From Music of the World to a Celebration of African Cultures:

January and February 2018 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

January 13

Saturday, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm
Second Saturday
Music of the World

Explore the Penn Museum and its international galleries through the lens of music! Learn about the importance of music around the world through a special tour, design your own drum at our craft station, and participate in a scavenger hunt to look for musical instruments on display in the galleries. Second Saturdays at the Penn Museum is an opportunity for all ages to explore the museum though tours, scavenger hunts, crafts, and more. Themes and activities change monthly. Free with Museum General Admission.

January 14

Sunday, 2:00 pm
Second Sunday Culture Film Series: Time Travel
The Venice Syndrome

Ancient cities and time travel: the future of a long-dying city and its very much alive citizens is the topic of this 2012 film by Director Andreas Pichler. What is the cost of tourism and gentrification on the world’s heritage cities? Peter Lesnik, Penn Cinema Studies and Italian Studies, moderates a discussion following the program at the Penn Museum. Presented in Association with the Wolf Humanities Center's 2017-18 Forum on Afterlives. Penn Italian Studies, Penn Design, and Penn Cinema and Media Studies are sponsors. Free with Museum General Admission.

January 14

Sunday, 2:00 pm
Relâche in Residence
Not So Quiet City with Peter Evans

Relâche New Music Ensemble offers up a program at the Penn Museum featuring new music with the celebrated avant-garde trumpeter/composer Peter Evans and three members of his band. Evans is the recipient of this year's Dina Wind Commission. In addition to some of Evans' own improvisational compositions, he and the Ensemble add improv to Aaron Copland’s 1941 "Quiet City,” a work that also features English Horn performed by Relâche’s own Lloyd Shorter. "Mural Music," Chuck Holdeman's 2014 collaboration with Philadelphia Mural Arts, is on the program, as is another improvisation-based piece, Pauline Oliveros's "The Well." Admission: $20 general admission; $15 for seniors; $10 for Penn Museum members; $5 for students with ID, with an accompanying student free. A ticket may be used to enter and explore the Museum galleries any time after 1:00 pm on the day of the concert.

January 27

Saturday, 11 am to 4:00 pm
World Culture Day
Chinese New Year Celebration

Woof, woof! Celebrate the Year of the Dog at the Penn Museum’s annual Chinese New Year celebration! One of Philadelphia’s oldest Chinese New Year celebrations, the daylong extravaganza is held in the China Gallery—home to a renowned collection of monumental Chinese art—and throughout the Museum. The whole family can enjoy traditional music and dance, tai chi and tangram workshops, a Shaolin-style Kung Fu demonstration, family gallery tours, storytelling, crafts and much more before the day ends with a drum roll, a roar, and the popular Grand Finale Lion Dance Parade. Free with Museum General Admission.

January 27

Saturday, 3:30 pm
Afternoon Lecture
The Marsa Bagoush Underwater Project

Dr. Emad Khalil, Executive Director for the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage and Professor of Maritime Archaeology, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, speaks at this American Research Center in Egypt, Pennsylvania Chapter program at the Penn Museum. Marsa Bagoush is a bay about 250 kilometers west of Alexandria, Egypt. Described as the location of a port in the Roman navigation guidebook Stadiasmus Maris Magni in the 3rd century AD, it has not been investigated archaeologically until recently. Dr. Khalil discusses the discovery of evidence for seafaring activities dating to the Hellenistic Period, as well as evidence for changes in the geomorphology of the coastline since antiquity. Admission: $10 for the general public; $7 for Penn Museum members, Penn faculty and staff; $5 for students with ID; and FREE for ARCE-PA members and children under 12. Anthropology Room 345.

February 6

Tuesday, 10:30 am
Young Children’s Program
Museum Playdate: Mummies and More

Come to the Penn Museum for an exploration of Ancient Egypt while we visit the Sphinx, mummies, and more! The Penn Museum’s newest program for young guests aged 3 to 5, Museum Playdates are offered monthly from February through April. 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. Full series schedule, including themes, is online: penn.museum/playdates. Admission: $10 (one child and one adult); $5 for Members (one child and one adult). Additional children $2 each.

February 7, 14, 21, 28, March 7 and 14

Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:00 pm
New Workshop Series!
Sekere Workshop with Omomola Iyabunmi

Come and play, for one evening or all six nights, at the Penn Museum with Philly's own master percussionist Omomola Iyabunmi on Wednesdays, February 7 through March 14, from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm. Omomola Iyabunmi has pursued her study of African culture and percussion for more than 30 years. Her teachers have included Leonard "Doc" Gibbs, Baba Ibekunle Bey (Robert Crowder), Baba Ishangi Rasak, and Peache Jarman. All sessions are held in a gallery space, surrounded by ancient artifacts. The classes are for all ages and for all levels of playing! A limited number of sekeres will be provided. BYOS (bring your own sekere) recommended! Admission at the door: $15 general admission; $10 Museum members, students with ID, and children 5 to 17.

February 10

Saturday, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm
Second Saturday
The Olympics

In February, the Winter Olympics will be in full swing! Learn about the ancient Olympics at the Penn Museum through a special tour, play games in the galleries, make a special craft, and participate in a scavenger hunt that will challenge you to take a closer look at many objects in the galleries. Second Saturdays at the Penn Museum is an opportunity to explore the museum though tours, scavenger hunts, crafts, and more. Themes and activities change monthly. Free with Museum General Admission.

February 10

Saturday, 3:30 pm
Afternoon Lecture
Alexandria in the Age of Augustus: The View from Cleopatra’s Palace

Travel back in time at this afternoon lecture at the Penn Museum. Though no papyri were ever found in Alexandria, a stack of circa AD 100 Greek papyri from Augustan Alexandria was found elsewhere, recycled as mummy “cartonnage” (covers). Dr. Peter van Minnen, Professor, Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati, discusses how these papyri are mostly concerned with agreements between individual Alexandrians, including Jews, women, freedmen, and slaves. Dr. van Minnen explores what these papyri can tell us about the social history of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, about the apostle Paul, and about Jesus’ garden-tomb. This is a program of the American Research Center in Egypt, Pennsylvania Chapter. Free admission.

February 11

Sunday, 2:00 pm
Second Sunday Culture Film Series: Time Travel
“Sonia’s Dream” and other short films of Aymara culture

The Penn Museum’s Second Sunday Culture Film Series continues. Sonia Mamani, an Aymara chef, creates cuisine from traditionally-gathered wild foods and brings her flavors to the big city, in this 2015 documentary, directed by Diego Saramiento Pagan. Other shorts explore how Aymara and Andean people thrive in the present. Mariana Giusti-Rodríguez of Cornell University, leads a discussion. The film series is presented in association with the Wolf Humanities Center's 2017-18 Forum on Afterlives. Sponsors for this program include Penn Spanish Studies, Penn Latin American and Latino Studies, Cinema and Media Studies, and the University Museum Library. Free with Museum General Admission.

February 11

Sunday, 2 pm
Afternoon Lecture
Dragons of the North: The World of Viking Longships

Enter the world of the Vikings at this free afternoon lecture at the Penn Museum. Viking ships are among the most remarkable artifacts in the entire realm of archaeological discovery, a dominant force in European history for three centuries between AD 800 and 1100. In recent years, ambitious projects in the field of experimental archaeology have involved the reconstruction and sea trials of many ancient Viking ships. Dr. John R. Hale, archaeologist and Director of Liberal Studies, University of Louisville, traces the ancestry of Viking ships back to sewn-plank canoes of the Scandinavian Bronze Age, and shows the links between these remarkable ships and the watercraft of the Pacific and central Africa. Program sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America Philadelphia Society. Free.

February 12

Monday, 6:00pm
Evening Lecture
Chariot and Horse in the Ancient World

Go back in time to Roman chariot races at this free lecture at the Penn Museum. Dr. John R. Hale, archaeologist and Director of Liberal Studies, University of Louisville, has directed fieldwork at the extensive Roman horse farm of Torre de Palma in Portugal (modern Lusitania), where mosaic artists created portraits of five famous stallions. In this illustrated lecture, he shows how chariot-racing became the most popular sport in the ancient Roman world, when hippodromes like the Circus Maximus in Rome became the largest of all Roman public structures. Program sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America Philadelphia Society. Free.

February 21

Wednesday, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Homeschool Day
Archaeological Adventures: Celebrate Africa

Discover more about the many countries, cultures, and languages across the continent of Africa at this Penn Museum program designed to help groups and families use the international collection at the Penn Museum to spark their students’ learning. Examine African history more closely through a guided tour or Storytime Expedition in our galleries. Join an interactive workshop to learn more about both ancient and modern life in Africa. Celebrate the diversity of this continent through art and archaeology. Guests are encouraged to use the flexible format of hands-on workshops, guided tours, interactions with conservators, and more to shape a customized experience around their homeschool or cyber school curricula. Admission and program costs: $12 per child/adult. One adult per family is free and children 3 and under are free. Advance reservations are required. Reserve tickets on our website or call (215)746-6774 for more information.

February 21

Wednesday, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
A Special Archaeological Adventures Storytime
Artifacts Tell the Story

Come to the Penn Museum for a special Storytime inspired by One Book, One Philadelphia! Through a reading of This is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration, children ages 4 to 8 explore how objects can carry stories about the past. Museum Educators guide children on a mini tour of the Africa gallery to explore objects related to the book, with an opportunity to touch and examine artifacts from the Teaching Collection. Participants may also join in the activities of the Archaeological Adventures: Celebrate Africa event (see description, times, above). Admission: $12 per child/adult. One adult per family is free and children 3 and under are free. Advance reservations are required. Reserve tickets on our website or call (215)746-6774 for more information.

February 21

Wednesday, 6:00 pm
P.M. @ Penn Museum
Let’s Talk about Sex(uality)

This post-Valentine’s Day program at the Penn Museum moves beyond traditional explorations of romance, inviting guests to explore sexuality and gender throughout the ages via lectures, guided gallery tours, and performances. Cash bar. Program is open to guests 21 years and older. Admission: $20; $15 Museum Members.

February 24

Saturday, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm
World Culture Day Series
Celebration of African Cultures

Modern African dance and traditional African music, an African marketplace, a mancala game station, craft making for families and more converge at the Penn Museum’s annual Celebration of African Cultures. Local storytellers and artists lead guests in an interactive exploration of traditions from across the African continent, set among the Museum’s collection of textiles, sculpture, and masks in the Africa Gallery, and among statuary and tomb materials from 5,000 years of Egyptian culture in the Egyptian galleries. Free with Museum General Admission.

Regularly Scheduled Programs:

Fridays, 1:30 pm

Unearthed in the Archives

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 the Museum's vast collection. Guests can expect a new experience each week, based on expedition records, vintage photographs, manuscripts, personal letters, and much more. Free with Museum General Admission.

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

The Artifact Lab: Conservation in Action

Go behind the scenes at the Penn Museum! Lab conservators answer questions about their conservation projects—as they study, document, clean, or mend an elegant Middle Eastern pot, an ancient Egyptian coffin lid, or other artifacts from the Museum's collections.

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.