A visual history of the first quarter century of Bard Graduate Center This handsome publication celebrates the first 25 years of the institution founded by Dr. Susan Weber in 1993. Located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Bard Graduate Center (BGC) has become the leading research center in the United States dedicated to the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture. Its fully integrated academic and exhibition programs have pioneered the study of objects as a means to better understand the cultural history of the material world. This book, richly illustrated with installation views, exhibition objects, and archival photography, is enlivened by interviews with Susan Weber, Luke Syson, Arnold Lehman, and Kevin Stayton, as well as essays by scholars, curators, and collaborators who highlight the character and evolution of BGC's unique approach to the research and display of material culture over the past 25 years. Through an array of exhibitions, publications, research, and academic programs, BGC has united diverse fields to highlight the importance of subjects and materials that had been previously ignored, and this book commemorates its achievement. Distributed for Bard Graduate Center

A survey of spectacular breadth, covering the history of decorative arts and design worldwide over the past six hundred years Spanning six centuries of global design, this far-reaching survey is the first to offer an account of the vast history of decorative arts and design produced in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and the Islamic world, from 1400 to the present. Meticulously documented and lavishly illustrated, the volume covers interiors, furniture, textiles and dress, glass, graphics, metalwork, ceramics, exhibitions, product design, landscape and garden design, and theater and film design. Divided into four chronological sections, each of which is subdivided geographically, the authors elucidate the evolution of style, form, materials, and techniques, and address vital issues such as gender, race, patronage, cultural appropriation, continuity versus innovation, and high versus low culture. Leading authorities in design history and decorative arts studies present hundreds of objects in their contemporary contexts, demonstrating the overwhelming extent to which the applied arts have enriched customs, ceremony, and daily life worldwide over the past six hundred years. This ambitious, landmark publication is essential reading, contributing a definitive classic to the existing scholarship on design, decorative arts, and material culture, while also introducing these subjects to new readers in a comprehensive, erudite book with widespread appeal. Distributed for the Bard Graduate Center

Coca bags, or chuspas, represent one of the most enduring and resilient forms in the rich history of Andean weaving traditions. These small, elaborately decorated bags have been a constant presence in the archaeological, written, and visual record of the Andes for at least 1,500 years. In the details of their design and decoration, chuspa styles are testament to centuries of shifting trends and technologies in Andean textile arts. However, as carriers of coca leaves, chuspas are much more than aesthetically pleasing and technically sophisticated artworks. For millennia coca leaves have occupied an essential and unparalleled place in the daily lives, social customs, and ritual practices of Andean communities, in which chuspas also play central roles owing to their actual and symbolic connection with coca. Worldwide reactions to the plant and legislation of its uses have affected Andean traditions surrounding coca leaves since the Spanish conquest of the Andes in the sixteenth century and continue into the present. Focusing on the collection of the American Museum of Natural History and examples from other museum collections around the world, this book examines the multifaceted history of coca bags, investigating their function and reception and the changes in their appearance. The book reveals how their history is a consequence not only of variations in Andean textile traditions, but also of the story of the sacred and contested substance they carry. Distributed for the Bard Graduate Center Exhibition Schedule: Bard Graduate Center (03/27/14-08/03/14)