{"id":490,"date":"2025-08-26T17:19:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T05:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/?p=490"},"modified":"2025-08-26T17:19:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T05:19:52","slug":"visual-studies-network-research-seminar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/visual-studies-network-research-seminar\/","title":{"rendered":"Visual Studies Network Research Seminar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4fc3f8e1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Wednesday, September 3, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Room F209, F Block, Otago Polytechnic, Forth Street, Dunedin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>5:00 pm refreshments; start 5:30 \u2013 7:00 pm<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>Iconographies of Civilisation and Ruins \u2013 Aotearoa <\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>New Zealand Soldiers\u2019 Encounters with Ancient Egypt during the First World War<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Anya Samarasinghe<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/files\/2025\/08\/image-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"592\" height=\"494\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/files\/2025\/08\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-492\" style=\"width:592px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/files\/2025\/08\/image-1.png 592w, https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/files\/2025\/08\/image-1-300x250.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Letters written by Aotearoa\u2019s soldiers stationed in Egypt during the First World War reference the ancient monuments, sites, and stories associated with Egypt\u2019s ancient past. These accounts have a vivid visual character expressed through descriptions of ruins. Some of these descriptions are echoed in sketches and watercolours made by soldiers. Formal and iconographic analysis of this visual material situates ancient Egypt in a wider cultural imaginary space and encapsulates an interest in the picturesque and the concept of ancient Egypt as a mysterious landmark in the history of Western civilisation. This paper considers how contested histories, visual imagination, and concepts of Egypt, the British Empire, and Aotearoa New Zealand are refracted through the prism of Aotearoa soldiers\u2019 encounters with Egypt\u2019s ancient past during the First World War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Anya Samarasinghe<\/strong> is the 2025 Ihupukutaka Kairaup\u012b Curatorial Intern at Dunedin Public Art Gallery. She completed her PhD on Victorian art collections in Aotearoa\u2019s public art galleries in 2023 and has worked on projects involving the reception of ancient Egypt and medieval culture in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a link to attend online please contact Ed Hanfling: ed.hanfling@op.ac.nz<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-be57758a-acd7-4c6e-bbac-7f8e68b64b2b\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/files\/2025\/08\/Sent_DSA_Visual-Studies-Network-Seminar_Sept3_2025_Anya_Poster_Word_29July4.docx\">Sent_DSA_Visual Studies Network Seminar_Sept3_2025_Anya_Poster_Word_29July[4]<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/files\/2025\/08\/Sent_DSA_Visual-Studies-Network-Seminar_Sept3_2025_Anya_Poster_Word_29July4.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-be57758a-acd7-4c6e-bbac-7f8e68b64b2b\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wednesday, September 3, 2025 Room F209, F Block, Otago Polytechnic, Forth Street, Dunedin 5:00 pm refreshments; start 5:30 \u2013 7:00 pm Iconographies of Civilisation and Ruins \u2013 Aotearoa New Zealand Soldiers\u2019 Encounters with Ancient Egypt during the First World War Dr Anya Samarasinghe Letters written by Aotearoa\u2019s soldiers stationed in Egypt during the First World [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/visualstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}