Greenwich Archaeological Associates To Host Lecture on 'The Artful Silk Road'

“The Artful Silk Road, Past and Present” will be the topic of Yale Professor Karen Polinger Foster at the Archaeological Associates of Greenwich (the AAG) meeting on Thursday, Oct,16 at 8 p.m. at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich.

Sponsored by the Archaeological Associates of Greenwich (the AAG), the lecture is free to AAG, Bruce Museum members, students with ID and $15 to the public at the door.

Foster’s illustrated lecture will offer a three-part introduction to the art and archaeology of Central Asia’s fabled Silk Road. First: the ancient art of the steppes. Second: the art of Islam, particularly in the caravan cities of Samarkand, Bokhara and Khiva. Third: the remarkable similarities between past and present, people and places as seen in a photo essay inspired by her May 2014 journey with the Yale Alumni Travel team.

Foster specializes in Bronze Age art of the ancient world. She is the author of more than 70 articles and book reviews. Her most recent book is award-winning Civilizations of Ancient Iraq, co-authored with husband Yale Professor Ben Foster (who is presently giving the McKee Academic lectures on Syria in Greenwich). She has recently completed a trilogy dealing with volcanic imagery in art and literature from the Thera eruption to Pompeii. Her undergraduate work was at Mount Holyoke College and her M.A. and Ph.D. was from Yale.