The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
New York, New York 10028-0198
General Information: 212-535-7710
TTY: 212-570-3828 or 212-650-2551




"Beyond Babylon:"--This exhibition focuses on the extraordinary art created as a result of a sophisticated network of interaction that developed among kings, diplomats, merchants, and others in the Near East during the second millennium B.C. Approximately 350 objects of the highest artistry from royal palaces, temples, and tombs—as well as from a unique shipwreck—provide the visitor with an overview of artistic exchange and international connections throughout the period. From Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt in the south to Thrace, Anatolia, and the Caucasus in the north, and from regions as far west as mainland Greece all the way east to Iran, the great royal houses forged intense international relationships through the exchange of traded raw materials and goods as well as letters and diplomatic gifts. This unprecedented movement of precious materials, luxury goods, and people resulted in a total transformation of the visual arts throughout a vast territory that spanned the ancient Near East and the eastern Mediterranean. Because many of these works have either only recently been excavated or have never been shown abroad, "Beyond Babylon" is a singular opportunity for the public to experience the rich artistic and cultural traditions of this period. November 18, 2008–March 15, 2009

"The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End"--Dazzling textile traditions have constituted an important form of aesthetic expression throughout Africa’s history and cultural landscape. Textiles have long been a focal point of the vast continental trading networks that carried material culture and technological innovations across regional centers and linked Africa to the outside world. Leading contemporary artists reflecting on Africa’s distinctive cultural heritage and its relationship to the world at large have drawn upon the imagery of textiles in sculpture, painting, photography, installation art, video, and other media.
This exhibition illustrates the stunningly diverse classical textile genres created by artists in West Africa through some of their earliest documented and finest works. Highlights of the Metropolitan’s own holdings will be presented along with some twenty works that entered The British Museum’s collection by the early twentieth century. Selected works will represent inventive variations on major themes of the influential classical genres. The exhibition will relate these genres to contemporary art forms by affording an appreciation of the cultural context and visual language of these traditions and exploring their synergy and resonance in works by eight living artists. September 30, 2008–April 5, 2009

"Choirs of Angels: Painting in Italian Choir Books, 1300–1500"--More than two dozen leaves of the most splendid examples from the Museum’s little-known collection of choral manuscript illuminations will be exhibited, coinciding with the publication of a Museum Bulletin devoted to the subject. With jewel-like color and gold, these precious images—which include scenes of singing angels, Hebrew prophets, heroic saints, and Renaissance princes—spring from the unique, artful marriage of painting, text, and music. The Museum’s collection includes works created for churches across Italy, from Florence to Venice, from Cremona to Naples, by some of the most celebrated painters of their day. Accompanied by a Museum Bulletin.  November 25, 2008–April 12, 2009.

"Reality Check: Truth and Illusion in Contemporary Photography "--This installation of works from the permanent collection—the third in the Museum’s new gallery for contemporary photographs—surveys the ways in which artists exploit photography’s fundamental illusionism to create a sense of ambiguity about what is real and what is not. Among the works featured are photographs of staged scenarios or constructed environments that appear to be real, as well as real scenes or landscapes that appear strangely artificial. Artists include James Casebere, Gregory Crewdson, Robert Gober, David Levinthal, Vik Muniz, Stephen Shore, and Taryn Simon, among others.
 November 4, 2008–March 22, 2009

 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
New York, New York 10028-0198
General Information: 212-535-7710
TTY: 212-570-3828 or 212-650-2551

Hours*

*Galleries are cleared at 5:15 p.m., Sunday–Thursday, and 8:45 p.m., Friday and Saturday

**The Main Building of the Metropolitan Museum—its galleries, public restaurants, and shops—will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the following Met Holiday Mondays:

• Labor Day: September 4, 2006
• Columbus Day: October 9, 2006
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day: January 15, 2007
• Presidents' Day: February 19, 2007
• Memorial Day: May 28, 2007