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Objects conservation administrator Ashira Loike delineates the power of pilgrimage, both personal and communal.
My name is Ashira Loike. I work in objects conservation, and I'm going to be talking about "Pilgrimage."
What I find exciting about pilgrimage is it's not monolithic, it's not one thing. It's not
just this religious experience. It could also be a personal experience
or a communal activity. It could be a commemorative act.
Pilgrimage is tied up with memory. My first pilgrimage memory are trips to my grandparents in
Coney Island growing up. Part of the experience was going down to the beach. And the beach was crowded, and there were a lot of bodies and there was pushing and it was sweaty.
And so whenever I think back, I think of the overwhelming sensorial experience of
being on a crowded beach on a summer's day. That's how I get into pilgrimage.
People make pilgrimages to reconcile themselves with something difficult, like 9/11. I was in Brooklyn when it happened and I have this image burned in my mind of smoke coming up. It's this hazy memory
that I'm not willing to fully access. I try to grapple with 9/11 by taking these communal pilgrimages into a neutral image of the site, so I could cope with the tragedy in my mind.
Pilgrimage could also be a very positive thing. When I was traveling in Italy with my friends, we found ourselves in Saint Peter's Square on Pentecost, and the pope was about to give his speech. We were just awed by the sheer number of people in Saint Peter's Square,
this anonymous mass coming together to have this larger-than-life religious experience.
When I go on vacation I would like a guidebook to tell me what I'm supposed to see. Pilgrims have the same approach with manuscripts
with diagrams, and prayers, and lists of things to do, laying out the experience.
You have medieval pilgrims who have badges. Think today of all these cheesy trinkets that you bring back.
People sell them 'cause people buy them. The impulse to have something that was at that site with you is very relatable. You don't
have to go on a pilgrimage to be pilgrimage-oriented. Mihrabs in mosques, they're oriented towards Mecca.
The prayers, the lore and the stories, the momentous religious events that are recounted,oriented towards a place that you might never see.
Sacred geography becomes this built-up composite of a lot of expectations and anticipation. Whenever I think about pilgrimage, I think of Jerusalem.
I lived there, my sister and the family live there, I have friends who live there, and I find myself going back again and again.
When I'd lived in Jerusalem I'd gone a number of times, on major holidays, to the Western Wall, where the Jewish Temple once stood. And there you're wrapped up with tons of people, pushing and shoving, excited, exuberant, everyone going together for this experience.
But when I think of Jerusalem, I think of walking through Jerusalem. I think of
climbing the hills, and getting to the hilltop, and just looking out.
It's also interesting to think of why people come to see art. Someone else talking about
these same experiences might not even call it pilgrimage. A pilgrimage can be whatever you associate meaning to
whatever you place value on. Certain places take on an extra meaning, and I think that's
empowering and exciting.
Works of art in order of appearanceLast Updated: June 22, 2015. Not all works of art in the Museum's collection may be on view on a particular day. For the most accurate location information, please check this page on the day of your visit. |
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Christ's Entry into Jerusalem 15th century Anonymous (German) Metalcut, hand-colored in green, yellow and red Gift of Felix M. Warburg and his family, 1941 (41.1.179) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Drawings and PrintsSecond Floor | |
Fisherman Yuan dynasty, ca. 1350 Wu Zhen (Chinese) Handscroll; ink on paper Inscribed by the artist Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 (1989.363.33) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Asian ArtSecond Floor | |
Procession of Objects from the Tomb to the House evening of March 19, 1920 Harry Burton (English) The Egyptian Expedition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Gelatin silver print (53.143) Not on view
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Egyptian ArtFirst Floor | |
Memory Rendering of the Man on the Moon 1990 Vik Muniz (Brazilian) Gelatin silver print Purchase, Anonymous Gift, 1995 (1995.323.1) © Vik Muniz More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Coney Island 1940, printed ca. 1983 Weegee (American, born Hungary); Printed by Sid Kaplan Gelatin silver print Gift of Aaron and Jessica Rose, 1983 (1983.1130.8) © Weegee / International Center of Photography More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
jpeg ny02 2004 Thomas Ruff (German, born 1958) Chromogenic print Purchase, Denise and Andrew Saul Gift; Marlene Nathan Meyerson Gift, in memory of Andrew H. Golkin; Pamela and Arthur Sanders and The Robert A. and Renée E. Belfer Family Foundation Gifts; Neil C. S. Hirsch Gift; and Marian and James H. Cohen Gift, in memory of their son, Michael Harrison Cohen, 2006 (2006.92) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Benediction of the Pope on Easter Sunday 1880s Unknown Artist (Italian) Albumen silver print from glass negative The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1960 (60.611.31) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Prayer in the Mosque 1871 Jean-Léon Gérôme (French) Oil on canvas Signed (upper right, on beam): J.L. GEROME Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Bequest of Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, 1887 (87.15.130) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
Leaf from Futuh al-Haramain (Description of the Two Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina) mid-16th century; Ottoman Probably Turkey Ink, colors, and gold on paper Rogers Fund, 1932 (32.131) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Islamic ArtSecond Floor | |
Pilgrim's Badge Depicting the Shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral ca. 1400 English Pewter Gift of Dr. and Mrs. W. Conte, 2001 (2001.310) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Medieval Art and The CloistersFirst Floor | |
Earthenware Pilgrim Flask with Saint Menas 610–650 Byzantine Earthenware Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.194.2291) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Medieval Art and The CloistersFirst Floor | |
Mihrab 1354 Isfahan, Iran Mosaic of monochrome-glaze tiles on composite body set on plaster Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1939 (39.20) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Islamic ArtSecond Floor | |
Jerusalem from the Environs possibly 1881 Charles-Théodore Frère (French) Oil on canvas Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Bequest of Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, 1887 (87.15.106) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
Jerusalem (#2) 1990–92 Patrick Faigenbaum (French) Gelatin silver print Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1994 (1994.117) © Patrick Faigenbaum More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Hills III 1986 Avner Moriah (Israeli) Oil on canvas Purchase, Sidney E. Cohn Gift, 1987 (1987.205.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Modern and Contemporary ArtSecond Floor | |
From Jerusalem 1905–6 John Singer Sargent (American) Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on off-white wove paper Gift of Mrs. Francis Ormond, 1950 (50.130.45) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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American Paintings and SculptureFirst and Second Floors | |
A Theater Audience 19th century Honoré Daumier (French) Pen and black ink, gouache, and watercolor over black chalk Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971 (1972.118.203) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Drawings and PrintsSecond Floor | |
Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery 1879–80 Edgar Degas (French) Softground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and etching, third state of nine Rogers Fund, 1919 (19.29.2) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Drawings and PrintsSecond Floor | |
Study for A Sunday on La Grande Jatte 1884 Georges Seurat (French) Oil on canvas 27 3/4 x 41 in. (70.5 x 104.1 cm) Bequest of Sam A. Lewisohn, 1951 (51.112.6) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
© 2011 The Metropolitan Museum of Art |