What'S oN - The Ashmolean Museum

17 | NEW DISPLAYS
Art at the Edge presents:
Sculpture and Sport:
A Celebration for 2012
2 Until 20 May 2012
Admission free
To celebrate the London
Olympics, the Ashmolean
will display a group of bronze
sculptures from ‘Art at the Edge’,
a specially commissioned series
of works representing different
Olympic and Paralympic sports.
Each sculpture is cast in bronze
and made by a different artist
to reflect a cross-section of
contemporary British sculpture.
The works will be placed in the
Ashmolean’s Human Image
Gallery, amongst the Museum’s
permanent collections.
Curator’s Talk
Atrium Fri 20 Apr, 1–2pm
An introduction to the display
with curator of ‘Sculpture
and Sport’ Alan Dun. Free,
no booking necessary, spaces
limited.
Beauties and Heroes:
Legends and Stories in
Chinese Art
11 Until 10 Jun 2012
Admission free
To celebrate Chinese New
Year, the Museum displays
paintings, prints and papercuts
of legendary figures from
Chinese folklore. Characters
from popular fiction and Beijing
Opera – such as the Fox Fairy
and the Kungfu Heroine – are
depicted in bold colours and fine
brushwork. This special display
explores the representation
of legends from figure
paintings of the 17th century to
contemporary masterpieces.
‘Blade Runner’, by John
Buckley
Detail of ‘Scene from White
Snake’, 1990 by Gao Made
Frontispiece from a Qur’an,
Iran, late 15th century
Johannes Vermeer
‘Young Woman Seated at a
Virginal’ [detail], c.1670
© New York, private collection
‘Al-Qur’an al-Karim’: Sacred
Verses, Beautiful Pages
29 Until 1 Jul 2012
Admission free
This special display looks at
the Qur’an - the holy book of
Islam - as a source of artistic
inspiration and expression, from
the early centuries of Islam, to
the present day. The display
follows the evolution in the
practice of copying the Qur’an
across Islamic countries, and
the impact this has had on the
development of calligraphy and
book illumination.
Curator’s Talk: Qur’an and
Islamic Calligraphy
21 Fri 13 Apr; 4 May;
1 Jun: 11–12pm
Explore the special display
with an introduction from
Dr Francesca Leoni, Yousef
Jameel Curator of Islamic Art.
Free, no booking necessary.