Join us for the opening lecture for Imagine Me and You: Dutch and Flemish Encounters with the Islamic World, 1450–1750. Curator Talitha Maria G. Schepers will first describe how the exhibition came about and share what went into the making of it. She will then be joined by three guest speakers, who will each take a close look at a group of objects on view. Bringing together four distinct scholarly voices, this lecture aims to reflect the multicultural representation visible throughout the exhibition.

Imagine Me and You (May 18–August 18, 2024) explores the rich and diverse encounters that occurred between artists from the Low Countries (part of the Habsburg Empire) and the multicultural, multilingual, and multifaith societies of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires from 1450 to 1750. A myriad of cultural, diplomatic, and mercantile interactions took place during this time, either in person or through the exchange of objects, art, and ideas. The exhibition traces these multiple encounters through the world of Netherlandish artworks and their varied representations of the Islamic realm.