The Nassau Community College Center for Arts and Humanities is proud to present "Ethiopian Prayer Scrolls: Virtual Medicine." Given by Dr. Laura Lombard, Assistant Manager of University Programs and Partnerships at the Rubin Museum of Art, the presentation will take place on Tuesday, February 7 at 11:30 a.m. in Room C-65 of Building G. Ethiopian prayer scrolls are used in an indigenous healing art practiced in Africa by Ethiopian faith healers.
Inscribed with elaborate visual symbols and prayers, Ethiopian prayer scrolls are measured to the height of a sick person to provide a "body-double." During exorcism, it is believed that evil spirits fly from the patient to the scroll, where they are captured in the symbolic nets. Dr. Lombard's talk will explore the ancient land and customs that gave rise to the scrolls, as well as the worldview of Christian faith healers who make them in order to treat physical and psychological illness.
In addition to her position at the Rubin Museum of Art, Dr. Lombard serves as adjunct professor at Eugene Lang College, The New School, where she teaches courses in comparative religion and museum studies. She has also taught studio art and iconography courses at the New School of Visual Arts, from which she received an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in illustration. Dr. Lombard's doctoral research at the Union Institute & University explored the healing art of Ethiopian prayer scrolls from magico-medical and Jungian psychoanalytical perspectives.
"Ethiopian Prayer Scrolls: Visual Medicine" is free, open to the public and accessible to the disabled. It's sponsored by NCC's Center for the Arts and Humanities and Art Forum Series. For more information, email alison.guest@ncc.edu.
