Boston Flora

Tag: Humboldt University

  • Wednesday, March 27, 6:00 pm – Ancient Egyptian Gardens

    Christian E. Loeben, Egyptologist and Keeper of Egyptian and Islamic Arts at the Museum August Kestner in Hamburg, Germany, will give a free lecture at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, sponsored by the Harvard Semitic Museum.

    The oldest documented gardens in the world are from ancient Egypt. Gardens were described in hieroglyphic texts and depicted in paintings, and many have been recovered through archaeology. From these sources we know that ancient Egyptians maintained gardens at temples and tombs, as well as at royal palaces and local residences.

    Drawing on comparisons among paintings of gardens from over fifty Egyptian tombs and archaeological garden sites, Christian Loeben will highlight the symbolism and functions of gardens in the religious and personal lives of ancient Egyptians.

    Christian Loeben studied Egyptology and Art History at the Freie Universität of Berlin and has conducted fieldwork in Saqqara, Thebes and Deir el-Haggar, Dakhleh Oasis. Since 2004, he has been the keeper of Egyptian and Islamic Collections in the Museum August Kestner in Hanover, Germany, where he has curated more than ten exhibitions on ancient Egypt.

    He has held research and teaching positions at the University of Chicago, the Institut Khéops in Paris, and the Humboldt University (Berlin). He has published over 50 scientific articles and made contributions to more than 30 museum and exhibition catalogues. Since 1993 he has served as consultant Egyptologist for the Collection of Antiquities at the Cuban National Museum for the Fine Arts in Havana. He has lectured widely on Egyptology at universities in Leipzig, Havana, Marburg, Cologne, Göttingen, Leiden, Leuven, and Basel.

    Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

    This event will be livestreamed on the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture Facebook page. A recording of this program will be available on the HMSC Lecture Videos page approximately three weeks after the lecture.

    Link to HMSC Facebook page:
    https://www.facebook.com/harvardmuseumsofscienceandculture/

    Link to HMSC Youtube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjjvYQF81TLWObF7RqpHIlA L

  • Arnold Arboretum Appoints Iris Gestram as Deputy Director

    The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is pleased to announce that Iris Gestram has been appointed as the new Deputy Director. She will join the organization in May 2012. Iris comes to the Arboretum from the National Association for Olmsted Parks where she served as Executive Director. Previously, Iris headed the Education and Visitor Services Department at historic Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, where she oversaw guest services, education, public programs, public relations, and marketing for the 1,000-acre public garden. Iris also served as Director of Education and Visitor Services at the Olmsted-designed Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL, adjacent to Mountain Lake Community with its numerous residential landscapes designed by the Olmsted firm. Iris offers the Arboretum extensive experience in non-profit management, strategic planning, and program development. She holds a master’s degree in plant science from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, and a master of science degree in public horticulture administration from the Longwood Graduate Program, University of Delaware. While in the Longwood Program, Iris developed a preservation plan for the historic landscape of Gibraltar in Wilmington, DE, designed by pioneer woman landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin.

    An active participant nationally in the fields of historic landscape preservation and public horticulture, Iris has served on the Longwood Graduate Program Executive Committee and the Gibraltar Landscape Advisory Committee for Preservation Delaware, Inc. She recently completed a strategic plan for the Smithsonian Horticulture Services Division that initiated a name change to Smithsonian Gardens to better reflect the organization’s stature and operations as a public garden, educational institution, and horticultural display garden.