November/December 2017: Events at the Penn Museum

For an update on these programs, visit the Museum’s online calendar of events: www.penn.museum/calendar

More information on the Museum’s special exhibitions can be found online at www.penn.museum/exhibitions/special-exhibitions

November 2

Thursday, 6:00 pm
Evening Lecture
The Religious Center of the City of Knossos: Excavations of a Plot in the Modern Village

Dr. Athanasia Kanta, Director Emerita, 23rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, and Director of the Study Center of Cretan and Mediterranean Archaeology at Monastiraki Amari, Rethymnon, speaks about recent rescue excavations at the upper village of Knossos that have uncovered evidence of a religious center of the town. The program is presented by the INSTAP Study Center for East Crete. Free.

November 7

Tuesday, 10:30 am
Young Children’s Program
Museum Playdate: Native American Voices

Learn about Native American origin stories through story time in the Native American Voices: The People—Here and Now exhibition, plus touchable artifacts and hands-on activities, during this playdate! The Penn Museum’s newest program for young guests, ages 3 to 5, Museum Playdates are offered monthly through April (no January Playdate). Each one-hour program has a different theme connecting to one of the galleries, with activities designed for young learners: story time and dramatic play in a gallery; art-making in a classroom; and a small snack. Cost $10 (one child and one adult); $5 for Members (one child and one adult). Additional children $2 each. Full series schedule and topics are online: penn.museum/playdates.

November 11

Saturday, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Young Children’s Program
Second Saturday Family Workshop: Mythology

Explore mythology from around the world! Join the Penn Museum every second Saturday of the month through April to learn new perspectives about ancient and contemporary cultures through hands-on activities. Each Second Saturday includes a craft workshop, touchable artifacts, and gallery activities around a theme. For information about all the Second Saturday programs, visit online: penn.museum/secondsaturdays. Free with Museum admission.

November 12

Sunday, 2:00 pm
Second Sunday Culture Films: Time Travel
Forever Chinatown and A Family Day

Visit two families in Chinatown in these short films about elders and legacy. Frank Wong makes amazingly detailed miniature rooms to relive memories of 1940s Chinatown in Forever Chinatown (2016), directed by James Q. Chan. In A Family Day (2015), filmmaker Jeff Mann takes a day to visit his Granny, gaining insight into his past, present, and future. Dr. Chi-Ming Yang, Associate Professor, English and Asian American Studies at Penn, leads a post-film discussion. The Asian American Studies Department and Cinema Studies at Penn, and the Philadelphia Asian-American Film Fest are program sponsors. Time travel is this year’s theme for the annual Second Sunday Film Series, offered October through February (no December films) and held in collaboration with the Wolf Humanities Center’s 2017–2018 Forum on Afterlives. Free with Museum admission.

November 12

Sunday, 2:00 pm
Lecture and Musical Demonstration
The Musician’s Life

Dr. Nikolaus Xanthoulis, a Music Researcher with the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, offers this Archaeological Institute of America Philadelphia Society talk, a wide-ranging look at the life of the ancient Greek musician. With degrees from from the Sofia Music Academy (Ph.D.), the Panteion University of Athens, and the Athens and Athenaeum Conservatories, Dr. Xanthoulis studies the music of ancient Greece, the ancient Greek trumpet (Salpinx) and lyre, and the performance of ancient Greek lyric songs. Previously, he has served with the Greek National Opera, as Principal Trumpet Player and Head of Education, and with Greek Public Radio & Television as Artistic Director of the Orchestras and Choir. Following the lecture, Dr. Xanthoulis presents a small concert with 6th-century BCE poems set to his original music and accompanied by a seven-chord ancient Greek lyre. Free.

November 13

Monday—5:30 pm, Registration; 6:00 - 7:00 pm, Program; 7:00 - 7:45 pm, Book-Signing and Exhibit Viewing with Reception
World Affairs Council Evening Program
Voices from Syria: A Conversation with Author Wendy Pearlman

In the ongoing Syrian Civil War nearly 500,000 citizens have been killed and millions more have been injured and displaced. Both land and property have been destroyed. Cultural heritage destruction has become both a by-product and a tactic of the ongoing war. Join this heartbreaking, but necessary, conversation with Dr. Wendy Pearlman, Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and author of We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria, a collection of intimate testimonies from Syrian men and women whose lives have been transformed by revolution, war, and flight. Following the program guests can visit the Museum’s special exhibition, Cultures in the Crossfire: Stories from Syria and Iraq. A cash bar and optional book-signing follow the event. Admission (includes reception): $35; with book $55. Penn Museum and World Affairs Council members: $20; with book $40. Students (with full-time valid school ID) and Young Friends Members of the World Affairs Council: $10; with book $30.

November 16

Thursday, 12:30 pm
Brown Bag Lunch Program
The Gordion Cultural Heritage Program as Public Engagement

Dr. Ayşe Gursan-Salzmann, Anthropologist and Gordion Project Assistant Director, speaks about the Gordion Archaeological Project in Gordion, Turkey, at this Penn Cultural Heritage Center lunchtime lecture. This project is developing a heritage education program for local high school students and teachers from Gordion and nearby villages and towns, building understanding about preserving Gordion and its environment through cultural heritage training. Participants in the program learn by visiting sites and observing the historical and natural environment. The feedback from students and teachers engage in on-site discussions and oral and written presentations in the course of training. Program attendees are welcome to bring a lunch. Free. Nevil Classroom.

November 16

Thursday, 6:00 - 7:30 pm
PM @ Penn Museum
Mummies and Martinis

Enjoy the dramatic backdrop of the Museum's collections during an after-work happy hour in the Egypt (Mummies) Gallery. Admission: $9 per person, includes one free drink for guests 21 and older.

November 18

Saturday, 3:30 pm
Afternoon Lecture
The Afterlife of Egyptian Kings

Dr. David P. Silverman, Curator-in-Charge, Egyptian Section, and Eckley Brinton Coxe, Jr. Professor of Egyptology, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, considers the afterlife of Eygptian rulers at this lecture presented by the American Research Center in Egypt, Pennsylvania Chapter (ARCE-PA). Egyptian pharaohs went to great lengths to prepare their final resting places. These architectural monuments could take various shapes, such as mastabas, pyramids, and rock-cut graves. In addition to containing the ruler’s mummified body, these tombs also became a storehouse for all the necessities the kings required for their journey to what lay beyond. They also represented a microcosm of the environment in which royalty would spend eternity. This lecture focuses on what we know and don’t know about the necessities that the pharaohs would require in order to maintain their existence in this new and eternal cosmos. Admission: $10 general public, $7 Penn Museum members and Penn faculty and staff, $5 students with ID, and FREE for ARCE-PA members and children under 12. Anthropology Department, Room 345 (take elevator off Kress Entrance to 3rd floor).

December 1

Friday, 5:30 pm - Saturday, 9:00 am
Museum Overnight Program
40 Winks with the Sphinx Sleepover

Penn Museum's popular sleepover, 40 Winks with the Sphinx, invites guests on an overnight "expedition" of the Museum. The night's activities are geared to take intrepid explorers on a journey through time and across continents, with hands-on opportunities, through games and crafts, to explore ancient Egypt, the mummies and hieroglyphics, the ancient Greeks and Romans, the world of the ancient Maya, and more. An unforgettable experience for kids, ages 6 to 12, and their parents or chaperones! $55 a person, $45 for members. Advance registration required. Full schedule of dates is online: www.penn.museum/40winks

December 3

Sunday, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Free Holiday Celebration
Celebrations around the World

The Penn Museum’s international collection of art and artifacts forms the backdrop of this free annual celebration, the Museum’s holiday “gift” to the community. This spirited event features holiday traditions from throughout the year and around the world. Groups from across the region share their cultural heritage through music and dance performances, craft stations, storytelling, and more. The Museum Shop participates with its annual holiday sale! Free admission.

December 5

Tuesday, 6:00 pm
P.M. @ Penn Museum Event
Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Re-created

Dr. Patrick McGovern—Scientific Director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Project and the Museum’s own “Indiana Jones of Ancient Ales, Wines, and Extreme Beverages”—takes attendees “back to the future” around the world in his latest book, Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Re-created. He’s joined by Sam Calagione, founder and owner of Dogfish Head Brewery, who wrote a forward to the book and has been a long-time collaborator on the Ancient Ales and Spirits series. Tap into “Dr. Pat” and Sam’s remarkable backstories of how their re-created elixirs came about—together with delicious tastings—during this evening celebration of extreme fermented beverages, ancient cultures, and human innovation through the ages. A book-signing follows. Guests must be 21 or older. Admission: $20; Penn Museum members, $15.

December 7

Thursday, 6:00 pm
P.M. @ Penn Museum
DIY Craft Night: Turkish Silk Scarf

Discover the deep history and unique beauty of Turkish marbling with artist Richard Aldorasi in this after-work, hands-on program. Participants are introduced to the historical significance of the 15th-century Turkish art of ebru, before creating their own high-quality, wearable art on a silk scarf to take home. Admission: $45 per person, includes one drink.

December 16

Saturday, 3:30 pm
Afternoon Lecture
An Unusual Libation Basin in the Glencairn Museum

Dr. Jennifer Houser Wegner, Associate Curator, Egyptian Section, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, speaks at this lecture presented by the American Research Center in Egypt, Pennsylvania Chapter (ARCE-PA). Libation bowls featuring a kneeling figure are a well-known but uncommon artifact type from ancient Egypt. Dating to the New Kingdom (1539-1075 BCE) and later, these bowls were carved from single blocks of stone and were used for liquid offerings, an essential part of Egyptian cult practices. In this talk, Dr. Wegner examines an unusual example of this type, in the collection of the Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, and explores its purpose. Admission: $10 for the general public, $7 for Penn Museum members and Penn faculty and staff, $5 for Students with ID, and FREE for ARCE-PA members and children under 12. Anthropology Department, Room 345 (take elevator off Kress Entrance to 3rd floor).

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Regularly Scheduled Programs:

Unearthed in the Archives

Fridays, 1:30 pm

Visitors can take a trip through Museum (and world) history in the Penn Museum Archives. Informal weekly chats investigate the many interesting and unusual documents safeguarded in this vast collection. Guests can look for a new experience each week, based on expedition records, vintage photographs, manuscripts, personal letters, and much more. Free with Museum general admission.

The Artifact Lab: Conservation in Action

Tuesdays through Fridays, 11:00 - 11:30 am and 1:30 - 2:00 pm
Weekends, 12:00 - 12:30 and 3:00 - 3:30 pm

Lab conservators open the window, ready to answer questions about their conservation projects—anything from studying, documenting, cleaning, or mending an elegant Middle Eastern pot, an ancient Egyptian coffin lid, or other artifacts from the Museum's collections.

Gallery Tours

Saturdays and Sundays, 1:30 pm

Penn Museum docents offer hour-long guided tours of the signature galleries and special exhibitions. Weekend tours leave from Pepper Hall (just above the Main Entrance). Topics change. Check the Museum’s web calendar for current schedule: www.penn.museum/calendar.

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Special Exhibitions

New! - Bearing Witness: Four Days in West Kingston

Opens November 18, on display through July 15, 2018

In May 2010, the “Tivoli Incursion,” a standoff between Jamaican security forces and a local gang leader wanted for extradition by the United States government, resulted in the death of at least 75 civilians in West Kingston on the island of Jamaica. This new exhibition—part art installation, part memorial, and part call to action—sheds light on those events through compelling video and audio footage featuring firsthand accounts of people directly impacted by the violence. The exhibition is co-curated by Dr. Deborah Thomas, the R. Jean Brownlee Term Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn of AV Productions and Deanne M. Bell, University of East London. First floor Merle-Smith Gallery West..

“What in the World?” Early Television Meets the World of Archaeology, 1950–1966

Opened September 9. Now through March 2018

The Penn Museum Archives’ new exhibition, offered in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Provost Office’s Year of Innovation, looks back at the pioneering Penn Museum television program What in the World? which aired on WCAU Philadelphia for more than a decade, and was syndicated nationally by CBS from 1951 to 1955. By means of photographs, letters, and other documents, as well as video clips from the few surviving episodes, the exhibition looks back at the highly original game show, offered to the public in the early days of television. Hosted by Penn Museum Director Froelich Rainey, the program featured a changing panel of experts from diverse fields, including such famous people as actor Vincent Price, artist Jacques Lipschitz, and anthropologist Carleton Coon, who worked together to puzzle out where in the world an artifact from the Museum’s collections came from. Second floor Archives Corridor.

Moundbuilders: Ancient Architects of North America

Opened June 24. Now through July 2018

You might be familiar with the some of the more famous prehistoric monuments around the globe—the Great Pyramids in Egypt; Stonehenge in England; Macchu Picchu in Peru. But did you know we have our own impressive monuments right here in the United States? Some even older than the pyramids, these spectacular earthworks give us glimpses into more than 5,000 years of Native North American prehistory. Moundbuilders explores the fascinating history of Native American moundbuilding through a variety of photographs, artifacts, archival materials, and excavation records. Merle-Smith Galleries, First Floor.

Cultures in the Crossfire: Stories from Syria and Iraq

Opened April 8, 2017. Now through November 26, 2018

Created in conjunction with the Penn Cultural Heritage Center, this powerful exhibition sheds light on the ongoing destruction of cultural heritage in the Middle East by showing what’s at stake—the rich history of the region and the diversity of its people—and what’s being done to prevent the loss of this history and cultural identity. Fascinating ancient art and artifacts from the Penn Museum’s extensive Near East collection tell stories of the cultures of Syria and Iraq through time. Contemporary artwork from Issam Kourbaj, a Syrian artist based in Cambridge, UK, provides an art intervention—a modern-day response to the artifacts and themes. The exhibition features the work being done by the University of Pennsylvania and Smithsonian Institution in conjunction with individuals and groups in the Middle East to help combat the loss of irreplaceable cultural heritage. Third Floor..

Objects Speak: Media through Time

Now through March 4, 2018

This student-curated exhibition features 17 objects, drawn from the Penn Museum’s collection and spanning more than four millennia, that impart messages expressing power, influence, and status through diverse media. Presented in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania’s Year of Media, the exhibition makes connections between media of the past and of today. Second Floor Elevator Lobby..

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The Penn Museum (the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) is dedicated to the study and understanding of human history and diversity. Founded in 1887, the Museum has sent more than 300 archaeological and anthropological expeditions to all the inhabited continents of the world. With an active exhibition schedule and educational programming for children and adults, the Museum offers the public an opportunity to share in the ongoing discovery of humankind's collective heritage.

The Penn Museum is located at 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (on Penn's campus, across from Franklin Field). Public transportation to the Museum is available via SEPTA's Regional Rail Line at University City Station; the Market-Frankford Subway Line at 34th Street Station; trolley routes 11, 13, 34, and 36; and bus routes 21, 30, 40, and 42. Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and first Wednesdays of each month until 8:00 pm, with P.M. @ PENN MUSEUM evening programs offered. Closed Mondays and holidays. Admission donation is $15 for adults; $13 for senior citizens (65 and above); free for U.S. Military; $10 for children and full-time students with ID; free to Members, PennCard holders, and children 5 and younger.

Hot and cold meals and light refreshments are offered to visitors with or without Museum admission in The Pepper Mill Café; the Museum Shop offers a wide selection of gifts, books, games, clothing and jewelry. Penn Museum can be found on the web at www.penn.museum. For general information call 215.898.4000. For group tour information call 215.746.8183.