Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

✨Holiday closing✨ The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology will be closed from 5pm on Sunday 22 December and will re-open at 10am on Thursday 2 January 2025. The museum will also be closed to the general public on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 January 2025. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. #HolidayClosure #CambridgeMuseums 📸 1936.475.1 Birch-bark figure of an elk, Manchuria, China. Collector and donor: Dr Ethel Lindgren. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/g2MqevZ4

'Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections' is an exhibition which explores how relationships between Indigenous communities and museums can be cultivated around the care of colonial-era collections. Listen to Noelle Kahanu, one of the co-curators of Fault Lines, talk to Hawaiʻi Public Radio about the importance of these relationships: https://lnkd.in/es96bkZP #MAAFaultLines #IndigenousKnowledge #ContemporaryArt

On 12 July 2024, the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, in collaboration with the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, convened an African Pottery Workshop. This workshop was held at MAA and centred around African pottery artefacts it cares for, which were used during the event. We were delighted to welcome participants from a variety of institutions including the McDonald Institute, The British Museum and the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA). The workshop was led by Dr. Bolaji Owoseni with the assistance of Dr Matthew Davies, Dr Abigail Moffett, and Dr Kingsley Daraojimba, and aimed to explore the multifaceted aspects of African pottery, creating a platform for learning, discussion, reflection, and collaboration. Read our latest Digital Lab blog post to find out more about the worksop, as well as its outcomes and goals: https://lnkd.in/eak89B6b #AfricanPottery #DigitalLab #Research 📸 Image credit: Matt Davies/Kingsley Daraojimba, 2024.

Congratulations to our amazing Stores Move team on completing their 25th move since the project began in 2020! The over 5,500 objects moved over two days were transported to the Centre for Material Culture, a refurbished historic Cold War bunker in south Cambridge, which will allow us to make these collections more accessible, as well as improving their storage conditions. However, before anything leaves our old off-site store the team must make sure it has been securely packed to protect these precious artefacts during their journey across Cambridge. #StoresMove #CollectionsCare #BehindTheScenes Video description: A hyper-lapse of members of the museum’s staff preparing a three-tier crate for transportation by adding packing materials and strapping. Captions on screen read: “Our Stores Move team have carried out their 25th move of the project! Over 2 days they moved 5,585 objects weighing nearly 1.5 tonnes, but first they needed to make sure they were well protected during the move. The end card reads "MAA Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology" and features the museum’s logo.

From Eden to Ecocide: A Tale of Human Impact, a vibrant painting by Nigerian artist Enotie Ogbebor, reflects rising public awareness and anxieties about the future of the Earth. This triptych explores the evolving relationship between humans and the environment, from co-existence to the brink of extinction, and demonstrates that artists do not need to sacrifice aesthetic engagement in favour of social commentary. In our exciting new online exhibition, University of Cambridge undergraduate Katie Carter explores Enotie's painting, which is on display at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, placing it not only within the broader context of climate change, but also discussing the impact of colonial legacies. Explore the online exhibition now: https://lnkd.in/edggDxMs #DigitalLab #OnlineExhibition #ContemporaryArt 📸 2023.18.1-3 From Eden to Ecocide: A Tale of Human Impact, Benin City, Nigeria. Artist: Enotie Ogbebor, 2023. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/exY8tjP5

Our latest exhibition, Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections, is open! This exciting new exhibition explores interactions between Indigenous communities of the volcanic Pacific region and colonial institutions through historic artefacts and specially commissioned artistic responses. Congratulations to the incredible team behind the creation of this exhibition, from the four amazing curators to the talented contemporary artists and the dedicated museum staff members involved! Entry is free. For further information visit our website: https://lnkd.in/e9C8eMDq #MAAFaultLines #IndigenousKnowledge #MuseumExhibition Contemporary artworks pictured include: 🌋‘Auamo No Ka Ulu’, Kunāne Wooton, 2024. 🎨 Works including ‘Sky Born Ancestor Drum’, Atheana Picha, 2024 📽️ ‘Scratching the Surface’, Taloi Havini, 2024.

📢 Early closure. The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology will be closing at 4pm today (Thursday 5 December 2024) due to a private event. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes. For further information about our opening times visit our website: https://maa.cam.ac.uk/

Jade (玉) is one of the most enduring material cultures in Chinese history. In our latest blog post Bernadette Vong Molyneaux, one of our Photographic Collections team, explores why jade is so important to the Ancient Chinese and the symbolic significance of the transformative lifecycle of cicadas. To find out more about jade’s multifaceted role in Chinese society, as well as the roles of jade artefacts and cicadas in the origins of Chinese rituals and cosmological beliefs read Bernadette’s blog post: https://lnkd.in/ghntKxd9 📸1935.286 Carved jadeite cicada, Beijing, ?Pre Han Period 🔗https://lnkd.in/gU2UZrx8 📸1935.287 Carved nephrite cicada, China, ?c.1250 BCE–c.1050 BCE 🔗https://lnkd.in/gd3avAeX 📸1935.845 Carved jadeite cicada, China, ?Tang Dynasty 🔗https://lnkd.in/gSdKzC77 📸1936.489 Carved cicada pendant, China, 3rd Century BCE 🔗https://lnkd.in/gU6pGxE5 📸1936.490 Carved jade cicada, China, Anyang Period 🔗https://lnkd.in/g5Z3EcPt

It was both exciting and nerve-racking to watch the arrival of the loans for our forthcoming exhibition, which included objects from both The British Museum and The Pitt Rivers Museum, as well as pieces by incredible contemporary Indigenous artists. Once carefully unpacked each object was closely inspected for signs of damage, pests or mould before the process of installation could begin. Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections opens on Friday 6 December 2024. To find out more about this thought-provoking new exhibition visit our website: https://lnkd.in/e9C8eMDq #IndigenousKnowledge #MuseumExhibition #BehindTheScenes Video description: A hyper-lapse of loans to the museum being unpacked, condition checked and installed. Captions on screen read: “We recently received a special delivery! A loan of stunning works by contemporary Indigenous artists for our new exhibition. These artworks will sit alongside some exciting loans from The British Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum. The end card reads: “Fault Lines Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections. Opens 6 December 2024” and features the museum’s logo.

Cambridge friends - this is happening next week! Cambridge Australia First Nations Writer-In-Residence Daniel Browning will be talking about his project on ‘repatriating the intangible’ and I’ll be sharing some insights from my research and experiences working with the Gujaga Foundation, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Trinity College Cambridge on the return of the Gweagal Spears.