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Bard Graduate Center is an advanced graduate research institute in New York City dedicated to the cultural histories of the material world. Our MA and PhD degree programs, Gallery exhibitions, research initiatives, scholarly publications and public programs explore new ways of thinking about decorative arts, design history, and material culture.

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Applications for our MA program may be submitted until March 1, 2025





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Bard Graduate Center is dedicated to new research in the decorative arts, design history, and material culture. Exhibitions, both in our gallery and online, emerge from classroom teaching and faculty research and often serve as the basis for collaborations with scholars and institutions elsewhere in the city and around the world. These critically acclaimed projects offer visitors cutting-edge perspectives on objects—from the mundane to the extraordinary—and their stories. BGC Gallery publishes award-winning catalogues and offers a broad array of programs to enhance your gallery experience.




From the Exhibition:
Fabricating Power with Balinese Textiles

Explore three Balinese ceremonies that mark major stages in an individual’s life—Nelubulanin and Otonan (three-month and one-year ceremonies, respectively), Metatah (toothfiling ceremony), and Ngaben (cremation ceremony). Special ceremonies and rituals ensure that the subject passes successfully from one stage to the next. They include textiles, objects, and substances, as well as family and community participation. The ceremonial wrapping of people and objects in fabric mediates the invisible forces of the divine and the demonic, strengthens and protects the bodies of participants, and animates objects for ritual use.

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