Summary

By Kirstin Ohrt

Christine Kondoleon, George Behrakis Chair of the Art of Ancient Greece and Rome at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, delivered this year’s Kurt Weitzmann lecture: “To put back all the things people cluttered up...To Straighten, like a diligent Housekeeper of Reality...” Having completed 12 new galleries featuring Greek, Roman, and Byzantine objects, Kondoleon, discussed the priorities, considerations, and challenges that framed her task. Above all, Kondoleon sought to find new ways to engage with an increasingly diverse audience through various approaches to storytelling.

Kondoleon noted that she gave her first scholarly lecture at Princeton in 1978 in the presence of Kurt Weitzmann, for whom the lecture is named. And she drew her lecture’s title from the 1914 poem Keeper of Sheep by Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa, which mirrors the perception of the curator as the keeper of objects to be preserved, but not necessarily engaged with. Her own intention in designing these new galleries was to actively welcome viewers of varied backgrounds and knowledge levels.

A variety of tools facilitated this endeavor. Screen summaries provide engaging background information, for example, videos help viewers visualize the original vibrant color covering ancient sculptures, and interviews with everyday people make the objects more relatable. To change the physical experience of the gallery space, Kondoleon went as far as raising the roof to add more light and reflect ancient architecture. She installed large screens as backdrops that show footage of an ancient site with the fluttering of leaves reinforced by the sound of a Mediterranean breeze to transport the viewer. Viewers are encouraged to sample the sounds of prayers in Greek or choose from a group of Byzantine hymns. Displays of modern-day artists alongside those from antiquity are another bridge to the past, exemplified by Kondoleon’s Cy Twombly exhibition Making Past Present, a concept Kondoleon intends to reiterate.

Among the 12 new galleries, the Daily Life Gallery displays over 300 toys, crafts, sports, farming, and medicinal objects. These artifacts, like wine cups that reveal a surprise image once emptied, create a shared experience with the ancients, a timeless inside joke, representing precisely the sort of relatable, relevant storytelling Kondoleon is aiming for.

“Choosing which stories to tell was one of the most exciting parts of the reinstallation project,” said Kondoleon. “At the same time, we realize the importance of making space for visitors to find their own stories—to connect in their own ways.”