[Coral-List] Coral: Symbol, Substance, and Significance / A conference in NYC / October 29 31, 2009
Lisa Koenigsberg
lisa.koenigsberg at artinitiatives.com
Fri Oct 9 09:54:59 EDT 2009
Initiatives in Art and Culture
Coral: Symbol, Substance, and Significance - A Conference in New York City
October 29 October 31, 2009
Early registration discount through October 11, 2009
Student discount available
Coral is a comprehensive examination of this
astonishing organism, exploring its place in both
in the natural world and in the realm of culture,
and considering what is being done to protect and preserve it.
Beginning with the role of coral within the reef
and the criticality of coral reefs to ocean
ecology and thus to human existence we turn
to forces threatening reef survival, and to
efforts of scientists, governments, and
nongovernmental organizations to protect and
restore them. We address laws and treaties
formulated to govern trade in coral, a substance
that has been termed "too precious to wear." We
examine coral in history, both its evolving
associations over time and its traditional place
in the wunderkammer, and explore its changing
role and use in jewelry, art, and fashion, with
specific discussion of the mimetic use of coral
alternatives and the symbolic use of the coral
motif as an inspiration. Initiatives in Art and
Culture has a long-standing commitment to
explorations of cultural patrimony and of art and
ornament. In Coral, we again celebrate the object
by placing it in the broadest possible context.
Among those who have agreed to speak are: Michael
Kowalski, Chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co.;
Richard E. Dodge, professor and dean, Nova
Southeastern University (NSU) Oceanographic
Institute and Executive Director of the Centers
Coral Reef Institute (NCRI); Kacky Andrews,
Director, Coral Reef Conservation Program,
National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Committee (NOAA); Dawn
Martin, president of SeaWeb; Christine Dawson,
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental
and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State;
Michele Oka Doner, artist whose breadth of
artistic production encompasses public art,
sculpture, furniture, jewelry, and functional
objects, a significant number of which draw
inspiration from coral and the sea; Marilyn F.
Cooperman, jeweler whose work often employs
aquatic motifs; Amedeo Scognamiglio, jeweler,
whose family has been based in Torre del Greco, a
center of the creation of jewelry from seashells,
corals and semiprecious stones; Barbara Best,
Coastal Resources and Policy Advisor, Office of
Natural Resources Management, Bureau for Economic
Growth, Agriculture and Trade, U.S Agency for
International Development; Ilze K. Berzins,
Executive Vice President, Animal Health,
Conservation and Research, John G. Shedd
Aquarium; Ken Nedimyer, Founder and President,
Coral Restoration Foundation; Steve D'Esposito,
president RESOLVE and formerly president,
Earthworks Action; Billy Causey, Regional
Director, Florida Keys National Sanctuary; Caleb
McClennen, Director, Marine Conservation,
Wildlife Conservation Society; Crawford Allan,
Regional Director, TRAFFIC North America, World
Wildlife Fund; and Mercer R. Brugler,
Environmental and Evolutionary Biology Program,
University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Godfrey
Reggio, producer and director, who is prominent
in the film world for his Qatsi trilogy
(Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqqyqatsi) and
for Anima Mundi, (music for all by Philip Glass)
which convey a humanist philosophy about the
earth; Stephen Dweck, jeweler whose work is
inspired by minerals and a love for the natural
world; Janie Schoenborn, design director, Lilly
Pulitzer; David Wolfe, creative director and
chief forecaster of Doneger and Co.; Sarah
Graham, jeweler whose point of departure for her
coral inspired work are plates in Ernst Haeckels
Art Forms in Nature; and Géza von Habsburg, an
art historian who has served as chairman of two
auction houses and whose numerous publications
include Princely Treasures (1997) and several definitive volumes on Fabergé;
_________________________________________________
To register on-line: go to: www.acteva.com/go/coral
Fee: The conference fee is $250; an early
registration discount of $195 is available until
October 11, 2009. A discounted rate of $100 is
available for full-time students with ID.
For more information: info at artinitiatives.com or
call: 646-485-1952 or visit www.artinitiatives.com
__________________________________________________
We are grateful for generous support received
from Tiffany & Co., NOAA Coral Conservation Reef
Program, SeaWeb, The Henry Foundation, The John
G. Shedd Aquarium, The Louis and Lena Minkoff
Foundation, The Magazine ANTIQUES, and The Exeter Group (as of 10/5/09).
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