RAI RESEARCH SEMINAR

SEMINAR SERIES AT THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE

Anthropological String Games Studies – The Early Years: Dr A.C. and Kathleen Haddon, Diamond Jenness, Caroline Furnace-Jayne, Honor Maude and their legacies

Philip Noble

At the turn of last century Dr A.C. Haddon with the help of Dr W.H. Rivers developed a nomenclature for recording string figures.  Dr. Haddon went on to encourage a generation of young anthropologists to pay attention to the string game culture of the newly contacted people groups they might find themselves amongst.  Not only did this give some fascinating insights into culture, practice and belief systems, but it also provided a way in which the difficulties of first contact could be readily overcome.  In the words of Alfred Haddon, “You can go anywhere in the world with a smile and a piece of string.”  The lives of some of these early collectors will be explored along with a visual presentation and more recent developments in string figure studies will be touched upon.  There will be opportunity to learn some simple designs from the collections.

Wednesday 25 September at 5.30 pm

This event is free, but tickets must be booked.  To book tickets please go to http://philipnoble.eventbrite.co.uk/“>http://philipnoble.eventbrite.co.uk/#