MAA's new exhibition, [http://maa.cam.ac.uk/assemblingbodies|Assembling Bodies: Art, Science & Imagination] aims to challenge pre-conceived notions about the human body. This innovative, multi-disciplinary exhibition examines ways that bodies are constructed, known and transformed in various historical, cross-cultural and disciplinary contexts. It invites visitors to explore various technologies through which different bodies are known and made visible.
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On Thursday December 4 2008, a powhiri (welcome) and ceremony of dedication took place at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, marking the installation in the permanent galleries of an eight-metre pouhaki, or fully-carved Maori flagpole. The pouhaki was carved in 1920 by Tene Waitere, a great Maori artist of the colonial period. An object with a remarkable story, it is the only flagpole of its kind outside New Zealand, and is the most significant addition to the Museum's collections for decades. Tene Waitere was of Ngati Tarawhai tribal descent, and worked in the Rotorua region in the centre of New Zealand's North Island. Famous for its hot springs and spas, the town was a tourist destination from the 1880s onward. Waitere carved souvenir objects for visitors, but is most famous for
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An experiment in museum interpretation, AHRC Creative Fellow, Alana Jelinek, has written a new version of the archaeological story to sit alongside the texts already present on the ground floor of the museum. This new interpretation is written from the point of view of her corporate persona, a Public Relations guru for BLACCXN. BLACCXN itself is a fictional transnational corporation, larger and perhaps more rapacious than any that currently exist.
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Zisha teapots have been made since the 16th century in the town of Dingshu, in the Jiangsu Province of China. Reputed to be the best for brewing tea, these exquisite teapots have enjoyed the status of luxury items for centuries. In striving for perfection, artisans have developed rigorous and precise hand-crafting methods, yet they also promote their work as personal and spontaneous. This exhibition explores the apparent paradox between precision and spontaneity through the themes of style, skills, and the question of authenticity.
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