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 […]
Lighting up the Ramadan – and the World Cup?
The World Cup has come to an end – at long last to some and way too quickly for others. It has been a year of surprises – England making it to the semifinals for the first time in 28 years, Lionel Messi missing a […]
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 […]
Threadened history: Palestinian dress
Threads in green, yellow, red, blue, pink, orange, all colours imaginable. Stitched into massive and connected patterns covering almost the entirety of the dark dress. Hands working over the fabric and the elegant embroidery thread for hours, days, years to make the dress more than […]
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 […]
Baby nomads: Mongolian child saddle
How do you transport your baby, when you are always on the move, and your mode of transport of a horse or a reindeer? Next week, the new big special exhibition ‘On the steppes of Genghis Khan – Mongolia’s nomads’ opens at Moesgaard Museum. The […]
Free the feet! Swiss wooden sandals
A major Danish newspaper recently released a dress code, warning their employees not to get overly casual in order to survive the unusually warm May, we’ve had. No shorts or tank tops, no dresses above the knee. To us, sun-unaccustomed Danes, who complain when it […]
A suggestion for the sunny days: New Guinean fashion
After the coldest spring in ages, Denmark is now experiencing its warmest May since the Danish Meteorological Institute began recording temperatures back in the 1800s. I do not think I am the only one who is slightly confused. And sweaty… So today, I have dived […]
Pain and expression: Solomon Island tattoo kit
I find tattoos immensely fascinating. From the earliest definitive example of tattoos (Ötzi the 5.000 year old Iceman), to Julius Cesar’s accounts of the painted Gauls, and Ahmad ibn Fadlan’s descriptions of the Scandinavian Rus and their intricately decorated bodies. All right, these last two […]
“What’s you got in there?” An unusual backpack
One might think that it is its look that makes this backpack unusual. And I suppose it is true; the shredded, almost hair-like fibres decorating the backpack makes it look like less of a container for your things, and more like the back of some […]
Artefact lottery: Pointy hat from Kazakhstan
So, today I figured, to Hell with long-winded and well thought through blog posts! Instead, I decided to do a little ‘artefact lottery’: I would close my eyes, scroll through our database, click on something random, and that was to be the subject of my […]
