Lincoln, Neb.—Archaeologist Kevin Colls will present the next Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist Lecture on Thursday, April 9 at 5:30 p.m. in Sheldon Art Museum’s Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Colls is an archaeologist and reader of archaeology working for the Centre of Archaeology based at the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom. For 24 years, he has directed and published archaeological projects throughout the United Kingdom and Europe and has widely travelled to sites across the world.
He specializes in the application of new and innovative digital techniques for archaeological survey, forensic and conflict archaeology and community archaeology. He has trained undergraduate and postgraduates students in a number of key subjects (including forensic archaeology, archaeological science, archaeological surveying, geophysical survey and archaeology and heritage management).
He has completed investigations at Treblinka Death and Labor Camps in Poland, mass grave investigations in Ukraine, Poland and Croatia, and completed field investigations at the forced labor camps on the island of Alderney in the Channel Islands. Colls also works with numerous police forces as an external consultant associated with the search for buried human remains.
Of his recent global archaeological projects, the highest profile is the prestigious “Finding Shakespeare” Project in Stratford upon Avon, U.K. This internationally important project focuses on locating evidence about the Bard and his life and times, including the key sites of the final residence of William Shakespeare (New Place) and the house in which the Bard passed away, and his grave site at Holy Trinity Church, his final resting place of Shakespeare.
The remaining lectures in the series are:
• April 16: Annette Becker. Becker is an arts educator and scholar whose research focuses on fashion history. She serves as the curator and director of the Texas Fashion Collection, an academic fashion archive at the University of North Texas.
• April 30: Sara Jimenez. Jimenez’s work materializes invisible histories and a kaleidoscopic connectedness she has to her ancestors and their land. She works in installation, sculpture, collage, and performance to create visual metaphors through fantastical environments and otherworldly, biomorphic objects. Most of her research and inspiration comes from learning about the landscape and narratives from her genealogical roots in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the ancient U.K.
The School of Art, Art History & Design’s Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist & Scholar Lecture Series brings notable artists, scholars and designers to Nebraska each semester to enhance the education of students. The series is presented in collaboration with Sheldon Museum of Art.
Underwritten by the Hixson-Lied Endowment with additional support from other sources, the series enriches the culture of the state by providing a way for Nebraskans to interact with luminaries in the fields of art, art history and design. Each visiting artist or scholar spends one to three days on campus to meet with classes, participate in critiques and give demonstrations.
For more information on the series, contact the School of Art, Art History & Design at (402) 472-5522 or e-mail schoolaahd@unl.edu.
