NARRATOR: This mask is different from every other mask in this gallery… because it would have been worn and performed by a woman. Female masking performances are rare in Africa. The Sowei mask plays an important role in the all-female Sande Society. This society is a lifelong network of women among the Vai, Mende and neighboring peoples in present-day Sierra Leone.

CHRISTRAUD GEARY: Now if you look at the Portuguese soldier, there are certain details that I don’t want you to miss. One is that everything is articulated in the greatest detail. Look at his hands, they’re beautifully done, and look at the fact that you can see his fingernails, even. Look at his feet, same thing, they’re beautifully executed.

RONNI BAER: When I first looked at this painting in the context of this exhibition, I asked myself, “How can we tell the difference between a mistress…

Although frequently eclipsed in the public imagination by its northern neighbor Egypt, ancient Nubia has a long and glorious past. There, in what is today Sudan, a series of civilizations flourished for more than 6,000 years.

Large-scale decorative tattoos became one of the most eye-catching art forms of Japanese popular culture during the late Edo period (1615–1868). They first began to appear in cities such as Edo (modern Tokyo) and Osaka in the early 19th century.

Tiny is trendy: with tiny houses and minimalist movements encouraging people to live in smaller spaces with fewer belongings, small objects are attracting new attention.

"Goya in Black and White" is comprised of approximately 70 prints drawn entirely from the MFA’s renowned collection of works by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya (1746–1828). The exhibition is curated by Stephanie Loeb Stepanek, Curator Emeritus of Prints and Drawings.

LIZ MUNSELL: Today we're inaugurating a sculpture by the Argentinian-born, London-based artist, Amalia Pica. It's called "Now, Speak!" It's a cast concrete lectern, that's a platform for the public's voice and for invited speakers today. Most of them are addressing civil rights issues through their speeches which they've chosen from history. The only requirement of the piece is that the speaker must choose a speech by somebody who has different physical characteristics from them. That way there's an element of displacement and interpretation of history over time.

The following is a transcript of Walter Carrington's January 20, 2014 reading of an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, as part of…