THINGS: A Global Conversation
October 21, 2020 - December 16, 2020 Online via Zoom
THINGS: A Global Conversation About Sustainability
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Tara Logue |
Jessica Steinhäuser |
What can ancient ceramic technology teach us about keeping our homes warm and our globe cool? In 18th-century Salem, many people relied on ceramic stoves to efficiently heat their houses. Today, ceramic artist and kachelöfen innovator Jessica Steinhäuser crafts new examples that efficiently, sustainably, and beautifully heat modern spaces. Jessica and Tara will explore the connections between recently conserved and rebuilt ceramic stoves made in Salem, North Carolina more than 200 years ago and contemporary Kachelöfen from Jessica’s studio in Canada. Together, they will discuss why breathing new life into this old technology could be good for the environment and for the soul.
THINGS: A Global Conversation About Immigration
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Daniel Ackermann |
Stephen Jackson |
If you had to leave your homeland, what would you bring with you? What would you be able to bring? What would you be allowed to bring? And what would your choices say about your reasons for going, your hopes for the future, and your connection to those you left behind? John Roy Mackay carried the chanter from his grandfather’s set of bagpipes with him when he emigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1805. Twenty-one year old Robert Walker, a Scottish cabinetmaker, chose to bring his copy of Thomas Sheraton’s Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book. Join Daniel Ackermann and Stephen Jackson as they discuss immigration through the lens of two objects that made the journey from Scotland to North America.
THINGS: A Global Conversation About Preservation, Trauma, and Memory
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Frank Vagnone |
Nelly Abboud |
Why do we remember and preserve places filled with the memories of trauma?
Beirut’s “Yellow House” sits in the center of the city. During the Lebanese Civil War, the building’s location along the city’s “green line”, as well as its height and open architecture, provided a strategic vantage point for warring factions and their snipers. Badly damaged during the conflict and only recently stabilized and preserved, it evokes memories of the country’s long and bloody civil war.
Like the Yellow House, Salem’s Tavern also sat on a line of demarcation between Moravians and their non-Moravian visitors. Upstairs in the Tavern is a small room that was once home to those who were enslaved there. Unrestored–and until recently, inaccessible to the public–this space has been designated as a room of reflection dedicated to those who were enslaved in Salem.
Join Frank Vagnone and Nelly Abboud for a conversation about these two spaces that are linked by a common bond of memory and trauma. Memories and trauma that some would prefer to forget.
*We know many of our colleagues and friends are feeling the financial strain of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Therefore, we are asking you to pay what you wish to help us keep these informative conversations going. If you can’t make a donation right now, that’s OK too. Click HERE to request a ticket without a donation.