17985 Pacific Coast Highway
Pacific Palisades, California 90272

Free
RSVP Required: 310-440-7300

In the Meeting Rooms

Presenter: Albert Henrichs, Harvard University

Further details coming soon.

This is part of the scholarly seminar series Five Thousand Years of Festivals
"A life without festivals is like a road without inns," said the ancient Greek philosopher Demokritos. Festivals still are the most spirited collective activities celebrated in any society. From ancient Mesopotamian rites to the annual Burning Man celebration held in Nevada, festivals have played a crucial role in societies. In them, communities ease social conventions and display power structures, gender roles, and religious ideals. Festivals seem so indispensable to the lives of communities that totalitarian regimes, such as those of the Soviet Communists and the German National Socialists, invested considerable energy in transforming religious rituals into staged civic festivals.

As part of the 2006–2007 research theme, "Religion and Ritual," and complementing the Festival Collection at the Research Library, the Getty Research Institute presents a series of scholarly seminars at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa that explore how festivals have been celebrated over many millennia.

Please note that seating is limited and programs are subject to change.


Procession of the vintners in Vevey, Switzerland, with grape-pickers, a wine press on a wagon, and Noah's Ark with the Dove of Renewal (detail), Christian Gottlieb Steinlen. Lithograph in Fête des vignerons, 1833
Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, 87-B10043


Seminars at the Getty Center
Russian Revolutionary Festivals (January 19, 2007)
Spanish Fiestas (March 2, 2007)

Seminars at the Getty Villa
Athenian Dramatic Festivals (March 30, 2007)
New Age Festivals (April 13, 2007)
Babylonian Festivals (May 11, 2007)
Zoroastrian Festivals (June 8, 2007)

Official Website: http://getty.edu/visit/events/festival_seminars.html#athenian

Added by kiracle on January 13, 2007

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