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Gallery Talk: Egyptomania

Tags for: Gallery Talk: Egyptomania
  • Lecture
Friday, April 7, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
Location:  234 Textile Gallery
Arlene M. and Arthur S. Holden Gallery
Gallery 234
photograph of woman in fishnet dress

Scalia (detail), c. 2000–2022. Yasmine Yeya (Egyptian, b. 1981) for Maison Yeya. Image courtesy of Maison Yeya. © Maison Yeya. Photo: Ziga Mihelcic  

About The Event

Free; tickets required

Join couture fashion designer Yasmine Yeya and the CMA’s assistant curator of fashion, Darnell-Jamal Lisby, for a discussion on ancient Egypt’s influence on contemporary fashion. Yeya will discuss her experience as founder and creative director of the luxury fashion house Maison Yeya as well as how living in Egypt has inspired her work, some of which will be on display in the exhibition. 

Born in 1981 to an Egyptian father and a mother of French descent, Yasmine Yeya began sewing with utmost intricacy at the early age of seven as she learned couture from her mother and grandmother. Born and raised as Egyptian, Yeya’s work naturally reflects the modern Egyptian woman that is independent, strong, and seductive; in a modern patriarchal culture, the Egyptian woman still preserves the aura of her ancestors, including the strong Hatshepsut, the beautiful queen Nefertiti, and the symbol of seduction, Cleopatra.  

This event is organized in conjunction with the CMA exhibition Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession.

All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Principal support is provided by Dieter and Susan M. Kaesgen. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, David and Robin Gunning, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Gail C. and Elliott L. Schlang, Shurtape Technologies, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by an anonymous donor, Gini and Randy Barbato, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, Sarah Nash, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, the Pickering Foundation, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, the Sally and Larry Sears Fund for Education Endowment, Roy Smith, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Trilling Family Foundation, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

    The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

    Education programs are supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

         

      Generous support of Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession is provided by Maison Yeya. Additional support is provided by the Textile Art Alliance. 

      All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder and by the late Roy L. Williams. Major annual support is provided by the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Generous annual support is provided by an anonymous supporter, the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm, Gary and Katy Brahler, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Chapman Jr., Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Carl T. Jagatich, Cathy Lincoln, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, William S. and Margaret F. Lipscomb, Bill and Joyce Litzler, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, Michael and Cindy Resch, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson.