This last month, we have had the pleasure of having Maria Grilo intern at the Ethnographic Department at Moesgaard Museum. Maria is a Portuguese journalist, who came to Denmark to attain an MA in International and Global History at Aarhus University. During her internship, she […]
All posts filed under: Asia
A timeless design: Qatari bracteate
Isn’t it wonderful, how some designs survive practically unchanged for thousands of years, across vast distances of time and space? I still remember the first time I saw the ‘Huldremose woman’, and Iron Age bog body, in the Danish National Museum. After approximately 2000 years […]
Post card from Lyon: Behind the scenes of a museum loan
Last week, I told you how two of our artefacts, a gandao and a gundurik from Kalash, made the journey to Musée des Confluences in Lyon. Today, I thought I would give you a bit of a ‘behind the scenes’ view of what such a […]
Two seasoned travellers: From Afghanistan to Denmark to France
Most of our artefacts spend their days in the cold and the dark. They might be nestled in acid free tissue paper in a cardboard box, or they might lie on a compact shelf whiling the years away. A few lucky artefacts may see the […]
Is there a genie in the lamp?
The Newars is one of the more than 130 ethnic groups in the republic of Nepal. In fact, they are considered to be the indigenous population of the Kathmandu Valley. For a number of reasons, the Newari community has attracted attention since the first Westerners […]
Disposable artefacts or objects without equal?
In April, Ole Winther, head of department in the Agency for Culture and Palaces, attended a meeting on the future for Danish museums in Malmø, Sweden. During the meeting he said: “We have many, many storage units in Denmark, that are filled with old junk […]
”Loaded with devilry”: The shamanic artefacts of the Haslund-Christensen Collection
It did not take long for the Mongolian assistants to realise that something was terribly wrong. The jingling and rattling sounds coming from the bags on the heavily loaded camel exposed their terrifying cargo: a complete set of shaman equipment. Powerful artefacts imbued with spirits, […]
Bones, skin, and silver: Tantric ritual artefacts
Let’s not beat around the bush. If I say ‘Tantric’, I know what you’ll all think. Something about very gymnastic and prolonged sexy times. Perhaps involving the singer Sting and some incense. As if that is not interesting enough in itself, I am here to […]
The unstoppable horde: How the Mongolian recurve bow created the greatest empire ever
I am imagining it was something akin to the famous ‘Loot Train Attack’ from the latest season of Game of Thrones, where the Dothraki army annihilated the small Lannister force, protecting their wagons filled with gold… First the rumble of hooves like distant thunder. The […]
Can faces be artefacts? Werner Jacobsen’s Mongolian life masks
If you walk through the new special exhibition at Moesgaard Museum, ‘On the steppes of Genghis Khan – Mongolia’s nomads’, you will notice that the mannequins on which the beautiful shaman garbs or the women’s dresses are displayed, are not just any old mannequins. They […]
In a galaxy far, far away…: Khalkh Mongol or Queen Amidala?
I’ll be the first to admit that the Star Wars ‘prequel trilogy’ had issues (*cough* Jar Jar *cough*). But one thing, which certainly inspired me, when I saw the first one back in 1999, was the splendour, intricacy, and (perhaps uncomfortable) beauty of Queen Amidala’s […]
Getting ready for ‘On the steppes of Genghis Khan – Mongolia’s nomads’
Today is the day! Guests from near and far will, in a few hours, show up at Moesgaard Museum to attend the official opening of the new special exhibition ‘On the steppes of Genghis Khan – Mongolia’s nomads’ – tomorrow it is the turn of […]
ethnographica 