Current Exhibits and Future Events
Cultural Event: Preserved in Clay and Stone: Celebrating the History of Ancient Latin America
Date: September 16, 2021
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Location: The Louise Pettus Archives 700 Cherry Road, Rock Hill, SC
Join us at the Louise Pettus Archives for this Hispanic Heritage Month event, which includes an exhibit of the Salazar Latin American Artifacts Collection dating from the pre-Columbian era to more modern pieces. The exhibit features twenty objects that emphasize gender roles and animal imagery from the Salazar Collection. Dr. Brent Woodfill, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Winthrop University; and Professor Megan Leight, Assistant Professor of Art History, West Virginia University will participate in a panel discussion about the collection and its history. The Salazar artifacts cover several periods of Latin American culture and history. The presenters will discuss the collection in general as well as the purpose and significance of the artifacts. Attendees will be able to view a portion of the collection that will be on display and will be encouraged to ask questions of the presenters.
Exhibit: Preserved in Clay and Stone: Celebrating the History of Ancient Latin America
Dates: September 1, 2021 - October 1, 2021
Exhibit Location: Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections, 700 Cherry Road, Rock Hill, SC 29730
The exhibit features twenty objects that emphasize gender roles and animal imagery from the Salazar Latin American Artifacts Collection. These objects of material culture are varied and include ancient pottery, figurines, whistles, and stone sculptures. Objects associated with food preparation are particularly notable with a large carved metate in the form of a crocodile with an accompanying stone mano, and metate to food consumption with several works of pottery on display. Pottery in the collection features many works that may have been contained in burials; early ceramic works exhibit distinctive incised traditions while later ceramics in the collection call attention to burgeoning polychrome traditions. Figurines include plentiful painted details of clothing with 3-dimensional volumetric areas for emphasizing bulbous body parts including eyes, ears, noses and bellies. The pieces in this collection are striking, fascinating, and at once familiar and alien to Western audiences, depicting and assisting in monumental moments in the lives of ancient individuals as well as mundane daily tasks. Spend some time gazing at these pieces and imagining how they would have been displayed and used by their original owners.