How to Build an Empire: Performance and Spectacle as Inca Expansion Strategy

Larry Coben, archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the Sustainable Preservation Initiative, will discuss how the Inca utilized ritualized performance, spectacles, and theatricality to create, grow, and maintain their empire. Performance was one of the most critical elements of the Inca's rapid expansion. The Inca maximized the time, resources, and nature of these performances in areas where warfare and internal strife were greatest.

Join us after the lecture for a special performance inspired by Caminos del Inka: Folk Ensemble, inspired by the exhibition All the World's a Stage: Celebrating Performance in the Visual Arts.