Earlier this week I received a little postcard in the mail from the College with the words “Save the Date” and “You are cordially invited to Wellesley 142nd Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 31st, 2020”. Receiving the postcard was like a reality check. 2020 does not sound like a real year and I am having difficulty understanding how time could have passed so quickly. The countdown begins.
However, before we get to that, I have to get through the month of December and finals!
I spent last week at home for Thanksgiving. During the much-deserved break, I enjoyed time with my family and friends and failed to get work done. I also watched a lot of movies which is an activity I really enjoy. One of the cool things I did while on the break was to visit the Met Museum in New York City. I had been there a couple times before but was still really excited this time around. I was especially excited to apply the things I have been learning in my art history class to my visit to the museum.
At the museum, I took the opportunity to visit the African art galleries to see if I could recognize any of the objects with the stuff I learned in class. And I did! I was with my sister and cousin and pretended to be their tour guide; pointing out the objects and cultures that I learned about. They were kind of impressed. It is rare that I am able to present the information I learn in class in this way.
The Ivory mask that I have pictured here is one of the masks that we studied in class. My professor showed us a picture of it in class but it was really cool to see it in front of me. The mask is an object from the Benin Kingdom and is a portrait of the Queen Mother. This was not my first time at the African art gallery in the Met but certainly, my first time looking at objects to intently.
The other pictures of the front of the museum including the new statues that were added to the facade of the building. We learned about the artist behind these sculptures, Wangechi Mutu, and I took some photos in front of them to show my professor. I hope you all enjoyed your breaks as well!
Until next time,
Laïssa