More Museum Photos from New Year's Eve 2011

Two photos of a bottom portion of a totem - I did not photograph the plaque describing it in detail, but it's from the U.S. Pacific Northwest and welcomes people into the Native American section on the second floor. 

This exhibit is from "Indian games" -- beautifully carved ivory dominoes,

playing cards, and in the next photo, a carved walrus tusk cribbage board.

At the top of the grand staircase that takes you to the first exhibit floor of the Milwaukee Public Museum, is a large display of fascinating things from the Museum's collection -- designed to catch the attention and spark the imagination of visitors, young and old.  This is (I believe) a Maori war shield and a display of various weapons from Polynesia, possibly.  We didn't take notes!

The small disks in this "bowl" are described as "dice" and this is described as a "woman's game."  The bowl is pounded on the ground, causing the disks to fly into the air and then land.  Black and white are counted and points awarded.  This is a North American Indian game, but I do not remember which region or tribe.

A New Year's Eve Collage

Hope you will enjoy it!  A collage of photos we took yesterday at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

Another digital slideshow by Smilebox

Day at the Museum!

The Cleopatra exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum was fantastic!  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photographs, but in my opinion the exhibit lived up to all its positive press coverage! 

Cleopatra, the Search for the Last Queen of Egypt
October 8, 2011

Cleo Is Coming to Milwaukee
July 16, 2011

We arrived at the Milwaukee Public Museum for a 10:30 a.m. entry to the exhibit.  The entries are timed at 15-minute intervals.  I had a nice chat with the ticket-taker who told me that she thought the crowds since the start of the exhibit had been record-breaking attendance wise for Milwaukee exhibits, except for that morning, when it was rather quiet.  However, by the time Mr. Don and I exited the exhibit about 2.5 hours later, the museum was JUMPING! 

We had a quick lunch and then toured the third floor; took a break and toured the second floor.  I was too tired to tour the first floor and by the time we left it was already about 5 p.m., and we had to wait awhile for a bus.  As we have toured the museum together a couple of times before, we concentrated on exhibits that caught our particular attention. 

No photos from the Cleo exhibit - the rules prohibited taking it and there were plenty of "enforcers" stationed throughout the exhibit to make sure that anyone caught taking photographs was ushered out pronto -- not sure if the offending cell phone or camera would have been confiscated.  As far as I ccould tell, he people in the Milwaukee exhibit were very well mannered.  Many people, including an ecstatic Mr. Don, came VERY close to touching some exhibits (daringly left out of glass cases, all the better to be able to get one's nose up close to see details), as did many other people I saw, but no one did -- at least, I didn't catch anyone doing it, not even any of the kids that were in the exhibit (and there were plenty of them around, especially as we moved toward the noon hour and after). 

We got plenty of photos from the rest of the museum, though!  I have to show you this one Mr. Don took of me -- he is sooooo sentimental sometimes :)  It's at the same recreation of a head from Easter Island where he took a photograph of me in -- we think about 2006??? -- we agree that it had to be winter because I was wearing a fleece shirt that I would never have worn during the summer. 



Hello!  It's me, holding my camera, along with a handbag that was a birthday present from Georgia and Michelle and
my souvenir purchase from the special gift shop that you are funneled into right after you think you're leaving the
Cleo exhibit! But we really didn't really mind.  I'm sure we spent at least another 40 minutes just looking at the offerings.

At the top of the "grand staircase" is a large square area loaded with exhibits, old and new, designed to capture
your imagination.  The kids especially love it.  Mr. Don and I do, too!  This photo, taken by Mr. Don, is a small exhibit of butterflies and bugs!  Look at the size of some of those specimens!  Euuwwwweeeehhhh!

This figure (and the one below, only partially shown), are from the Lake Titicaca area in Peru; they are very early (early centuries CE) but neither Mr. Don nor I remember the exact date range -- and we didn't take notes.  What struck both of us is the amazing resemblance between these two masks? headdresses?-- whatever they are --  to CHINESE "dragon" iconography!  How could that possibly be, when according to traditional theory there could not possibly have been any contact between the indigenous peoples of Peru of the 1st century CE with ANY people from the Old World?

Great photograph by Mr. Don of an assembly of early Polynesian fabrics.  The geometric patterns are so beautiful - and ubiquitous.

This guy is rather - er - well, you make up a suitable caption...

Cleopatra's Taking In Milwaukee!

Queen Cleo is coming to town big time, starting on October 14th, at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  Yes, folks, the people who saved our beloved institution from the brink of bankruptcy (there were even secret talks at one point about selling some of the collections to get money to keep going for a few more weeks!  SACRILEGE!)  and have turned it around big time, are bringing the citizens of Milwaukee and environs another block-buster special exhibition!

Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt

Black granite Ptolemaic sculpture
of a queen.  Could this be Cleopatra VII?

The world of Cleopatra VII, lost to the sea and sand for nearly 2,000 years, will surface in Milwaukee on October 14, 2011 when Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt opens its doors. The Milwaukee Public Museum will be the third stop on the exhibition’s world tour.

Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt features nearly 150 artifacts from Cleopatra’s time and helps visitors experience the present-day search for the elusive queen, which extends from the sands of Egypt to the depths of the Bay of Aboukir near Alexandria.

The exhibition is organized by National Geographic and Arts and Exhibitions International, with cooperation from the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM).

Check out this photo slideshow from Pulitzer Prize winning Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel online. 

Cleopatra Exhibit Statue Uncased At Milwaukee Public Museum

Exhibit Opens Oct. 14

POSTED: 3:04 pm CDT September 21, 2011
UPDATED: 5:12 pm CDT September 21, 2011

MILWAUKEE -- A large piece in the Milwaukee Public Museum's upcoming exhibit was uncased Wednesday. [photo]  Check out the slideshow from WISN Television, Milwaukee. 

The museum is getting ready for an exhibit called "Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt."

WISN 12 News cameras were there Wednesday as a 5-ton statue of a king from Cleopatra's era was uncrated.

The enormous weight was a big issue when the museum was planning the show.

"First, we had to have structural engineers come in and tell us whether we could actually put the weight onto the exhibit floor," said Ellen Censky of the Milwaukee Public Museum.

The exhibit will have 150 artifacts in all.

The Cleopatra exhibit opens at the Milwaukee Public Museum on Oct. 14 and runs through April.

For more information about the exhibit or to order tickets, go to www.mpm.edu/cleopatra.

When you're Queen of Egypt, the world is not enough...

Major Mummy Exhibition Coming to Milwaukee Public Museum!!!

Milwaukee Public Museum to host world's largest traveling mummy exhibit
By Jackie Loohauis-Bennett of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: July 27, 2010 10:34 a.m.

The Milwaukee Public Museum said Tuesday it will display the largest temporary exhibit of mummies and related artifacts ever assembled in the world when the museum opens a new exhibit starting Dec. 17.

The exhibit, "Mummies of the World," will include more than 150 real human and animal mummies from around the globe.

The [Milwaukee Public] museum is only the second venue to host the traveling exhibit.

**********************************************************************

The first U.S. stop for the exhibit is the California Science Center, which will host it through the end of summer.  (Photo from Guardian.co.uk article).

It then travels to Milwaukee -- I imagine it will take over the space temporarily in the Tells, Temples and Tombs permanent exhibit space. 

This is a real coup for Milwaukee.  How well I remember the fantastically wonderful "The Quest for Immortality" exhibit back in 2004 - the Museum scored record crowds and had a packed lecture hall most evenings as Milwaukeeans and people from Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and elsewhere either drove to or flew into Milwaukee to see the rare exhibit.  To score another great event like this is so exciting for the city.  I know Milwaukeeans will turn out for the exhibit. 

Of course, it is not just Egyptian mummies featured in this one-of-a-kind exhibit.  There are, literally, mummies from all over the world, all different places, all different times and conditions.  Which makes it even more remarkable and a once in a lifetime opportunity to see it in my own home town!  Check out the photo exhibition in the article at the Guardian to get an idea of the scope of what will be presented.  Amazing, absolutely amazing.