Free of charge
About the speakers
Lisa Ayla Çakmak is the Mary and Michael Jaharis Chair and Curator—Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). Since joining the AIC in 2020, Çakmak has overseen a major reinstallation of its Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, as well as originated and served as co-curator of 2025’s Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection, the first major exhibition on a topic of Greek or Roman art to be held at the Art Institute in many years. Prior to the AIC, Çakmak spent nearly a decade at the Saint Louis Art Museum, where, as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Associate Curator, she was responsible for the collections of Ancient Near Eastern, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian art. Çakmak earned a PhD in Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Michigan and attended Princeton. In 2017 she completed an MBA at Washington University in St. Louis.
Katharine A. Raff is the Elizabeth McIlvaine Curator —Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), where she has worked since 2011. Her research focuses on the arts of the ancient Roman world, with particular interests in sculpture and portraiture, as well as the contexts in which artworks were made, used, and viewed. Raff’s recent projects include co-curating the 2025 exhibition Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection; the 2024 reinstallation of the AIC’s gallery of Roman art; and curating Collecting Stories, a 2019 installation exploring the collection of ancient artworks in modern Europe. Raff holds a PhD, MA, and Museum Studies Certificate from the University of Michigan, as well as a BA from the University of Wisconsin. Prior to joining the AIC, she was awarded fellowships from the prestigious Fulbright Program and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Laura Vigo, Curator of Asian Art at the MMFA, was involved in the installation of the galleries of the Museum’s Wing for the Arts of One World, where, in 2022, she inaugurated the Narinder Singh and Satinder Kaur Kapany collection of Sikh art. She was also the curator for the Montreal presentations of the exhibitions Obsession: Sir William Van Horne’s Japanese Ceramics in 2019, as well as Tōkaidō: Dreamscapes by Andō Hiroshige in 2024. Laura Vigo holds a BA in Chinese Language and Art History from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, as well as an MA in Asian Art and Archaeology, a postgraduate diploma in Asian Art, and a PhD in Archaeology from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
About the series
The Preshow gives the public an in-depth preview of the Museum’s new exhibition, as shared by those who brought it to life.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Location: Maxwell Cummings Auditorium, 1379-A, Sherbrooke Street West
Terms of the reservation: Please note that seat reservations are held until the beginning of the event. Once the activity has started, any unoccupied seats will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Associated programming
Public Partners
Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts de Montréal, and Gouvernement du Québec
Major Patrons
Fondation de la Chenelière and Fondation Ariane Riou et Réal Plourde
Patron
The Molson Foundation
Exhibition
Presenting Sponsor
Hydro-Québec
Patrons
Sabino and Clara Grassi, and Giovanni and Ginette Di Schiavi
In collaboration with
Tourisme Montréal
With support from
Allen Maintenance/Controlnet, the Italian-Canadian Community Foundation and Burgundy Asset Management
Partners of Fondazione Torlonia
Fondazione Bvlgari and Chiomenti
Public Partners
Conseil des arts de Montréal and Gouvernement du Québec
Official Sponsors
Air Canada, Air Canada Cargo and Denalt Paints
Media Partners
Bell and La Presse
