Two featured exhibitions opening at the Jepson Center on September 30 will offer visitors the opportunity to reflect on critical moments in world history through the perspective of the objects created by artists living in those times. Stretching across three centuries and two vastly differently countries, the exhibits illustrate the diversity of art and its meaning and purpose.

Descriptions of the two exhibits:  
 
The exhibit, The Tsars’ Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts under the Romanovs,illuminates a period of sociopolitical change and offers observations on the fascinating personal lives of the Romanov dynasty through a display of superbly crafted objects. Reflecting 200 years of Russian history—from Peter the Great in the early 18th century to Nicholas II in the early 20th century—these objects, used both publically and privately by the Romanovs, rise above functionality into the realm of art through ornate stylistic expression, exemplary craft, and thematic exploration of nationalism and militarism.
 
Made from porcelain, glass, enamel, silver gilt, and other materials, this collection dazzles through sheer size and sumptuous quality. Not only do these objects sketch a picture of the luxury of Russian court-life in the midst of a modest, orthodox society, but they also illustrate the burgeoning desire of Russia to adopt elaborate European customs in order to play a central role in European affairs. The objects in The Tsars’ Cabinet—including plates, dishes, pitchers, glasses, cups, saucers, Easter eggs, and much more—reflect the individual tastes and styles of particular rulers, weaving together a compelling story of Russian history in all its beauty and complexity.  
 
The Tsars’ Cabinet is developed from the Kathleen Durdin Collection and is organized by the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va., in collaboration with International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C.
 
Programs related to The Tsars’ Cabinet  
 
Opening Lecture by Kathleen Durdin                                                                                           
Thursday, September 29, 6 p.m.                                                                                                     
Members free / non-members $10
 
Kathleen Durdin, Russian decorative arts collector, provides a collector’s perspective on the exquisite works drawn from her private collection in this exhibition and shares her fascination with Russian history and decorative arts. A reception following the lecture features special demonstrations and traditional Russian food. The event is sponsored by the Telfair Academy Guild.
 
Free Family Day: A Look inside the Tsars’ Cabinet                                                                 
Saturday, October 8, 1–4 p.m.
Free and open to the public
 
Visitors are invited to celebrate Russian culture through the arts. Family members can make their own paper Russian nesting dolls, fancy plastic picnic ware, and Fabergé eggs. The celebration includes a live performance of Russian music by the Atlanta Balalaika Society.
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Complex Uncertainties: Artists in Postwar America, the second exhibition opening on September 30 is an evolving presentation focused on works in Telfair’s modern and contemporary collection, including paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and works in new media. This exhibition highlights the undercurrents that permeate artmaking from the global eruption of World War II until today, and how these events challenge artists to explore unknowns, construct narratives, and react to power. Through this ongoing installation, visitors can explore the impact of artistic responses to specific historical events, as well as understand the growing sense of uncertainty that artists address regarding our nation’s cultural, political, and economic landscapes.
 
Programs related to Complex Uncertainties:
 
Film: Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World  
Thursday, October 6, 7 p.m. / Jepson Center
$8 for members and non-members
 
In collaboration with Cinema Savannah, Telfair Museums presents the new film by acclaimed director Werner Herzog, Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World. Herzog’s new documentary reflects on the Internet, perhaps the most world-changing technological development since World War II. In this film, the Oscar-nominated director Herzog leads viewers on a journey through a series of provocative conversations that reveal the ways in which the online world has transformed how virtually everything in reality works—from business, to healthcare, to our personal relationships. 
 
Armstrong Moveable Feast Lecture Links to Photography in Complex Uncertainties and Watershed
Thursday, December 8, 6 p.m. / Jepson Center
Free and open to the public
 
Guests are invited to join Armstrong professors Regina Bradley, Assistant Professor of African American Literature, and Angela Horne, Associate Professor of Art, as they question what formal elements define a landscape image, and how landscape might provide a framework for thinking about the protest movements represented in the photography of the post-Civil Rights American South. Beginning with an exploration of how landscapes function as visual narratives, Horne and Bradley will establish a context for considering how narratives found in modern photography help to shape our understanding of race, protest, and agency in the modern South. Focusing on the work of several photographers featured in the exhibitions Complex Uncertainties and Watershed: Contemporary Landscape Photography, which opens in October, the speakers will explore the related questions of how the seemingly "still" images of landscapes translate into visual narratives, and how some of those narratives inform the way we visualize the Civil Rights Movement, which perhaps still shapes our southern culture-scape today.