Letter from the President: SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

MAC ARTHUR FELLOWS SPEAKERS
The Symposium is coming up very soon and we are all gearing up for an amazing series of events.
Today I wanted to share with you some of the highlights for our plans, and introduce you to a few very special guest speakers. All have been honored as Mac Arthur Fellows, recognized internationally for their contributions to their fields. We are very excited about their participation!

Ann Hamilton and Gary Urton who will speak as part of panels at our special plenary sessions at LACMA on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014 and our Keynote Speaker, Peter Sellars who will open the conference on Wednesday evening, Sept 10. I am very pleased to introduce you to them:

Ann Hamilton is a visual artist internationally recognized for her large-scale installations and related video, objects, and prints. Some of her projects include commissioned installations for the Park Avenue Armory, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto; MASS MoCA; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; The Museum of Modern Art; The Tate Gallery Liverpool, and the Dia Center for the Arts. Ann received a BFA in textile design from the University of Kansas in 1979 and an MFA in sculpture from the Yale School of Art in 1985.

Ann will be part of a panel organized by Sharon Takeda on Textiles and Museums.

Gary Urton is Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Pre-Columbian Studies and Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. He is the author of many articles and author/editor of several volumes on Andean/Quechua cultures and Inka civilization. His books include: At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky (1981), The History of a Myth (1990), The Social Life of Numbers (1997), Inca Myths (1999), and Signs of the Inka Khipu (2003). Gary is the Founder/ Director of the Harvard Khipu Database Project.

Gary will be part of a panel on Ancient Knowledge/Indigenous Voices organized by Roy Hamilton and myself.