Encounters: Conflict, Dialogue, Discovery

Greek, Attic, Name vase of the Princeton Class: Janiform kantharos with addorsed heads of a male African and a female Greek, ca. 480–470 B.C. Ceramic, 14.9 x 13.8 x 11.2 cm. Junius S. Morgan, Class of 1888 (y1933-45). Photo: Bruce M. White

At the core of any encounter is a dialogue that can take the form of a chance meeting, an adversarial conflict, or an encounter with unknown realms or worlds. Every encounter fosters a questioning or confrontation of what is the same and what is different. What is accepted and familiar in the art and culture of any people at any time is often inconspicuous, hidden in the currents of tradition until there is an encounter with something that is different yet similar, or similar yet different. The connections or points of encounter occur across place and time, and the direction of a gaze controls how one culture sees another and how one sees oneself. Encounters draws from the arts of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, spanning ancient to contemporary works, and includes media ranging from painting and sculpture to calligraphy, ceramics, and photography.

Encounters: Conflict, Dialogue, Discovery has been made possible by support from the Frances E. and Elias Wolf, Class of 1920, Fund; Christopher E. Olofson, Class of 1992; the Apparatus Fund; the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Bagley Wright, Class of 1946, Contemporary Art Fund; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and the Judith and Anthony B. Evnin, Class of 1962, Exhibitions Fund. Additional support has been provided by the Partners and Friends of the Princeton University Art Museum.