December 1, 2023
622 Dodge Hall, 3 PM
Talk info:
Musical Bodies: a discussion of work in progress on a major Met Museum exhibition
Musical Bodies explores the overlapping worlds and blurred boundaries between our bodies and our instruments. Whether we’re tapping, clapping, vocalizing or whistling, our bodies are musical instruments. In turn, many instruments derive their form and decoration from the human body. These instruments are powerful vehicles of our identity and often represent us and our actions. We find this around the world and across time not only in music but also in how instruments are deployed in the visual arts, literature, religion, pop culture and mythology.
Exhibition curator Bradley Strauchen-Scherer will give an overview of the exhibition narrative and key works. She will also discuss the various aspects of curatorial practice called into play in exhibition work and in her post at the Met.
Speaker bio:
Dr. Bradley Strauchen-Scherer is Curator in the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she led the recent renovation and reinterpretation of the five permanent music galleries. Her exhibition work, publications, and teaching explore the intersections between music, instruments, art, and society. She is currently preparing a major exhibition on musical instruments and the human body. Additional research interests include historical performance practice, history of collecting, and nineteenth-century concert life. Before moving to New York, Bradley was Deputy Keeper of Musical Instruments at the Horniman Museum in London and lecturer in history of performance practice at Goldsmith’s College, University of London. She received her PhD from the University of Oxford and is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
