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Welcome to the Penn Museum blog. First launched in January 2009, the Museum blog now has over 800 posts covering a range of topics in the categories of Museum, Collection, Exhibitions, Research, and By Location. Here you’ll hear directly from our staff and Penn students about their work, research, experiences, and discoveries. To explore the Museum's other digital content, visit The Digital Penn Museum.


Cherokee Dance Rattles

By: Margaret Bruchac

Sound and Motion in Museum Objects: Cherokee Stomp Dance Ankle Band Rattles Object Analysis and Report for Anthropology of Museums by Sarah Parkinson How should museums represent objects that incorporate sound and movement? This seems to be a unique challenge, since museums tend to rely on visual cues alone in displays that are static and mute. During a […]

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Archives Photo of the Week: Fun Find

By: Eric Schnittke

Every so often, you stumble across an oddity in the archives. This week, I found something that piqued my interest. A researcher was visiting the archives, looking through records from Erich Schmidt’s expedition to Persepolis, Iran. Part of this particular collection is a set of photo albums containing prints that Schmidt had collected  during his […]

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Summer Nights Featuring Animus

By: Ashley Harper

Last night was a perfect combination of cool summer weather, eclectic sounds and belly dancing (of course). For pictures from the event, including belly dancing Quinn, click here! It was a well rounded evening when you add in the presence of non-for-profit groups like Alex’s Lemonade Stand and New Leash on Life. The latter is […]

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Summer Nights Featuring Minas!

By: Ashley Harper

A hot and humid August day gets a refreshing twist during Penn Museum’s Summer Nights concert series. This time we heard the luscious sounds of musicians: Orlando Haddad and Patricia King. They formed Minas in 1978 at North Carolina School of the Arts and have been traveling both around the U.S and South America ever […]

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Summer Nights Foursquare Special

By: Josh

Wednesday nights ring out this summer in West Philadelphia, as the rich sounds of international music return to the lush garden setting at Penn Museum. The third annual P.M. @ Penn Museum Summer Nights music series features weekly performances onWednesdays, June 20 through August 29, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, in the Penn Museum’s Stoner Courtyard. Make sure […]

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Free Hip Hop Concert Tonight! [audio]

By: Amy Ellsworth

Back in January 2012, local hip hop artists visited the African, Egyptian, and Imagine Africa galleries at the Penn Museum to draw musical (and lyrical) inspiration from the African art and artifacts. The artists, selected by local hip hop radio DJ, Zachariah Hardin aka T.H.E., include godHead The General, Magnum O, Darian The Great, KNomadz, […]

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If Vampire Weekend Spent Some Time in Africa…

By: Gabrielle Niu

While there isn’t a section specifically on the music of Africa in the Penn Museum’s Imagine Africa project, the evolution of contemporary African music is a great way to hear the ways that African culture influences and is influenced by the rest of the world. The band “The Very Best” was formed in London when […]

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