Overview
By pursuing the question of the “materially untraceable”, I am curious at how diamonds became indispensable commodities within the imperial ecosystem of nineteenth-century Europe, and how in turn, the desire for these stones cultivated a newfound level of aesthetic exposure within the operatic site. It is widely known that European states sought to consolidate their power through material symbols of the foreign: rarity was an enviable social currency used to establish the strength of nationhood. This, in part, is how precious gemstones—specifically diamonds—have become synonymous with the institution of the monarchy; though what is largely written out of these public histories are the murkier means of their attainment. The pipeline from the crude earth mines of India, Brazil, and later South Africa, through to their contemporary encasements in the gilded palaces (and stages) of Britain and beyond follow a deliberately hazy trajectory. The inimitable physical properties of diamonds contribute to their status as agents of disarm, which is largely why questions of legacy are eclipsed, only to be reappropriated as home-grown artefacts integral to the building of national identity.
Speaker
Shadi Seifouri is a PhD candidate in Musicology at Christ’s College, Cambridge. Her doctoral studies have been awarded the Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarship from the School of the Arts and Humanities as well as the William Barclay Squire Scholarship from the Faculty of Music. Shadi’s doctoral dissertation, supervised by Professor Benjamin Walton, interrogates the operatic fine-print of objecthood during the 1850s-1920s by reappraising the cultural status of stage props. Her thesis maps an interdisciplinary history of Italian and French nineteenth-century opera by excavating material and musical indexes of identity. Shadi has publications forthcoming in The Cambridge Companion to Italian Opera, Music and Letters, and the Callas at 100 volume. She is also the co-convenor of the 6th Biennial Transnational Opera Studies conference this July.
Details
This is a hybrid event, which will take place in-person in the Gatsby Room (Chancellor's Centre) and also on Zoom.
If you would like to attend online, please .
Refreshments will be available for the in-person audience.
Access
This event will take place in the Gatsby Room on the first floor of the Chancellor's Centre. It has step-free access with a lift and there is an accessible toilet located each floor of the building.
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Image Source Gallica. bnf.fr / Bibliothèque Nationale Online Paris