Did you know that Christianity flourished in Ethiopia many hundreds of years before it reached Scandinavia? Christianity became the state religion in Ethiopia in 330 AD, five hundred years before the first missionaries reached Denmark in the Viking Age. We, here in Northern Europe, pride […]
Do any of you watch Doctor Who? The brilliant British TV series about an alien called a Time Lord, who travels in time and space in his time machine (shaped like a blue Police Box), usually accompanied by a human sidekick or two. It is […]
Am I the only one, who finds it infuriating when the covers of fashion magazines tell me about the items I simply MUST HAVE this summer/winter/fall/festival/Christmas/Easter/graduation/garden party…? ’10 Things Every Woman Must Own’. ‘Rachel Zoe’s Top 10 Fall Must-Haves’. ‘15 Must-Have Items for a Classic […]
Guest blogger Anders Norge Lauridsen takes an unassuming raffia cloth from Madagascar as his point of departure, and tells a tale that spans 1600 years and half the globe. Join us as he shows us how objects can hold This elegant raffia cloth from Madagascar […]
The Ethnographic Collections at Moesgaard Museum contains many amazing and interesting things. We have a Peruvian mummy, beautiful swords, a rare Thai temple scroll, Gandao grave figures from Kalasha, Pakistan, ancestor figures from Papua New Guinea… the list is endless. However, we also have some […]
Who on earth is this little dude?!? With his stiff legs sticking out, he does not look too comfortable lying there, in our photographer’s studio, on his big, bloated belly, mouth wide open. In fact, he has travelled a long way to get here: all […]
It is that time of year again. Birds are singing in the morning, anemones and daffodils are shooting out of the ground, and the trees are covered in vivid green buds, just longing to burst. Spring is here! In Denmark, the winter is long, dark […]
If you live in Denmark, and just happened to be at home yesterday, you might be surprised by groups of costumed children ringing your doorbell, singing songs and asking for money, and promising mischief if you do not comply. Yesterday, you see, was ‘Fastelavn’, the […]
Sometimes, it all just becomes very grown-up. You go to work, drive your car, pick up kids from kinder garden, school, or whatever party they went to on Friday night, you struggle to decide what to have for dinner. You pay your taxes, buy toilet […]
Tomorrow being Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d showcase some of our more… shall we say… sexy artefacts: the sometimes racy and endlessly fascinating Makonde art. Let us get a bit of background before we get to the saucy bits. The Makonde are an ethnic group […]
Sometimes, we just need that bit of extra protection. To ward off evil spirits, protect us from accidents and jealousy, and to shield us from harm when we throw ourselves into perilous situations… For thousands of years, we humans have carried amulets and sacred objects, […]
In this guest blog, MA in Anthropology Anders Norge Lauridsen tells the fascinating story of how he procured a pair of mohara; sacred spirit amulets shrouded in mystery, for Moesgaard Museum. So read on, and travel with Anders to the Sihanaka of Madagascar: ”So, is […]
