FIELD SEASON

FIELD SEASON: records, wandering perspectives, side notes brings to view up to now rarely seen images of archaeological life from the Institute of Fine Art’s excavations at Abydos, Egypt. With its monuments, tombs, temples, and imposing landscapes, Abydos was perhaps the earliest most revered site of the ancient Egyptians. It boasts a remarkable history of exploration, often times defining of the science of archaeology, as we know it today. Photographers Greg Maka, Amanda Kirkpatrick and Gus Gusciora will show a numbers of works, selected amongst the literally thousands of photographs that have accumulated in the expedition archives and in their personal archives over the past three years. Each of these prints offers a glimpse into the daily routines that intersect the lives of workers, staff and research team – what happens in the background of one of the largest current archaeological projects in Egypt.

Each of these prints start form the premise that archeology does not begin nor end in institutions. Rather it remains to a large extent a localized practice with a direct impact, on foreigners and locals alike. Contradictions and overlaps attempt to bridge incomprehensible amounts of time, between those of today and those of long ago, between the knowledge of the present and the legacy of the past. These landscapes and portraits – in an expanded sense – migrate along the borders of those unraveling geographic and introspective spaces that alter mindsets, processes and patterns for the formation of knowledge. What is found and what is lost with the convergence of different generations, of cultures, philosophies and mythologies, becomes the lasting consequence of the work on view. Thus, side notes, records and wandering perspectives – reactions to the vastness of such weighty encounters.

The photographers and organizers would like to thank the 2009, 2010, 2011 Field Season team and staff members, the project’s numerous Egyptian workforce, Matthew Adams, David O’Connor, Jenni Rodda, Jason Varone, Joe Rosario and the broader IFA community for their generous support.