We are delighted to offer you this wonderful opportunity to visit the Classics Museum at Victoria University which houses a beautiful collection of Greek and Roman artefacts. Some have been purchased by the Classics programme, while others are on loan from the British Museum, National Museum of Athens or private owners.
One of the highlights of the museum is the David Carson-Parker collection which was donated to Victoria University’s Classics Museum in 2015, by Jeremy Commons, whose late partner David Carson-Parker brought them to New Zealand from Syria in the 1970s. The collection consists of 70 ancient artefacts including glassware and pottery mostly from the Mediterranean, dating from the seventh century BCE to the sixth century CE.
Dr Diana Burton, Director of Classics, School of Languages and Cultures will lead the tour. Diana’s research interests include ancient Greek art, myth, and religion; death and dying in ancient Greece; Greek literature; 3D Printing of antiquities. In most years Diana teaches some aspect of Greek material culture. This year she is teaching a new course on Myth, Art, and the Gods in Ancient Greece, which looks at the ways in which the Greeks used their art to depict, explore, and debunk their myths, as well as to emphasise particular aspects of their gods – and to butter them up when they needed their help!
The Classics Museum is located on Level 5 of the Old Kirk Building, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Campus. Meeting point for the tour will be in the Hunter Courtyard, Gate 2, Kelburn Parade.
Click here to download or to view the Kelburn Campus map
There will be an opportunity to socialise afterwards at one of the University’s cafes.
Feature image: Detail from: Fish plate and Antefix, courtesy of the Classics Museum, Victoria University of Wellington.