expansive, ancient timeframes. Rather, the Figurines are linked through their representation of womanhood. The historiographical study of the Venus Figurines has drastically altered their representation and their perceived significance into the contemporary art sphere. The Venus Figurines have been studied under rigid patriarchal paradigms that failed to craft a holistic interpretation. They deeply embed gendered stratifications that defined the Figurines as a locus of the male gaze, limiting them to embodiments of beauty ideals.

Take Max Kohen, an art journalist who operated in the early 1940’s. His submission into the American Imago illustrates the impacts of his socio-cultural context on his interpretation of the Venus of Willendorf. Conventional to the Freudian phallocentrism under which he operated, Kohn decentered the female subject matter and altered its intended purpose through a patriarchal perspective. Similarly, a 2011 study conducted by the Victoria University of Wellington utilized eye-tracking technologies to ascertain the reactions of 35 heterosexual men when presented with photographs of Venus Figurines, to discover which figurine is deemed most sexually attractive. This is a contemporary parallel of the dehumanizing paleoanthropological practices of Kohn’s work, hypersexualizing the Venus Figurines through contemporary patriarchal stratifications.

In investigating how the Venus Figurines have been analyzed, I intend to utilize both paleoanthropological studies of the Venus Figurines, and Postcolonial and Feminist historiography. Using these theories, I will deduce how socio-cultural paradigms have impacted interpretations of the Venus Figurines. I will conclude this study with a final message of the importance of studying the Venus Figurines through a Postcolonial Feminist lens to develop new theories about the intentions and lasting significance of these statues, as the first depictions of the human form.

Ethnicity as a construct of identity is tied to modern ideologies which are challenged by the fluidity of community development and cultural contact between Greece and Anatolia from the seventh to fifth centuries BCE. The comparison of localization and centralization in Iron Age Attica is one step in orienting the archaeological mind within Aegean interactions. The prevalence of the idea of Hellenic acculturation as a defining aspect of Anatolian identities, while cognizant of influence from Greek settlers, discounts local cultures. Study of the cemeteries in the Attic countryside compared to Athenian Kerameikos has provided evidence of localization of culture at Attic sites, even as they engage with proto-urban Athenian elite ideals. This evidence creates space for a post-colonial perspective on Hellenic spread, highlighting archaeological research founded in the understanding of community foundations of collective identities and Edward Said’s idea of the “Other” as a defining feature of modern notions of ethnicity. Evidence from the “Place of the Burning”, a cemetery in Ilion, is particularly interesting in this study, as it provides evidence of local cultures in Greek Ionia that diverge from traditionally Athenian practices. Studying the structures and ceramics excavated in this site suggests a localization in collective identity which, while influenced by Greek culture, is more hybrid than simply the result of Hellenic culture spread from early Attic travelers.

This paper examines the motif of cross-dressing in ancient Greek art and literature, revealing its complex interplay with societal attitudes toward gender norms and power dynamics. By analyzing diverse portrayals—from the Anakreontic vessels to literary accounts such as Thetis disguising Achilles—this study highlights how cross-dressing narratives consistently evoke themes of humiliation while simultaneously challenging traditional gender constructs. The visual depictions on red-figure pottery, particularly their geographical distribution and iconographic details, underscore cultural nuances in artistic production and reception.

Literary texts, including Euripides’ The Bacchae and Statius’ Achilleid, further explore the intersection of gender, power, and identity, often presenting cross-dressing as a means of negotiating societal expectations. Through a multidisciplinary approach, this research not only contextualizes these representations within ancient Greek cultural practices but also interrogates the implications of their enduring legacy. Ultimately, this study invites a deeper understanding of how ancient narratives of gender fluidity reflect broader human experiences and social dynamics.

The tondo of a kylix attributed to the Brygos Painter (Getty Museum 86.AE.286) depicts Ajax’s nude figure impaled by his sword as Tekmessa rushes to cover his body with a shroud. This paper contends that this peculiar depiction challenges contemporary understandings of gender, status, and the male gaze within the Greek symposium. While symposium vessels typically reinforced elite patriarchal ideals through illustrations of idealized men, sexualized women, or subaltern slaves, this kylix centers Tekmessa, a female captive, as an active protagonist in the scene immediately following Ajax’s suicide. I argue that, in doing so, Tekmessa claims his body as her property, confronting the desirous gaze of the symposiast and engaging the drinker in a contest over access to Ajax.

Through visual, historical, and textual analysis, the paper demonstrates how Tekmessa’s modest dress, confident movement, and central position within the tondo resist the sexualization and subordination typically imposed on women of her status on symposium ware. Instead, Tekmessa exercises unprecedented agency within the exclusive banquet setting as a woman, slave, and foreigner. Furthermore, the parallels between Tekmessa’s confrontation with the symposiast and the illustration of Ajax and Odysseus’ conflict over the arms of Achilles on the exterior of the vessel underscore interconnected themes of grief, gender, and authority.

By analyzing the Getty kylix within its socio-historical context and investigating Tekmessa’s role in Greek tragedy and visual art, this paper prompts a reexamination of marginalized figures—particularly women—in Greek society. It also calls for a reevaluation of our modern interpretation of the iconography, suggesting that centering Tekmessa’s agency challenges not only the mythological narrative but also contemporary engagement with the vessel.

The Polion squat lekythos from the Getty Museum depicts the peculiar image of a balding satyr encountering a perched sphinx. These two figures make up the central scene of the squat lekythos, a small jar likely intended for personal use. The sphinx immediately evokes the Oedipus Cycle and mythical Thebes. Likewise, the satyr raises questions pertaining to its own depiction. Was this vessel inspired by satyr plays? Is the composition of the scene comedic? Is the satyr spoofing Oedipus? If so, why Oedipus? How would people interact with the vessel? After a visual and iconographic analysis, I will first try to answer the questions by analyzing the possible uses of the lekythos and by looking at textual evidence. While satyr encounters were common for wine vessels, used in symposia, the small dimensions of this vessel suggest a more personal use. The theatrical genre of satyr plays had already become prominent at this point, and I propose a connection between the two. The paper will then explore the encounter and usage of the vessel more thoroughly. I draw on comparative analyses with other vessels featuring scenes from the Oedipus Cycle, as well as other examples of satyr pottery. It is still not well understood how people lived with their myths, and particularly their physical representations. This includes the issue of modified myths, playing on mythical heroes. In this paper, I address these issues with a new theory, separating the domestic sphere from the public sphere, and suggest an interaction that is based off the domestic sphere. I argue that this vessel’s imagery reflects a domestic engagement with myth, distinct from public performances. I conclude with modern equivalents and an imagination of a more complete scene of the Polion squat lekythos in context.

The ancient Romans were revolutionary in their architecture, particularly in the construction of their aqueduct systems. The Roman aqueduct design was unique in its efficiency and extensiveness as a result of specific Roman engineering techniques. The system of aqueducts not only served as essential infrastructure within the city of Rome but also throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire. The physical structures of the aqueducts impacted the landscape of the provinces as well as the sensory experiences of the people who lived there. Because of the distinct nature of the Roman aqueduct system in their design, functionality, and cultural significance, they also greatly affected the perception of identity of the peoples in the provinces in which they were built. The interplay between multi-cultural interactions and infrastructure created a unique relationship between aqueduct construction and local customs. This presentation examines three case studies of aqueducts and their impacts as indices of Roman culture in the provinces of Roman Britain, Gaul, and Spain. It primarily focuses on the Segovia Aqueduct in Spain as it relates to cultural syncretism and architectural prominence within the city. The relationship between the 5 main senses, physicality within the landscape, and cultural aspects of aqueducts is explored through the impact on the perception of identity within the Roman provinces.

There have been numerous publications cataloguing and analyzing bone hair pins from Roman Britain, but there is still much room for the study of these small finds in central Italy. Hair pins were used in everyday life by Roman women for simple and complex hair styles, with more complex styles and hair pins worn by wealthier women. The University of Michigan’s excavation of the ancient city of Gabii, the Gabii Project, has unearthed copious amounts of bone hair pins that can aid the understanding of these artifacts in terms of central Italy. In this study, a catalog of these bone hair pins from the Gabii Project excavations is created and interpreted using Nina Crummy’s 1979 bone hair pin typology.

Not only did Gabines buy and use bone hair pins, but they also disposed of them: most pins were found in public spaces which were eventually either intentionally or naturally filled in. In general, these post-abandonment layers at Gabii date to the third-fifth centuries CE. Although three quarters of the bone hair pins in the catalog are fragmentary, most of the pins that can be identified are Crummy’s Type 3; the typology dates this type similarly to the layers with these pins at Gabii, perhaps implying similar style preference throughout the empire. Comparanda from Pompeii assists this study as well, with ornamental bone hair pins offering additional insight to the lives of wealthier women. Thus, this study uses bone hair pins to analyze the daily life of Gabines, specifically women, regarding disposal, commerciality, and public spaces. The intersection between these public areas with post-abandonment accumulation and bone hair pins has created a better understanding on the use of hair pins, women living in Gabii, and daily life in central Italy.

Following the withdrawal of the Roman Empire from Britain, Britain went into what is popularly known as the Dark Ages. During this period, tribes from modern-day Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and possibly Sweden migrated into England, and the states they built became the origins of the modern English nation-state. My research attempts to illuminate the Dark Ages using the imagery found on the helmets worn by Anglo-Saxon kings, and possibly queens. Only 9 of these helmets have survived, some in very poor condition, but the best-preserved of these are the helmets from Sutton Hoo, Staffordshire, and Coppergate, York. These artefacts have gained huge public interest, but they have not been given the appropriate respect or study by academics that they deserve. This talk analyzes these helmets and their reconstructions, explains my new typologies of these items, and delves into the symbolic meaning of their decoration. I will further discuss how we can use textual sources such as the epic saga Beowulf in interpreting these objects.