Tour of Peacock Room REMIX + Visit to Turquoise Mountain - FREE

This tour will be docent led and then we will visit together Turquoise Mountain: Artists Transforming Afghanistan

Filthy Lucre, an immersive installation by painter Darren Waterston, reimagines James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room—an icon of American art—as a decadent ruin collapsing under the weight of its own creative excess. Forging a link between inventive and destructive forces, Filthy Lucre forms the centerpiece of an unprecedented exhibition that highlights the complicated tensions between art and money, ego and patronage, and acts of creative expression in the nineteenth century and today.

During the eighteen-month run of Peacock Room REMIX, a series of related installations are presented in conjunction with Filthy Lucre. First on view were Whistler’s portraits of the Leyland family and Waterston’s preparatory studies for his installation. Waterston’s studies remain on display through May 30, 2016. The Leyland portraits were taken down on December 17 to prepare the gallery for The Lost Symphony: Whistler and the Perfection of Art, which opens on January 16. This exhibition is about a painting that does not exist, Whistler’s The Three Girls. The third installation, Chinamania, explores the enduring craze for Chinese blue-and-white porcelain in the West. It is on view June 2016 to January 2017.

Peacock Room REMIX is organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Darren Waterston’s installation Filthy Lucre, 2013–14, was created by the artist in collaboration with MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts. 

Turquoise Mountain: Artists Transforming Afghanistan

Turquoise Mountain: Artists Transforming Afghanistan


         International Gallery

From its critical position on the ancient Silk Road that stretches from Europe to China, Afghanistan absorbed traditions from India, Persia, and Central Asia and blended them into a distinct artistic culture. Decades of civil unrest that began in the 1970s nearly destroyed this vital heritage.  Many of Afghanistan’s artisans were forced to leave their country or give up their craft. The old city of Kabul, once a bustling center of craft and commerce, fell into ruin.

The British non-governmental organization Turquoise Mountain, founded in 2006 at the request of HRH The Prince of Wales and the President of Afghanistan, has transformed the Murad Khani district of Old Kabul from slum conditions into a vibrant cultural and economic center. The organization has renovated historic buildings, opened a primary school and a medical clinic, and rebuilt necessary infrastructure. It has founded Afghanistan’s premier institution for vocational training in the arts. Dedicated to teaching a new generation of Afghan artisans in woodwork, calligraphy, ceramics, jewelry design, and other crafts, Turquoise Mountain is reviving the nation’s proud cultural legacy.

To share this transformative story of people, places, and heritage in Afghanistan, the Freer and Sackler Galleries will recreate a visit to Old Kabul, transforming galleries into an Afghan caravanserai, complete with artisan stalls and architectural elements, immersive video and large-scale photographs. Visiting artisans from Murad Khani will demonstrate their craft and share their experiences, allowing visitors to experience Afghanistan’s rich culture and national pride. 


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