Summer is finally upon us! And as the days become longer and warmer it becomes important to take precautions when stepping outside in the harsh scorching sunlight. For years Danish authorities have been trying to get Danes to take care and seek shelter from the […]
All my bags are packed
At the museum, we are looking forward to the summer season. Guests from all over the world will visit us and our beautiful city, and we are more than ready to welcome them! Hopefully they will save a little space in their bags for nice […]
In the aftermath of a superstar
I have this fantasy. It might seem a little odd, but it goes like this: I have made friends with someone who used to be famous and popular. Someone, who has stepped out of the spotlight. Perhaps because of age. Yes, he or she has […]
The devil is in the detail
Take a good look at this figure. It might look like a harmless chameleon-like sculpture, beautifully carved in black ivory wood, but you better be careful around it, because it is in fact something completely different. The name of the figure is nailu and it […]
Holy men and unwashed children – thoughts from an internship at MOMU
Picture this: It’s Monday. You check your phone. It’s 9 in the morning and you just took a five-minute drive in a red Peugeot with two of your colleagues. Calendar-wise it is the middle of May, but you’re all draped in sweaters, heavy coats and […]
From boys to men – with the help of Pwevo, the ideal woman
This blog post is special in the sense that it is a nearly direct translation of a description written for the Pwevo mask, which is part of the UNESCO collections from Zambia. The description takes us all the way from Moesgaard Museum’s exhibition ‘The Lives […]
Hats: A World Tour
Around the world, humans have covered their heads for various reasons. Sometimes to protect themselves from the heat of the sun or the falling snow. Some wear a particular headgear on an everyday basis while other kinds of hats are used only on special occasions. […]
The familiar strange and the strange familiar: Warding off all evils with the help of a CD
Scrolling through the ethnographic collections allows you to enter into a whole world of objects – from ant-belts, spirit houses, machetes, masks to musical instruments, dolls, camel saddles and even more. But among the more ‘fantastical’ objects in the collections are also some seemingly ordinary. […]
Where there’s tea there’s hope
English playwright Arthur Wing Pinero said that ‘where there’s tea there’s hope’. In many societies, drinking tea is a social event; sometimes even a ritual; something to gather around, something that organises the day, a tradition, a cultural practice. And around the globe, tea is […]
Gaining Strength with Ant Bites
It is early spring in Denmark, and the tricky changing temperatures mean that people run the risk of getting yet another cold. Getting a cold often means staying in bed and many people drink mug after mug of hot chamomile tea with honey until their […]
Egg hunting in the Ethnographic Collections
The tradition of hunting for eggs as a celebration of Easter is older than I thought. I had always assumed that hunting for eggs was another Anglo-American scheme to make more money on capitalising on holidays. The tradition goes back to 1700’s Netherlands, where children […]
On Garments and Gender
When my son was 4 years old, he loved to dress in skirts. Reactions from the surroundings varied a lot: from the daycare assistant who laughed and said he was funny, to his great grandfather who exclaimed that skirts were for girls only. Not to […]
