Lectures and Talks

Hayv Kahraman paints graceful and commanding women in intertwining and seemingly impossible poses. They appear like translucent apparitions with inky halos of hair and silken skin rendered delicately in layers of oil paint and adorned in geometric Islamic patterns. Together they form a collective of Middle Eastern women, a motif Kahraman employs to celebrate her cultural identity, once repressed by violent assimilative and colonial forces.

Kahraman draws from her experience as a refugee in exile from her native Iraq, weaving ideas of narrative, memory, and diaspora. The body as object and subject play a central role in her practice, functioning as both a self-portrait and embodiment of a larger whole. Her recent work has addressed the devasting impact on vulnerable communities as a result of war, the parallels between medical terminology and military metaphors, and ecological disasters.

This inaugural symposium of the Avenir Institute of Textile Arts and Fashion invites directors and curators from leading textile arts and fashion organizations who share a common thread of being community-driven innovators.

Doors open at 9:30 am.

Questions? Call 720-913-0018 or email Cris Gomez at cgomez@denverartmuseum.org.

Please join the Denver Art Museum's Native Arts and Provenance departments, along with special guests from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, for a lively panel discussion on the vital role provenance research plays in museums.

The panel will examine provenance research as a cornerstone of ethical collecting and explore how it contributes to the return of objects to their rightful countries of origin. The discussion will also address the importance of fostering international relationships that extend beyond repatriation, highlighting the recent return of a plaque to the Kingdom of Benin. This will include a brief intercontinental conversation with Mr. Olugbile Holloway, Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) of Nigeria.

Featured in-person panelists include MacKenzie Mallon, Head of Provenance for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, and Dr. Jacques Schuhmacher, Executive Director of Provenance for the Art Institute of Chicago. They will be joined by Denver Art Museum Arts of Africa Fellow Syokau Mutonga and Provenance Research Fellow Mac Coyle, with moderation by Renée Albiston, Head of Provenance Research.

What makes printmaking such a dynamic and collaborative art form? Join artists Melanie Yazzie, Leon Loughridge, and Mark Lunning for a panel conversation with curator Chris Herron in conjunction with 'Round the Clock: 24 Hours of Colorado in Prints.

Together they will discuss their creative processes, the history and future of printmaking in the state, and the vibrant artistic community that continues to shape the medium in Colorado.