Nomads and Networks

NOMADS AND NETWORKS

The Ancient Art and Culture of Kazakhstan

Nomads and Networks is the first U.S. exhibition to provide a comprehensive overview of the fascinating nomadic culture of the peoples of eastern Kazakhstan’s Altai and Tianshan regions from roughly the eighth to first centuries BCE. With over 250 objects on loan from Kazakhstan’s four national museums, the exhibition provides a compelling portrait that challenges the traditional view of these nomadic societies as less developed than sedentary ones. Artifacts on view in the exhibition range from bronze openwork offering stands, superbly decorated with animal and human figures; to petroglyphs that marked important places in the landscape; to dazzling gold adornments that signaled the social status of those who wore them.

Tour:

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
August 11 - December 2, 2012

This exhibition has been organized by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University in collaboration with the Central State Museum, the Presidential Center of Culture, the A. Kh. Margulan Institute of Archaeology, the Museum of Archaeology, and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakshtan to the United States. The exhibition was made possible through the support of the Leon Levy Foundation.