Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Search this
Type:
Lectures
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2021-03-18T14:00:23.000Z
Views:
1,268
Video Title:
Storyteller Xanthe Gresham: Simurgh and the Conference of Birds
Description:
Enjoy this modern adaptation of a classic Persian poem about the mysterious creature all the world’s birds seek as their new leader. Led by the extravagantly coiffed Hoopoe, the birds embark on a dangerous journey over Asia in search of the mythical "simurgh". Through courage, determination, and some magic, they survive obstacles and dangers and finally discover the truth about the mysterious "simurgh" who they hope will help them save the Earth. Based in the United Kingdom, storyteller Xanthe Gresham has performed at the Freer and Sackler’s annual Nowruz celebration for more than ten years and created this video specially for this year’s online edition. She is the author of Goddesses and Heroines: Women of Myth and Legend, published by Thames and Hudson, and has created a variety of shows celebrating the feminine divine, including “Cassandra” for BBC Radio 4, “Morgana Le Fay” for the Cheltenham Literature Festival, and “Isis and Hecate” for the Barbican. Xanthe’s stories from the Iranian epic Shahnameh, with Arash Moradi, have toured internationally, and she has received commissions from the British Museum. She has been storyteller-in-residence at Harvard University, the Blanton Museum of Art in Texas, the Chelsea Physic Garden, Stoke and Staffordshire Libraries, and 18 Hours in Hastings. Xanthe was a senior lecturer in drama and storytelling for the University of East London for seventeen years and works with Everyday Magic in London schools. Image credits: Zal Is Sighted by a Caravan, attributed to Abdul Aziz, Iran, Tabriz, Safavid period, ca. 1525, opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper, Lent by the Art and History Collection, LTS1995.2.46 Courtesy of Xanthe Gresham
Video Duration:
8 min 5 sec
YouTube Keywords:
Freer sackler freersackler smithsonian asian art museum asia dc nmaa "national museum of asian art"
