Society for Asian Art Newsletter for Members

September - October 2015 No.5

The Society for Asian Art is a support organization for the

In the waning days of the 28 Chinese exhibition we bid farewell

to the challenging, stimulating artworks from the Rubell Family

Collection. Now we turn our attention to some of the equally

challenging and stimulating pieces from the Asian Art Museum’s own

collection. Join us for First Look September 4 - October 11 to learn what the Museum’s been up to in

the contemporary art world. !Unnamed Room No. 2, 2006, by Chen Wei (Chinese, b. 1980). Archival inkjet print, edition 3 of 8. Courtesy of Rubell Family Collection, Miami. © Chen Wei.

Last Look / First Look

I am not ready..., 2013, by Li Shurui (Chinese, b. 1981). Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of Rubell Family Collection, Miami. © Li Shurui.

Illumination Waqf, 2013, by Ahmed Mater (Saudi Arabian, b. 1979). Gold leaf, tea pomegranate, Chinese ink and offset X ray film print on paper. Courtesy of Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Museum purchase, 2014.15.a-.b. © Ahmed Mater.

Brush Symphony, 1998, by C. C. Wang (Chinese 1907–2003). Ink on paper. Courtesy of Asian Art Museum, Gift of the Yiqingzhai Collection, 2005.58. © Estate of C. C. Wang. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

River, 2005–2006, by Liu Xiaodong (Chinese, b.1963). Acrylic on paper. Courtesy of Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Gift of Bo Dan, 2006.18. © Liu Xiaodong studio. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

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Society for Asia Art!September - October 2015 No. 5 !

Members’ Newsletter Edited by Trista Berkovitz, Jeanne

Dorward, and Jean Karnow

published bimonthly by: !Society for Asian Art

200 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94102

www.societyforasianart.org !Copyright © 2015 Society for Asian Art !

Board of Directors 2015-2016 ! President Linda Lei Vice President Anne Adams Kahn Vice President Maureen Hetzel Vice President Peter Sinton Secretary Jeanne Dorward Treasurer Mel Hetzel Asst. Treasurer Vince Fausone ! Richard Beleson Trista Berkovitz Deborah Clearwaters* Anne Dorsey Sheila Dowell Elizabeth (BJ) Johnson Jennifer Kao Kristl Lee Sheryln Leong Forrest McGill* David Menke Julie Kim Nemeth Greg Potts Merrill Randol Teri Sandison Nazneen Spliedt Lucy Sun Alice Trinkl Kalim Winata Barbara Wirth Sylvia Wong *ex officio

IN THIS ISSUE

UPCOMING EVENTS (subject to change)

Friday, August 14 Lecture: Storytelling with Puppets, Masks & Scrolls with Kathy Foley !Fridays, August 21 - December 4 Arts of Asia Fall Lecture Series !Saturday, September 12 Lecture: The Rise and Fall of Jazz in Shanghai with Cory Combs !Sundays, September 13, 20, 27, and October 11, 18, 25 Literature and Culture of Asia: Women of Japan’s 11th Century Classic, The Tale of Genji with John Wallace !Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11 Overnight Trip to Monterey and Orientations Gallery !Thursday, October 8 Gallery Visit to Indoarts Gallery with Noelke Glenn !Saturday, October 24 Study Group: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Printmakers with Ren Brown !Friday, October 30 Lecture: Landscape Paintings of the Late Joseon Period with Yi Song-mi !Saturday, November 7 Lecture: What Floated in the ‘Floating World’ with Timon Screech !SAA Iran Trip Flyer !

!Wednesday, December 2 SAA Holiday Party at Ethnic Arts in Berkeley !

Society Book Sale 2016 !Donations for our Annual Book Sale are accepted throughout the year. If you have any Asian related books on art, culture, travel, cooking, or novels, please call the SAA office. If you have a couple of boxes, we will pick them up from your home in the Bay Area! !!

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ARTS OF ASIA FALL 2015 LECTURE SERIES

Asia’s Storied Traditions !When: Fridays, August 21 - December 4 Time: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm Place: Samsung Hall Fee: $175 Society members, $200 non-members (for

the series after Museum admission) $20 per lecture drop-in (after Museum admission, subject to availability) !

Register now for the Fall semester of the Arts of Asia lecture series! The Fall 2015 Arts of Asia series, “Asia’s Storied Traditions,” will explore narrative usage in Asian art – how myths, legends, histories, and moral precepts have been transmitted through visual means. Topics for discussion will range from the sculptural reliefs and murals used to educate pilgrims at famous religious sites (Sanchi, Dunhuang, etc.) to works created primarily for entertainment (Ramayana treatments, story depictions in Edo Ukiyo-e, the Shahnameh album paintings created for Shah Tahmasp, etc.). Contemporary storytelling will also be addressed via lectures on Bollywood and the manga produced by San Francisco’s Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama. !As always, a distinguished roster of prominent scholars and curators will be delivering these lectures (see list below). To register online, please use the following link to the SAA website: https://www.societyforasianart.org/programs/arts-asia-lecture-series/arts-asia-fall-2015-asias-storied-traditions

August 21 Series Introduction and Puranas: The Inspiration for Mythic Tales Carved on Ancient Monuments Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Mills College !August 28 The Moral of the Story: Narrative Art in Early China Patricia Berger, UC Berkeley !September 4 Storytelling with Pictures: An Asian Odyssey Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania !September 11 Displaying the Past: Pictorial Depictions of the Buddhist Myths and Legends of the Kathmandu Valley Alexander Von Rospatt, UC Berkeley !September 18 The Badal Mahal at Bundi: A World Painted for Rajput Princes Milo Beach, Former Director of Freer & Sackler !September 25 “Where Is This Story Going?” The Paradiegetic Pleasures of Popular Hindu Cinema Ajay Gehlawat, Sonoma State University !October 2 Japanese Medieval Scrolls Melissa McCormick, Harvard University !October 9 Telling the Tales of Rama Forrest McGill, AAM

October 16 “Reading” the Ramayana through Javanese Temple Reliefs Natasha Reichle, AAM !October 23 Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama and the Manga-Comics Nexus Fred Schodt, Independent Scholar and Author !October 30 Nine Cloud Dream, Nectar Ritual, and Much More in Korean Art Kumja Paik Kim, AAM !November 6 Stories Old and Untold in Edo Period Art: Implied and Informed Narratives Timon Screech, SOAS !November 13 Text and Image: Early Buddhist Narrative Sculpture from Northern India and Gandhara Kurt Behrendt, Metropolitan Museum !November 20 The Same Me That Stands Here Now: Jataka Tales on Tenth Century Reliquaries Eugene Wang, Harvard University !November 27 No class, Thanksgiving break !December 4 The Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp: A 16th Century Royal Persian Manuscript Sheila Canby, Metropolitan Museum

Scene from the epic Ramayana: Kumbhakarna battles the monkeys, approx. 1075–1125. Northeastern Thailand. Sandstone. Courtesy of Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, The Avery Brundage Collection , B66S7. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

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MEMBER EVENTS

What's The Story? Storytelling with Puppets, Masks & Scrolls With Kathy Foley !When: Friday, August 14 Time: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm Place: Samsung Hall Fee: $15 Society members, $20 non-members (after Museum admission) !Puppets, masks, and story scrolls are interrelated traditions used to present traditional Asian epic stories like the Mahabharata, Jataka tales, Hamzah, and Yoshitune. Text-based forms like bunraku contrasted with orally generated forms like the Indonesia wayang. !Update: The Sundanese UCSC Gamelan will join Kathy for performance of Topeng (masked drama) and/or Wayang Golek (rod puppets). !Kathy Foley is a Professor of Theatre Arts at UC Santa Cruz and Editor of the Asian Theatre Journal. She curates exhibitions on Asian masks and puppetry and performs wayang golek - a rod puppet form of West Java. !!The Rise and Fall of Jazz in Shanghai With Cory Combs !When: Saturday, September 12 Time: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Place: Education Studios Fee: $15 Society members, $20 non-members (after Museum admission) !Wherever jazz landed, Afro-American music and dance quickly dominated the entertainment landscape around the world, often overshadowing long established musical traditions. When jazz arrived in China and melded with local music, the debate about its influence on local culture and music raised questions about national identity. Shanghai, China's often-decadent metropolis, was the center of this debate as American-influenced entertainment intoxicated the local population, forever altering the cultural and political landscapes. This talk will include rare audio and unique film, providing an unusual perspective during one of the most turbulent times in modern history. !Cory Combs is an educator, historian, lecturer, composer, and bassist. At present he is the Director of Outreach and Music at the Nueva School. He has presented frequent lectures on music history and culture throughout the Bay area and nationally. He previously served as Director of Education at SFJAZZ. !!!Overnight Trip to Monterey and Orientations Gallery An Outstanding Collection of Southeast Asian Ceramics !When: Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11 Time: 5:30 pm Saturday evening, 10:30 am Sunday morning Place: Orientations Gallery, G.T. Marsh Building, 700 Camino El Estero, Monterey Fee: $75 Society members, $90 non-members, includes dinner and continental breakfast !Another fabulous weekend with two of our favorite hosts Jerry Janssen and Russ Young! As most of you know, the Marsh Building is historic, originally built in the 1920’s as a showcase for Asian Art. Russ and Jerry have reanimated it so it surpasses even its former glory. On view this weekend will be a superlative collection of Southeast Asian ceramics, as well as many new tansu, Ming tradewares, jewelry by Pat Tseng, and an array of other singular objects in the Orientations collection. We will enjoy wine and hors d’oeuvres beginning at 5:30 pm on Saturday evening, followed by one of Jerry and Russ’s signature elegant sit-down dinners in the gallery. On Sunday morning following a continental breakfast there, enjoy fabulous shopping in the gallery or take in the pleasures of Monterey and Carmel. !Transportation and accommodations are on your own; a list of recommended hotels will be sent to participants upon request. Please book at your earliest convenience.

Mahabharata demon King Nirwatakawaca mounting an attack against heaven. Javanese Wayang Kulit Purwa shadow show. Photo by Kathy Foley.

Popular singer from the era, Zhou Xuan

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MEMBER EVENTS

Visit to Indoarts Gallery With Noelke Glenn !When: Thursday, October 8 Time: 7:00 pm Place: Laurel Heights San Francisco (address TBA to registrants) Fee: $15 Society members, $20 non-members !A visit to the Indoarts Gallery/Home Studio with owner Noelke Glenn who will talk about his latest acquisitions and give us an opportunity to browse around his home. Noelke specializes in Southeast Asian textiles (mainly Indonesian), 19th century prints, Buddhist artifacts, and antique beads, as well as old rare books, among other South and Southeast Asian treasures. !Of Indonesian origin Noelke has been dealing in the arts of Indonesia for many years. He has a Master's in Geography and a great love of all the wonderful objects he handles. He has just returned from a trip to Indonesia where he acquired some stunning objects for us to view and appreciate. !Landscape Paintings of the Late Joseon Period With Yi Song-mi !When: Friday, October 30 Time: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Place: Education Studios Fee: $15 Society members, $20 non-members (after Museum admission) !A genre of Korean landscape painting termed "true-view" refers to paintings of scenery that actually existed in Korea, and that flowered during the 17th century into the 19th century. After the fall of the Ming dynasty Koreans became increasingly conscious of their own historical and cultural heritage and their land of exceptional beauty, which Korean scholars absorbed and assimilated into their own cultural environment. It is with this background that the genre of "true-view" landscape paintings evolved. This group of Joseon Dynasty paintings truly expresses the creative energy and ethos of the Korean people. !Professor Yi Song-mi has had a distinguished career as Professor of Art History and Dean at the Academy of Korean Studies and President of Korean Art History Association and lecturer on East Asian Art History at Princeton, where she also received her PhD. She has been conducting in-depth research into the court documents of the Joseon Dynasty, for which she was awarded a medal of the Order of Civil Merit from the Korean government. She has published many books on Korean Landscape paintings of the Joseon Dynasty. !What Floated in the 'Floating World’ With Timon Screech !When: Saturday, November 7 Time: 10:30 am - 12:00 noon Place: Education Studios Fee: $15 Society members, $20 non-members (after Museum admission) !Japanese art of the 'floating world' (ukiyo-e) has enjoyed an international reputation since it was celebrated by the Impressionists as an alternative to European academic hierarchies. However, what was this 'floating world'? For people living in early-modern Edo, where the images were produced, how did this 'floating' consciousness fit into the structure of their normal fixed lives? This talk will introduce ukiyo-e and set it in its historical and political context, with images from some excellent collections of ukiyo-e. !Timon Screech is a professor of art history at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) at the University of London, specializing in the art and culture of the Edo period in Japan. He received a BA from Oxford and a PhD from Harvard and has been a visiting professor at highly regarded universities in the U.S. and Japan in addition to teaching at SOAS. He has published widely in both English and Japanese, with his most recent book, Obtaining Images, considered the most comprehensive introduction to the arts of the Edo period. !!!!

A courtesan reading a letter, approx. 1769–1775, by Suzuki Harushige (Japanese, 1747–1818). Ink and colors on paper. Courtesy of Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, The Avery Brundage Collection, B62D16. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

Dry Lacquer Buddha, Shan style, early 18th century

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LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF ASIA

Women of Japan’s 11th Century Classic, The Tale of Genji With John Wallace !When: Sundays, September 13, 20, 27, and October 11, 18, 25 Time: 10:15 am - 12:15 pm Place: Education Studios Fee: $110 Society members, $135 non-members (after Museum admission), includes $10

materials fee for the readings to be provided during class !This course will deal with women in The Tale of Genji, fifteen of whom have entered the popular consciousness of Japan and continue to have lively existences as icons of beauty, jealousy, or tragic fate. They continue to evolve as visual topics for paintings and ceramics, and as characters in plays, films, and graphic novels. The lectures will be wide-ranging, at times focusing on a specific woman, at other times considering them collectively. Their depiction both within and without The Tale of Genji itself will be considered. !While the best approach to the course would be to read the first 41 chapters of Genji, there will be much shorter, targeted readings provided as the course progresses. No text is required, but the course will be a richer experience for those who read The Tale of Genji. For those who wish to purchase Genji, there are currently two standard translations each with their advantages – one by Edward Seidensticker, the other by Royall Tyler. A new translation by Dennis Washburn may be in print and available as an eBook by the time the course begins. !John Wallace is a Lecturer in the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture, UC Berkeley. He received his PhD from Stanford University and has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Stanford University. Wallace specializes in Heian literature and comparative romance. He previously taught Identity in Japanese Stories and Films, Tale of Genji, and Story of the Stone for the Society for Asian Art.

STUDY GROUP

Exploring Contemporary Japanese Printmakers With Ren Brown !When: Saturday, October 24 Time: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Place: The Ren Brown Collection, 1781 Coast Highway 1, Bodega Bay Fee: $45 Society members, $55 non-members, includes lunch !Featured Artists: Kobe artist living in California: Seiko Tachibana Foreign artists living in Japan: Sarah Brayer, Daniel Kelly, and Zhao Hao Kyoto artist: Tanaka Ryohei !These five artists will be the main focus of Ren’s talk for us. Besides original prints on paper, the gallery also features other artwork in various media, wood-fired ceramics, tansu, jewelry and more. There is no end of visual enchantment! This year the gallery celebrated twenty-five years in Bodega Bay. Worth noting is that the etchings of Tanaka Ryohei are soon to be in short supply, as he is retiring. Most of you will know these are sublime pieces, many examples of which are in the Asian Art Museum collection. !We will enjoy a bento lunch on the premises – in the lovely Japanese gardens and the home Ren has created with his longtime partner, artist Robert DeVee. Transportation is on your own. Carpooling is recommended. !!!

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Ishiyama Moon - One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, 1889. Color woodblock print. British Museum.

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TRAVEL

Traveling with the SAA !Twenty-three SAA members traveled to Ashland, Oregon in April for a weekend of theater and art. A highlight of the trip was the U.S. premiere of one of the best known contemporary Chinese plays, Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, presented by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Members had the opportunity to meet the play's famous Taiwan-based playwright and director, Stan Lai (who will direct San Francisco Opera’s commissioned Dream of the Red Chamber premiering in September, 2016), at a private reception. In addition to gallery and artist visits, travelers were also treated to a specially arranged viewing of a set change as well as a backstage tour.

!Sign Up Now for the SAA’s Iran Trip !

With the improved relations between the USA and Iran, now is the ideal time to experience the art and archeological sites of Iran. This exciting trip takes place April 30 through May 15, 2016 with an optional extension to Northern Iran, May 15 through May 22. The flyer with trip details and registration form is included in this newsletter. It is found at the end of the online version of the newsletter. You may click on the following link to access the flyer directly: https://www.societyforasianart.org/programs/tripstravel/iran-arts-ancient-persia. Registration is by mail only and must include your check for the $500 per person deposit and your registration form. Members will be accepted for the trip based on postmark date.

Save the Dates! !The SAA is traveling to Toronto, June 6 to 10, 2016. Details and opportunity for sign-ups will be available in the January-February newsletter. !

Asian Art Museum’s New Ticketing System !Those of you who have entered the museum through the main Larkin Street entrance will have noticed there is a new ticketing system. The vendor for the previous ticketing system went out of business necessitating a change to a new one. The new ticketing system requires all of us to have a bit more patience with check-in, particularly museum members (which all docents are). !Every member – even if you are a docent – is required to have his/her member card scanned at the Admission Desk in order for a ticket to be issued. While we know all of you well (we see you all the time!), scanning your member card is required by the system to issue you a ticket. So when you next enter the museum through the main Larkin Street entrance, remember to have you member card in hand for scanning and you’ll be ticketed in a tick! If you don’t have your member card (or can't find it), contact members@asianart.org, and they will reprint card(s) for you. !

Ashland attendees at the set change at the Angus Bowmer Theatre, photo courtesy of Steve Zilles

q August 14: Storytelling with Puppets, Masks & Scrolls with Kathy Foley$15 Members $20 Non-Members

q Fridays, August 21 - December 4: Arts of Asia Lecture Series$175 Members $200 Non-Members

q September 12: The Rise and Fall of Jazz in Shanghai with Cory Combs$15 Members $20 Non-Members

q Sept 13-27, Oct 11-25: Women of Genji with John Wallace$110 Members $135 Non-Members

q October 10 and 11: Overnight trip to Monterey and Orientations Gallery$75 Members $90 Non-Members

q October 8: Gallery Visit to Indo Arts with Noelke Glenn$15 Members $20 Non-Members

q October 24: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Printmakers with Ren Brown$45 Members $55 Non-Members

q October 30: Landscape Paintings of the Late Joseon Period with Yi Song-mi$15 Members $20 Non-Members

q November 7: What Floated in the ‘Floating World’ with Timon Screech$15 Members $20 Non-Members

REGISTRATION FORM

Name____________________________ E-Mail ________________________ Total ________________ !Address __________________________________________________ Zip Code ___________________ ! q Visa q MC q Discover _______-_________-________-________ _____\_____ ___-___-___ Card Number Expiration Date CCV# (3-digit # on back) ! ____________________________________________________________ Signature

Paid Programs Fee Quantity Sub-Total

How to Register !To Register you may: !1. Go to our website, sign up and pay online: www.societyforasianart.org !

OR !2. Print this registration form and send it with a check to: SAA, 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 !We cannot accept fax registrations at this time. Please use mail, our website, or call the office. !Registration is required for all programs unless otherwise noted. If a program becomes fully enrolled, your payment will be returned. Refunds are granted for cancellations up to one business week before the event and take one or two weeks to process. SAA does not issue tickets or confirmations. You will be contacted ONLY if your registration cannot be completed.

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IRAN: ARTS OF ANCIENT PERSIA APRIL 30 - MAY 15, 2016

WITH OPTIONAL EXTENSION IN NORTHWEST IRAN MAY 15 - 22, 2016

Tour Highlights TEHRAN – 3 nights Espinas Hotel ♦ Explore the Golestan Palace ♦ Marvel at the Crown Jewels ♦ Meet with Nazila Noebashari at the

Aaran Contemporary Art Gallery ♦ Visit the National Museum ♦ Survey the Reza Abbasi and Glass

and Ceramics Museums MASHHAD – 1 night Homa Hotel ♦ Explore the Imam Reza Shrine

Complex and Museum ♦ Visit the Tomb of Nader Shah Afshar ♦ Discover the mausoleum of Ferdowsi KERMAN – 2 nights Pars Hotel ♦ Discover the medieval city of Rayen ♦ Visit the mausoleum of Shah

Nematollah Vali ♦ Explore Gombad-E Jabaliye YAZD – 2 nights Moshir Garden Hotel ♦ Stroll though the Dowlat-Abad

House

♦ Discover the Water Museum ♦ Visit the Friday Mosque ♦ Wander through Yazd’s historical

core ♦ Learn about the Zoroastrian religion

at the Towers of Silence and village of Taft

SHIRAZ – 3 nights Homa Hotel ♦ Wander through Persepolis, Naqsh-e

Rajab and Naqsh-Rostam ♦ Visit Cyrus the Great’s Pasargad ♦ Stroll through the Eram Gardens ♦ Explore the Arg-e Karim Khan and

the bazaar ♦ Discover the Pink Mosque ♦ Explore Saadi & Hafez’s tombs ISFAHAN – 3 nights Abbasi Hotel ♦ Admire Hasht Behesht ♦ Visit the Palace of Forty Columns ♦ Discover the bridges crossing the

Zayendehrud River ♦ Explore the Armenian Quarter ♦ Marvel at the Friday Mosque and the

mosques of the Imam Square

THE SOCIETY FOR ASIAN ART PRESENTS

F

M ore than five hundred years before Christ, Cyrus the Great founded one of the world’s first empires at

Pasargadae. In the following centuries, invasions by Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, and Turks fed the Persian nation with rich and diverse cultural influences. Join Dr. Keelan Overton on a journey through Iran where vast monuments serve as vivid testament to the extraordinary history of the country. The name Persia, used by the ancient Greeks, is derived from the southwesterly province of Pars which was the cradle of the Persian Empire. It was here that the Achaemenids became the first kings of a united country. They built capitals at Pasargadae and Persepolis and ruled over territory which stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea and from China in the east to the Mediterranean shores in the west. It is a welcoming country of contrasts, of glittering canals of water, of golden deserts punctuated by slender wind towers, crumbling clay-baked caravansaries, and everywhere a horizon pierced by mosques and turquoise minarets.

D I F F I C U L T Y L E V E L : S T R E N U O U S There will be extensive walking on uneven surfaces, stair climbing, and extended periods of standing. The trip is not suitable for those with mobility problems.

SAA is now a vendor of CSA Travel Protection Insurance 800.348.9505 www.csatravelprotection.com, Producer code: 20100719. You are able to purchase trip insurance which will repay all non-refundable costs for cancelling this trip for ANY reason. This must be purchased at the time of your initial deposit.

Our journey will take us to ancient cities, glorious mosques and fabulous archaeological sites. Begin in Tehran where we have scheduled two full days to explore the country’s capital city. Spend a morning at the Golestan Palace a former residence of the royal family in the 18th century. Enter the basement vault of the Bank Milli Iran to marvel at the spectacular Crown Jewels. End the day at the Aaran Contemporary Art Gallery and meet the vibrant owner, Nazila Noebashari. The following day visit the Archaeological Museum with its fine collection, including a 6th-century audience hall relief of Darius the Great. Fly to Mashhad to explore the massive Imam Reza Shrine Complex. Visit Tus and the tomb of Ferdowsi before flying to Kerman located on the ancient Asian trade routes. In Kerman explore the old city of Kerman, walking down long, shady alleys that run into the town’s extensive bazaar, mosque, and caravanserai complex. Drive to Yazd, the country’s center of Zoroastrianism, where the most traditional Persian architecture is found. Discover the wind towers whose slatted towers capture the slightest desert breeze, pooling it down to the lower level and cooled by passing over water. En route to Shiraz wander through Pasargad, the site of the first Achaemenian capital. Explore Shiraz, an important city in the medieval Islamic world. Through its many artists and scholars, Shiraz has been synonymous with learning and poetry. Enjoy an excursion to

the magnificent site of Persepolis which comprises one of the most remarkable archaeological sites found in the Near East. Spend a final three days in Isfahan - a town of unsurpassed beauty where brilliant blue-tiled buildings and

majestic bridges are often recognized as the perfection of Islamic architecture. Return home from Isfahan.

The trip will be accompanied by Dr. Keelan Overton currently an Associate Curator in the Art of the Middle East Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Previously she was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Art History at Portland State University, Curator of Islamic Art at the Doris Duke Foundation of Islamic Art at Shangri La in Honolulu and holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles (2011). She is currently preparing a book project on artistic exchange between Iran and the Deccan, c. 1400-1600.

Northwest Iran Extension

Begin the extension in Tehran visiting sites in the north of the city. Travel towards Zanjan visiting Soltaniye en route. Spend a full-day at Takht-e Soleiman before continuing on to Ardabil to explore the mausoleum and shrine complex of Shaykh Safi al-Din. Drive towards Tabriz to visit the historic bazaar, Blue Mosque and the ruins of the Arg-e Tabriz. Depart Tabriz for Istanbul and your onward flight.

Iran: Arts of Ancient Persia $6,100 per person • Single Room Supplement $1,460

Group size is Limited to 20 travelers Extension: $2,740-2,890 per person • Single Room $610

The Tour Cost includes:

• Accommodation as listed based on double occupancy

• Breakfast daily, 13 lunches and 14 dinners

• Services of a national Iranian guide

• Sightseeing and entrance fees

• Local transportation

• Gratuities to all staff

• Porterage

• A $400 donation to the Society for Asian Art Not Included are:

• International airfare to and from Iran

• Airport departure taxes

• Passport and visa fees

• Personal insurance for health, baggage, and trip cancellation

• Items of a purely personal nature and any items not listed

For more information or a detailed itinerary, call

Distant Horizons at (800) 333-1240 or (562) 983-8828; or the Society for Asian Art at (415) 581-3701.

THE SOCIETY FOR ASIAN ART: IRAN: ARTS OF ANCIENT PERSIA

R E S E R V A T I O N F O R M

I would like to reserve _____ space(s) for the Iran: Arts of Ancient Persia tour April 30-May 15, 2016 I would like to reserve _____ space(s) for the Iran: Arts of Ancient Persia tour Extension May 15-22, 2016 Enclosed is a deposit of $500 per person, in the total amount of $ ______. Please make checks payable to Distant Horizons (Your deposit is refundable up to 90 days prior to departure less a $250 per person administration fee.) Room Arrangements

□ Single Supplement □ Double Occupancy, I will be sharing a room with: ______________________ □ I would prefer a roommate, but will pay the single supplement if one is not available.

Personal Information (please write clearly) Last Name_____________________________________ First Name_______________________________________

Last Name_____________________________________ First Name_______________________________________

Address_______________________________________ City, State, Zip____________________________________

Daytime phone (______)_________________________ Email Address____________________________________

Send reservation form and deposit to: The Society for Asian Art, 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. Applications will be accepted by mail only and your inclusion will be based on the postmark date.

A confirmation letter, a declaration & waiver form and a travel insurance application will be mailed to you upon receipt of your deposit.

CST: 2046776-13