Sign Up Now for July and August Programs

Don't forget to sign up for the Fall 2024 Arts of Asia lecture series, Beyond the Familiar: A Deeper Look into the Asian Art Museum Collection, which will begin on August 30. The advance registration deadline is August 23!

We are also accepting registrations for the Fall 2024 Literature Course, In Pursuit of Qu Yuan (343-277 BCE),  with Prof. Paula Varsano of UC Berkeley.

Member Event
Adornments Across the Atlas: The Jewelry and Costumes of North Africa with Courtney Stewart
July 11, 2024 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Zoom Webinar
$15 per person Society members; $20 per person non-members
Advance registration must be received by SAA by July 10, 2024. New Extended Deadline!
This lecture takes you on a captivating exploration of the rich cultural heritage of Maghrebi (North African) jewels and adornments, uncovering the traditions, symbolism and craftsmanship that have shaped the region’s aesthetic identity. Through tracing the evolution of adornment practices from ancient times to the present and examining the influences of Berber, Roman, Arab and Ottoman cultures, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the symbolic significance of these symbols of adornment, which serve as expressions of identity, status and cultural pride. This talk seeks to foster appreciation for the region’s cultural diversity and honor the artisans whose creativity and skill continue to shape its vibrant landscape.
Click here to read more and sign up.

Travel
SAA's Scandinavian Summer Tour: Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen
August 9 - 19, 2024
It's not too late to sign up for this trip! Reservations are accepted ONLY BY USING THE ONLINE LINK.
Please find detailed information in the trip flyer. 
Click here to read more.

Upper Category Member Event
Society Conversation with Suzanne Lecht
August 24, 2024 2:00 p.m. 
Private residence in Mill Valley
$20 per person Society Upper Category members & guests
Upper Category members will be invited to join a Society Conversation with Suzanne Lecht, a favorite SAA speaker, who is the founder and owner of the famous Art Vietnam Gallery in Hanoi. Suzanne will talk about favorite works in her collection and also about upcoming shows she’ll be curating in both Hanoi and the U.S. Please follow the registration link in the email invitation to sign up for this event. The invitation will be sent on July 13, 2024.
Click here to read more.

Fall 2024 Arts of Asia Lecture Series
Beyond the Familiar: A Deeper Look into the Asian Art Museum Collection
Fridays, August 30 - December 13, 2024 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Samsung Hall, Asian Art Museum & Zoom Webinars (Please see schedule for any exceptions.)
$200 per person Society members; $250 per person non-members for the series after museum admission. 
Advance registration must be received by SAA by August 23, 2024. 
Much has changed in the last few years at the Asian Art Museum. New curators and scholars have fresh ideas about objects in our collection. Others are re-examining common assumptions and ideas about the history, provenance, and context of even our well-known artifacts and will also introduce new acquisitions to our audience.
Click here to read more and sign up.

Member Event
Visit to Farrow Fine Art Gallery & Studios
August 31, 2024 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
19 Lovell Avenue, San Rafael
$15 per person Society members; $20 per person non-members
Join us for a visit to the work and exhibition spaces of father and son team, Al and Erik Farrow.
Come see Al’s celebrated series of sculptures, Reliquaries, using deconstructed military ordnance to produce spectacular pieces representing the architecture of churches, mosques and synagogues. The sculptures are beautiful, shocking and profound. He has exhibited at museums and galleries around the world.
Erik’s gallery, Farrow Fine Art Gallery, exhibits antique tribal art from Indonesia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas. Ritual and primitive power as well as beauty, abound in the objects in his gallery.
Click here to read more and sign up.

Fall 2024 Literature Course
In Pursuit of Qu Yuan (343-277 BCE) with Paula Varsano
Sundays, September 8, 15 & 22, 2024 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Koret Education Center, Asian Art Museum
$100 per person Society members; $125 per person non-members for the course after museum admission.
Advance registration must be received by SAA by Sept. 1, 2024.
The name Qu Yuan (alternately written, Ch’ü Yuan) can provoke a range of responses, from admiration and compassion to exasperation and even disdain.  Was he a wise and upright minister in the court of King Huai of Chu, who ended his life upon realizing that he was unable to save the kingdom from being overcome by the neighboring state of Qin? Or was he a man obsessed with the need to make known—and preserve—his own moral purity in the face of the corrupt and violent world of the Warring States?  A supremely disciplined truth-teller or an unhinged madman?  A statesman or a shaman? Patriot or narcissist?  Or, as certain scholars have been wondering of late: did such a man ever exist? This short course on the great statesman and poet of the fourth century BCE will offer a window onto the history, legend, poetry, and cultural responses that comprise his complicated legacy, well beyond the festivals and traditional dishes that endure in popular culture.
Click here to read more and sign up.