About Exhibitions

The Exhibitions Department at ISAW mounts one to two loan exhibitions per year, often accompanied by a published catalogue. Exhibitions are complemented by a wide range of public programming, from scholarly conferences and lectures, to broader cultural events that cultivate a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural heritage of the countr(ies) or region(s) with which the Department is working. Each year, the Department hosts a practicum student selected from among ISAW’s graduate students. Graduate student docents from throughout NYU lead weekly exhibition tours. Opportunities also exist for guest curators, Visiting Research Scholars, and graduate students to participate in exhibition development.  Seminars and individualized guided studies focused around specific exhibitions as well as on museological practices will be presented by the Director of Exhibitions and ISAW staff.

Questions about this department should be directed to isaw.exhibitions@nyu.edu.

Antiquities Policy

ISAW’s Exhibitions program is driven by its research mission and the fact that it neither has nor plans to acquire an antiquities collection of its own. ISAW exhibits artifacts mainly for their ability to illuminate central questions about ancient cultures, especially issues related to connections between societies, whether religious, economic, political, artistic, or technological. Such investigations involve the archaeological contexts of objects wherever possible. 

ISAW exhibits objects whose possession and import can be determined not to be in contravention of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property of 1970, as implemented by the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act of 1983 (19 United States Code 2601-13), and of other applicable national laws.

All who have dealt with the complex issues posed by the long history of archaeology and acquisition in the wide range of countries with which ISAW is concerned are aware that it is difficult to capture fully the variety of specific circumstances that can surround particular objects or groups of objects. ISAW is committed to fostering extensive discussion of these issues by its faculty, staff, and students to the continued development of its policy by the faculty over the coming years.