Director’s Foreword

Weber, Susan

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Director’s Foreword

Susan Weber

Agents of Faith: Votive Objects in Time and Place

~I am pleased to inaugurate the quarter-century celebration of the founding of Bard Graduate Center with the exhibition, Agents of Faith: Votive Objects in Time and Place, on a subject worthy of marking the occasion. Votive practices infuse inanimate objects—whether familiar or mysterious, personal or communal—with spiritual significance,...

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Susan Weber

PublisherBard Graduate Center

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20141

Director’s Foreword

I am pleased to inaugurate the quarter-century celebration of the founding of Bard Graduate Center with the exhibition, Agents of Faith: Votive Objects in Time and Place, on a subject worthy of marking the occasion. Votive practices infuse inanimate objects—whether familiar or mysterious, personal or communal—with spiritual significance, expressing a fundamental human need to communicate with the gods or a conception of a divine presence. Although a single volume on this vast subject cannot be all-inclusive, Agents of Faith represents the widespread use of votive offerings across several cultures and throughout time, deepening our understanding of these objects through thoughtful scholarly analyses.

The exhibition and catalogue are the result of the steadfast efforts of Ittai Weinryb, associate professor at Bard Graduate Center, who envisioned the project and invited contributions from art historians with different areas of expertise including Fatima Bercht, Sheila Blair, Suzanne Preston Blier, Jaś Elsner, Diana Fane, Nina Gockerell, John Guy, Fredrika Jacobs, Mitchell B. Merback, David Morgan, Verity Platt, Mechtild Widrich, and Christopher S. Wood. His students Alexandra Beuscher, Michael H. Dewberry, Alexander Ekserdjian, Anne Hilker, Darienne Turner, and Alyssa Velazquez also contributed to the catalogue. The Gallery’s publication team, headed by Marianne Lamonaca and Caroline Hannah, oversaw the production of this catalogue. Alexis Mucha managed the complicated task of sourcing the illustrations; Sally Salvesen served as the production liaison; and Laura Grey created the magnificent design. In addition, Carolyn Brown served as copyeditor, Roberta Fineman provided critical proofreading skills, and Annika Fisher translated Nina Gockerell’s essay. Graduate students Shuning Wang, Dylan Brekka, and L. Bates Jaffe also helped with various aspects of this catalogue.

A special debt of gratitude goes to our institutional lenders for contributing to the successful realization of this project and for the support and individual efforts of Renate Eikelmann, Martina Holzmann, Johanna Lang, Thomas Schindler, Karin Schnell, Konstanze Schwadorf, and Sybe Wartena, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum; Anne Pasternak, Meghan Bill, and Susan Fisher, The Brooklyn Museum; Jennifer Udell, Fordham University; Lynn Gumpert, Michele Wong, Grey Art Gallery, New York University; Claudia Gould, Susan Braunstein, Katherine Danalakis, Julie Maguire, and Adrienne J. Riccardi, Jewish Museum; Yaëlle Biro, Christine Brennen, Sheila Canby, Anne DesRoches, Emily Foss, John Guy, Alisa LaGamma, Christopher Lightfoot, C. Griffith Mann, David Roads, Freyda Spira, and Hwai-ling Yeh-Lewis, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Jean-Luc Martinez and Laurent Haumesser, Musée du Louvre; Colin B. Bailey, Joshua O’Driscoll, and Francisco Trujillo, The Morgan Library and Museum; Lisa Fischman, Alicia LaTores, Bo K. Mompho, and James Oles, Davis Museum, Wellesley College; Laura Anderson, Janet Folkerts, and Jennifer Madello, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation; and to the private lenders, Angela Beck, Beate Echols and Michael Shub, David Joralemon, Justin Kerr, Douglas Massey and the Durand-Arias Collection, Ludovic Oster (via Beate Echols), Ira Rezak, and Lisbeth and August Uribe.

Ittai Weinryb invested himself fully in the challenging task of curating the Agents of Faith exhibition, with the assistance of Marianne Lamonaca and Caroline Hannah. David Harvey created the magnificent exhibition design, and Kate Dewitt developed the graphic elements of the exhibition. Eric Edler worked on the assembly of the exhibition and on its installation with Alexander Gruen. Emily Reilly and Carla Repice planned the public programs, tours, and other public outreach events. Laura Minsky organized the academic symposium.

Other members of the Bard Graduate Center staff contributed as well. Benjamin Krevolin led the fundraising campaign with Amy Brady. Patricia Ann Neely and Angela Prevosto coordinated the related special events for the opening. Grace Johnstone and Hollis Barnhart built interest in the project through their marketing and communication efforts. Tim Ettenheim runs the finance office that keeps the BGC operations going, with the support of his staff, Mohammed Alam, Samantha Baron, Miao Chen, James Congregane, Rita Niyazova, and Chandler Small. The security and facilities staff of the Bard Graduate Center deserve acknowledgment for the many tasks they accomplish for the Gallery and the larger institution. Executive Assistant Izabella Elwart has provided invaluable support throughout.

Finally, I want to thank Peter N. Miller, Dean of the Bard Graduate Center, and my faculty colleagues for their support of this important project and for their contributions to the intellectual life of the institution.

Susan Weber
Director, Founder, and Iris B. Horowitz Professor
Bard Graduate Center

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