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Coral: Symbol, Substance, and Significance – Past, Present, Future

Coral is a comprehensive examination of this astonishing organism, exploring its place in the natural world and in the realm of culture, and considering what is being done to protect and preserve it. We consider forces threatening reefs, and efforts of scientists, governments, and nongovernmental organizations to protect and restore them. We address laws and treaties formulated to govern trade in coral. We examine coral in history, its evolving associations, and its place in the wunderkammer, and explore its changing role and use in jewelry, art, and fashion. Coral continues Initiatives in Art and Culture’s long-standing commitment to explorations of cultural patrimony by placing it within the broadest possible context.

Among those who have agreed to speak are: Michael Kowalski, Chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co.; Richard E. Dodge, professor and dean, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Oceanographic Institute and Executive Director, Centers Coral Reef Institute (NCRI); Kacky Andrews, Director, Coral Reef Conservation Program, NOAA; Michele Oka Doner, artist whose artistic production draws inspiration from coral and the sea; Godfrey Reggio, producer and director, known for his Qatsi trilogy and Anima Mundi (music by Philip Glass); David Wolfe, creative director and chief forecaster of Doneger and Co.; Sarah Graham, jeweler whose point of departure is the plates of Ernst Haeckel’s Art Forms in Nature; Amedeo Scognamiglio, jeweler, whose family has long been based in Torre del Greco, a center for jewelry made from seashells, corals and semiprecious stones; Steve D’Esposito, president RESOLVE and formerly president, Earthworks Action; Dawn Martin, president, SeaWeb; Christine Dawson, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs U.S. Department of State; Barbara Best, Coastal Resources and Policy Advisor, Office of Natural Resources Management, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, USAID; Ilze K. Berzins, Executive Vice President of Animal Health, Conservation and Research, John G. Shedd Aquarium; Crawford Allan, Regional Director, TRAFFIC North America, World Wildlife Fund; Caleb McClennen, Director, Marine Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society; and Géza von Habsburg, art historian who has served as chairman of two auction houses and whose publications include Princely Treasures (1997) and definitive volumes on Fabergé. (as of 7/21/09). For more information: http://www.acteva.com/go/coral

Location:
City University Graduate Center
Fifth Avenue between 34 and 35th Streets
New York, NY 10016

Date:
Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 – Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009
8:30 AM – 3:00 PM

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