Michele A. F. Kidwell

Chair of the Archaeology Committee, The National Arts Club

Kenneth Jay Linsner

President, Art Services International Group

Peter D De Staebler

Assistant Curator, Exhibitions, New York University

Daniel Thompson

Director, Global Projects and Global Heritage Network

APHRODISIAS: A Land of Beauty, A Land of Harmony

The ancient city of Aphrodisias is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Greek and Roman periods in Turkey.Aphrodisias is a small ancient city located near the modern village of Geyre in Turkey. Famous for its sanctuary of Aphrodite, the city's patron goddess, Aphrodisias enjoyed a long and prosperous existence from the first century B.C. through the sixth century A.D. Today, many of the city's ancient monuments remain standing, and excavations have unearthed numerous fine marble statues and other artifacts. The great beauty and extraordinary preservation of this site combine to bring the civic culture of the Greco-Roman world vividly to life.

This splendid city also renowned throughout antiquity for its famed "School of Sculpture" and remarkable Imperial patronage is an awe inspiring, rare combination of dazzling beauty coupled with a palpable spiritual presence.  A numinous, once bustling site analogous to Chichen Itza, Delphi, Jerusalem with various cultures physically united across time within its borders - Aphrodisias today engenders an ambience of peace while still personifying in marble its resident deity the Goddess Aphrodite.  

BIOGRAPHIES

Kenneth Jay Linsner, a member of the Archaeology Committee of The National Arts Club as well as an appraiser to the United States government and illustrious collectors such as the Forbes family and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, excavated at Aphrodisias and assisted Kenan T. Erim between 1970 and 1973. His principle duty was the clearing of the over-burden of the theater, enlarging the sondage of the cavea and revelation of the scaenae frons and the orchestra.  Mr. Linsner subsequently worked on the re-excavation of the Shepseskhafankh Mastaba Complex on the Giza plateau, originally dug by George Reisner at the turn of the 20th century, for Yale University and the Boston Museum in 1973-1975. 

Peter D. De Staebler was appointed Assistant Curator in 2011. He is a field archaeologist with 20 years of experience in Greece, Italy and Turkey, including 14 years at the NYU excavations at Aphrodisias. His primary research interest is in Roman architecture and urban development, especially in the Roman east and Late Antiquity. His has investigated the city wall, stadium, and ceramics at Aphrodisias, and he is the assistant director of the Aphrodisias Regional Survey Project. Over the years Dr. De Staebler has lectured extensively on Roman art and archaeology. He holds an A.B. from Bowdoin College, and M.A. and Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

   

Daniel Thompson visited Aphrodisias in 2006 and took some of the splendid photographs, which appear in the exhibition officially opening this evening.   He will discuss the meaning of UNESCO certification.  He has had extensive experience in international cultural heritage preservation, archaeological research and teaching.  At the Global Heritage Fund, he is Director for Global Projects and Global Heritage Network overseeing past projects such as the 9,000 year-old Catalhoyuk, where he also excavated, and Gobekli Tepe, a 11,000 years old site and current project. The recipient of a Study Grant and Travel Grant from the British Institute in Ankara in 2007, he is the author of At the Crossroads: Prehistoric Settlement in the Maeander Valley" in Anatolian Studies.

The month-long installation features original works depicting the influence of this wondrous place upon Joan Giordano and Lynne Mayocole, artist members of the Archaeology Committee of The National Arts Club, as well as Philip Pavia, a cast taken in situ by panelist Kenneth Jay Linsner, three posters by Geyre Foundation member Mesut Ilgim, photographs provided by the Aphrodisias Archives as well as panelists Kenneth Jay Linsner and Daniel Thompson, memorabilia related to the December 7th, 2011 festive celebration with Martha Sharp Joukowsky, Bert Smith receiving the Arts Club premier Certificate in Honour of Fifty Years of Excavations, and Christopher Ratte including a keynote presentation, invitations, the Aphrodisias Scroll as well as two essays written for its digital version by the current archive director Alexander Sokolicek, a description of the site from 1907 by Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell.   Additional information about this splendid past will be evident to visitors with Friends of Aphrodisias brochures available and an essay written by Michele A.F. Kidwell accompanied by photographs of the artworks on display taken by Archaeology Committee member Vincent Menza.