Spare Time? Fill it with Carlos Conversations
Asen altar, Fon artist, Republic of Benin, early 20th century. Collection of the Michael C. Carlos Museum.
Have a spare 15 minutes here and there? If so, consider filling the time with Carlos Conversations, podcasts that feature artwork from Emory’s Michael C. Carlos Museum. They can be played online or downloaded to a handheld device for listening while you’re on the go. In each podcast, an object from the museum’s collection sparks a conversation between Antenna Audio host Sandy Goldberg, Carlos curators, and Emory professors from departments including Art History, Religion, African Studies, Classics, and even Psychology.
Roman copy of a Greek sculpture of Aphrodite, 1st century A.D. Collection of the Michael C. Carlos Museum.
Various “guest appearances” add further dimension to the conversations. In “Die Like an Egyptian,” Kevin Kuharic, Director of Restoration and Landscapes at Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery, discusses the Egyptian Revival style and American death practices. Renowned writer Mario Vargos Llosa contributes ideas from his novel The Storyteller to the “Seeing Shamans” conversation. And in “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” Carlos conservator Renee Stein describes the physical rejoining of the head and body of an ancient statue of the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
Detail, Coffin of Tanakhtnettahat ('Lady Tahat'), Egypt, 21st Dynasty (1050 B.C.). Collection of the Michael C. Carlos Museum.
Music and music-related themes play an important role in many podcasts. In “Asen Voice Shapes,” doctoral candidate Claudette Anderson examines the incorporation of African proverbs into reggae music. In another podcast, “The Power of the Goddess,” dancer Sasikala Penumarthi describes the heaviness, power, and energy she feels when she performs as the Indian goddess Durga. Similarly, the coffin featured in “Journey to the West” is that of an Egyptian chantress, Tahat, who sang and played music for temple rituals over 3,000 years ago. Finally, in a couple conversations, listeners have the opportunity to hear ancient American flutes and an Egyptian metal rattle called a sistrum.
The Carlos Museum offers an additional enticement to listen to their podcasts: If you download any podcast to a handheld device and bring it to the museum, you’ll receive free admission for the day.
If you’re interested in more podcasts, many major art museums offer them; check out Met Podcast and Tate Online, for example. Also, IdiotVox has a fairly lengthy list of art-related podcasts.
