Ancient Art Against Modern Culture: Sculptural Presence in Scythian Burial Ritual and Russian Formalism

Caspar Meyer, University of London

Ancient Art Against Modern Culture: Sculptural Presence in Scythian Burial Ritual and Russian Formalism

Lecture
CWAC 157
Caspar Meyer Poster

Caspar Meyer is Senior Lecturer in Classical Archaeology at Birkbeck College, University of London. His field is in Greek art and its cross-cultural persistence and resurgence from antiquity to the present. His recent monograph, Greco-Scythian Art and the Birth of Eurasia (Oxford, 2013), explores the receptions of classical metalwork in ancient Scythia and Romanov Russia and their afterlife in modern theories of syncretism, hybridity and cultural identity. His current work looks at the role of ‘dematerialization’ in the disciplinary formation of archaeology – that is, the media of visual representation and framing (such as drawings, photographs, and museum vitrines) aiding the process of transforming artefacts into writing. He is also preparing a series of articles on the implications of ancient art for modern theories of sexuality and on the relationship between artefacts, inscriptions and ancient notions of personhood.