Carlos Museum Delivers Jewish and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land
By Alma Freeman

Since 1919, the Michael C. Carlos Museum has evolved spectacularly - from a modest display of artifacts as the Emory University Museum into a premier art museum, featuring major collections of Classical, Ancient Egyptian, Near Eastern, Ancient American, African, and Asian art.

Drawing on its strengths in ancient art, and on Emory's strength in the study of religions, the Museum has recently launched a variety of initiatives using original works of art to explore the beliefs and practices of the five major world religions - Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. The Museum is now gearing up for perhaps its most ambitious project to date: a traveling exhibition organized by the Israel Museum called "Cradle of Christianity: Jewish and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land."

Running from June 16 - Oct. 14, 2007, "Cradle of Christianity" will trace the shared roots of Judaism and Christianity and will use stunning works of art and dramatic installations to present some of the rarest and most sacred artifacts excavated in Israel - including the burial ossuary of Caiaphas the High Priest and one of the most important of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the famous Temple Scroll. Carlos Museum Director Bonnie Speed recently spoke with Emory in the World not only about the importance of "Cradle of Christianity" to Emory, but also about the Museum's dramatic emergence in the art world, its ongoing commitment to teaching and research, and its goals for the future as a vital part of the Emory community.

The Carlos Museum has become one of the country's premier university museums with major collections of ancient antiquities from around the world. What accounts for the Museum's success?

Although the Museum was officially established in 1919, its beginnings and locations were humble. The most dramatic period for growth began about 25 years ago through a combination of a significant donor, strong Emory support, a new board, and a growing staff. Once the Carlos family became involved, the Museum was able to renovate the old law school then build an expansion, all the while courting donors and collectors. In 1993, with the completed Michael Graves expansion, such visibility really caught people's attention. As the museum enhanced its professional staff, it began developing more exhibitions and educational programs, which engendered collaboration opportunities with Emory faculty. The Carlos Museum now enjoys an international reputation with solid relationships with colleagues and institutions from around the world. As we expand our work, we do so in tune with the teaching and research strengths found at Emory, for as a university museum, we exist to enhance the teaching of faculty and the student experience. There is nothing more powerful in the realm of education than object-based, interdisciplinary teaching.

"Cradle of Christianity: Jewish and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land" opens at the Carlos Museum on June 16. What role does Emory's heritage as a religious institution play in the desire to host this particular exhibition?

I love this question! It goes back to "what does it mean to be a university museum?" As we look at how we organize exhibitions, the primary factor is that it needs to support teaching and training at Emory. That's how our collections have grown, and that's how our educational programs have developed. We pursued this exhibition in light of an initiative in Emory's strategic plan that concerns "religion and the human spirit." This exhibition offers a rare opportunity for us to bring to Atlanta extraordinary works of art that deal with early Christianity and Judaism, and to collaborate with faculty of the Candler School of Theology, and the departments of Religion, Jewish Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies to enhance the visitors' experience through their scholarship. "Cradle of Christianity" hits so many high points of who we are as a university museum, located on a campus that has one of the largest, if not the largest, faculties in religion in the United States.

Can you say more about the exhibition and what type of community involvement there has been in developing the educational programming?

There are works of art in this exhibition that are truly extraordinary, but the power comes more through spiritual or religious context than simply through that of a work of art. We understood from the onset that, in order to present meaningful and challenging educational programs, we would rely on the expertise of Emory faculty. As we started work on this exhibition, we developed two advisory committees: a Faculty Advisory Committee and a Community Advisory Committee. The Faculty Advisory Committee is composed of professors from Candler and the departments of Religion, Jewish Studies, Art History, and Middle Eastern Studies, and they have worked with our Education Department to develop educational programs. Faculty members have also helped to identify individuals to serve on the Community Advisory Committee, which is made up of religious leaders in Atlanta. We have almost 30 religious leaders in the Atlanta community now on the Community Advisory Committee to help facilitate interfaith dialogue among their constituents and to help promote the exhibition in the community. We held a luncheon where the two committees could talk about ways to develop interfaith partnerships, and how this exhibition could be used as a teaching resource in their Sunday schools and synagogues. We held a second meeting to bring together the educators and communications people from 170 churches and synagogues in the region for similar discussions. How do we help you use this exhibition as a community resource? How do we partner for interfaith conversations?

What benefits derive from being a university museum rather than a public museum?

I have a personal answer to this. I became involved with museums because I believe that they are truly educational institutions with a responsibility to add to the scholarship and research in the field. I don't support the popular blockbuster mentality that has happened over the past 30 years with exhibitions as entertainment. That said, I believe you can do educational and scholarly work and make it fun, accessible, and exciting. That's the challenge, not the other way around. It has been a relief to work for an institution where the conversations aren't predominantly about popular blockbusters or spiking membership, but rather about the quality of the exhibition and the quality of the educational programs. Once we determine the heart and soul of an exhibition and how it ties in with teaching at Emory, we then sit down and consider how to reach a broader audience with quality, diverse, and innovative programming. In the case of the exhibit "Domains of Wonder: Selected Masterworks of Indian Painting," we had a fabulous array of education programs, ranging from an art historical look at the life of Krishna and traditional Indian dance performances to hearing Emory faculty discuss the history of comic books in India followed by contemporary comic book publisher Sharad Devarajan talking about Indian deity-influenced comic book superheroes. It was an amazingly rich exhibition made accessible to a wide variety of audiences through brilliantly orchestrated and greatly varied educational programming.

Speaking of "Domains of Wonder," the Emory Distinguished Writer in Residence Salman Rushdie recently attended an evening reception hosted by The Halle Institute, at which the two of you spontaneously gave a private tour of the exhibition to all the guests. What were your thoughts on the experience?

Another reason why I love university museums! I kept pinching myself! At first, I was intimidated by the thought of tag-teaming on a tour of Indian miniature paintings with Salman Rushdie. However, he was so gracious and great fun. I offered little tidbits about the art - this is not my field of expertise - and he added wonderful facets of culture and history, it was such a learning experience for me. Especially when we got to the composite paintings produced by artists working together in the workshops of Mughal Emperor Akhbar the Great (1556-1605) and he started talking about the stories. I can easily say it was the most exciting tour I have ever participated in: what a treat!

Each year, the Museum welcomes Buddhist monks from the Drepung Loseling Institute as part of Emory's Tibet Week celebration. Now that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is an Emory Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory, are there any plans to exhibit Tibetan art at the Museum?

We have a very small Asian collection, but the way it has developed is brilliantly suited to our faculty. The scope of Asian art is so vast, from Chinese paintings to Korean ceramics. Without endless acquisition funds (wouldn't it be terrific to acquire everything Asian?), we have to be savvy in exploring how to develop a collection that will be utilized by Emory faculty. The department that uses our Asian art collection most is the Department of Religion. Therefore, it has made sense for us to develop the collection to focus on work that deals with Asian religions. We do have Tibetan pieces in the collection already, and right now we're working with Emory College on organizing a small exhibition of Tibetan thangkas (traditional Tibetan paintings that are often brightly colored with depictions of Buddhist deities). We will work with the Rubin Museum of Tibetan and Himalayan Art in New York City, and it will be ready to open on Oct. 20, 2007, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrives at Emory.

What exhibit would you like to see at the Carlos one day?

Tough question, since there are so many exciting and challenging opportunities out there worthy of exploration (and we have a number of great shows in the works). But wouldn't it be fun to do King Tut! Not King Tut as a blockbuster, but King Tut as a lesson in history, culture, and art. We as a university museum with great Egyptologists on faculty and staff could greatly enhance the understanding and experience of such an exhibition.

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Alma Freeman is the communications coordinator for the Office of International Affairs.