Programs & Events | “Living with the Gods”
Living with the Gods: Art, Beliefs, and Peoples
October 27, 2024–January 20, 2025
Powerful Exhibition
A capstone for the centennial year of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Living with the Gods: Art, Beliefs, and Peoples features extraordinary objects made by people—across the globe and across millennia—to communicate with their gods. This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition represents an array of religions and beliefs, with 200 works of art chosen to demonstrate the astonishing quality that artists have achieved when driven by passion and faith.
Enjoy a rich selection of programs celebrating the exhibition. All events listed here take place at the MFAH.
Gallery Conversations
Houston faith leaders from different spiritual traditions speak in the exhibition galleries about their connections with objects and themes in Living with the Gods: Art, Beliefs, and Peoples.
- Divine Fire: Zoroastrianism and Ritual Purity
Thursday, November 7, 6:30 p.m. | Vehishta Kaikobad, Zoroastrian Association of Houston and an MFAH docent, leads this discussion. - The Word in the Abrahamic Faiths: Recited, Sung, and Preached
Thursday, November 21, 6:30 p.m. | A panel discussion featuring Imam Basem Hamid, Wasat Institute; Pastor Rudy Rasmus, Bread of Life, Inc.; and Cantor Rollin Simmons, Congregation Emanu El, is followed by a tour of the exhibition. - Contemplating the Divine: Buddhism
Thursday, January 2, 6:30 p.m. | Zen meditation and discussion with Gyōzan Royce Johnson, Houston Zen Center. - Indigenous Faith Practices: Vietnamese Folk Religion
Thursday, January 9, 6:30 p.m. | Ky Nguyen, temple master; and Khanh Nguyen, practitioner, Tien Thanh Mau Temple, a Dao Mau temple for Vietnamese folk religion.
Global Music and Dance Performances
- Celebrating the Year of Rama: Scenes from the Asian Ramayana
Friday, November 8, 7 p.m. | Weaving together music and dances from four countries, this original production highlights selected scenes from the Ramayana, one of the greatest ancient epics of Indian literature. Conceptualized by Rathna Kumar, artistic director of Samskriti, the presentation features performers from Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. An exhibition tour led by MFAH consulting curator Amy Poster follows. - The Protestant Reformation through Bach’s Music
Friday, November 15, 6:30 p.m. | Experience Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata 80, “Ein feste Burg,” performed by the Bach Society Houston’s choir and orchestra. Based on Martin Luther’s chorale of the same title, this cantata is a splendid example of the art form. MFAH curator Helga Aurisch introduces the program. - Songs of Light and Hope: A Hanukkah Concert
Thursday, December 19, 6:30 p.m. | Cantors Kenneth Feibush (Congregation Beth Israel), Rachel Goldman (Congregation Beth Yeshurun) and Rollin Simmons (Congregation Emanu El) share selections and music celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Light.
Film Screening and Discussion
- gOD-Talk
Thursday, November 14, 6 p.m. | This documentary exploring the spiritual lives of Black Millennials is presented by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in association with the Pew Research Center and in conjunction with Rice University. The screening is followed by a discussion with Anthony Pinn, professor, Rice University; Diamond Stylz, producer and creator of Marsha’s Plate podcast; and Myokei Caine-Barrett of Myoken-ji Temple, Houston.
Artist Talk
- Afruz Amighi: Abodes of Solace
Thursday, December 12, 6:30 p.m. | Referencing exhibition themes of divine light and the Word, New York-based artist Afruz Amighi will discuss her ongoing experimentation with light as a means to create spaces of intimacy and solace. Presenting her large-scale sculptural work, 99 Names, on view in the Hossein Afshar Galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds, Amighi will explore the use of light to activate our sense of the sacred.
“Living with the Gods: Art, Beliefs, and Peoples” is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lead foundation underwriting is provided by:
Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation
Additional generous support is provided by:
Franci Neely
The Sushila and Dr. Durga D. Agrawal Family
Jerold B. Katz Foundation
Joan and Stanford Alexander Family
Nancy Pollok Guinee
Joy and Benjamin Warren
Levant Foundation
Bettie Cartwright
Anne Lamkin Kinder
Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis
Milton D. Rosenau, Jr. and Dr. Ellen R. Gritz
The Ruth K. Shartle Lecture Series is made possible by a generous grant from The Brown Foundation, Inc.
All Learning and Interpretation programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, receive generous support from H-E-B; Institute of Museum and Library Services; Sempra Foundation; the Brown Foundation, Inc.; the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; the John M. O'Quinn Foundation; the Joe Barnhart Foundation; the Cockrell Family Fund; the CFP Foundation; Macey and Harry Reasoner; the Texas Commission on the Arts; and the Junior League of Houston, Inc.
Endowment funds are provided by the Louise Jarrett Moran Bequest; Caroline Wiess Law; Windgate Foundation; the William Randolph Hearst Foundation; Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Fondren Foundation; BMC Software, Inc.; the Wallace Foundation; the Neal Myers and Ken Black Children’s Art Fund; the Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation; Medha and Shashank Karve; Virginia and Ira Jackson; Jesse H. Jones II; the CFP Foundation; the Favrot Fund; gifts in memory of John Wynne; Neiman Marcus Youth Arts Education; gifts in memory of Peter Lotz; and gifts in honor of Beth Schneider.
Pictured at top (clockwise from upper left):
Zoroastrian Afargan Altar (detail), Pakistan, 20th century, silver, Zoroastrian Association of Houston, courtesy of Quetta Parsi Anjuman, Quetta, Pakistan.
Buddha in Meditation (detail), Gandharan, Afghanistan or Pakistan, 4th–5th century, stucco, private collection, photo: Mark French, Hong Kong.
Shiva Nataraja (detail), India, late 19th–early 20th century, bronze, collection of John and Fausta Eskenazi, photo: John J. Eskenazi Ltd.
William H. Johnson, I Baptize Thee (detail), c. 1940, oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of the Harmon Foundation.
Manuscript of the Qur’an (detail), Egypt or Syria, January 19, 1346 (25 Ramadan AH 746), ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait.
Hanukkah Lamp (detail), Eastern Galicia or western Ukraine, 1752–53, copper alloy, the Jewish Museum, New York, gift of Dr. Harry G. Friedman.