Penn Museum Advance Calendar of Events September and October 2016

The Penn Museum offers a wide range of programming for diverse ages and interests: talks, tours, concerts, films, happy hour and young adult events, homeschool days and family days, afternoons, and sleepovers, even gallery romps for the littlest ones. For the most updated information on programs, and for online pre-registration (optional or required for some programs) visit the Museum’s website: www.penn.museum/calendar

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SEPTEMBER

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Wednesday September 7, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
P.M. @ Penn Museum: Summer Nights Concert Finale

Trinidelphia

The outdoor Summer Nights Concert Series ends on a high note with Trinidelphia, a local steelpan band that pleases audiences with a rich blend of Trinidadian Soca, Calypso, Latin jazz, reggae, salsa, and American top 40 sounds. Trinidelphia’s unique and rhythmic arrangements of jazz and popular songs cast the steelpan in fresh new light, pushing the stylistic and artistic boundaries of an often-typecast instrument. Admission (includes admission to the Museum): $10 per person, $5 PennCard holders, Penn Medicine and CHOP employees with ID; free to Penn students, Penn Museum members, children under 6.

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Thursday September 8, 12:30pm
Brown Bag Lecture

The Three Phases of Sans Souci: Recent Discoveries and Heritage Archaeology at the Palace of Henry Christophe

New excavations by an international team of archaeologists at Haiti’s San Souci, the Palace of Henry Christophe, an UNESCO World Heritage site, is the subject of this Penn Cultural Heritage Center lunchtime lecture by J. Cameron Monroe, University of California, Santa Cruz. Despite the centrally important role this palace site has played in the production of historical memory in Haiti, little archaeological work had been carried out to study its building chronology and the organization of space across the palace precinct. In the summer of 2015, a team from the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Arkansas, in partnership with Haiti’s Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National initiated geophysical survey and archaeological testing across the palace grounds with this goal in mind. Admission: free. Guests are encouraged to bring a lunch. Nevil Classroom.

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Saturday, September 10, Two performances, 8:00pm or 9:45pm
Fringe Festival: Theater in the Galleries

The Eumenides

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Saturday, September 17, 3:30pm
Afternoon Lecture

Armed and Dangerous: An Iconography of Protective Middle and New Kingdom Demons

Dr. Kasia Szpakowska, Associate Professor of Egyptology at Swansea University, Wales, and Director of the Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project, presents at this American Research Center in Egypt – Pennsylvania Chapter, program. The practices and beliefs associated with medicine, magic, and religion in Ancient Egypt were integrated into daily life rather than separated as they are in many parts of the world today, and a wide range of demons were held to blame for ailments, diseases, and conditions both physical and psychological. Dr. Szpakowska shares information about Egyptian demons, and introduces participants to a unique database under construction: DemonBase: The Imaginal Realm of Ancient Egyptian Supernatural Beings. Admission: $10 for the general public, $7 for Penn Museum members and PennCard holders, $5 for students with ID, and free for ARCE members and children under 12.

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Wednesday, September 21, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Homeschool Day

Archaeological Adventures: Exploring the Middle East

Take a guided tour of the Iraq’s Ancient Past and The Golden Age of King Midas special exhibitions before they come to a close this winter! Homeschoolers can try their hand at making a mosaic or a cylinder seal and visit conservators In the Artifact Lab. Young learners can hear more about the ancient writing tablet collections and learn to write their name in ancient cuneiform. Homeschool Day admission and program costs: $12 per child/adult. One adult per family is free and children 3 and under are free. Advance reservations are required; call (215)746-6774 for more information.

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Wednesday, September 21, 6:15 pm
AIA Evening Lecture

Rebooting Antiquity: How Holy Wars, Media Hype, and Digital Technologies Are Changing the Face of 21st Century Archaeology

Neil Asher Silberman, archaeologist, author, and managing partner of Coherit Associates, speaks at this evening program sponsored by the Philadelphia chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America. His illustrated lecture highlights some of the recent discoveries and ongoing controversies in the Americas, Europe, and Asia that exemplify the dramatic new directions that archaeology is taking in our globalized, internet age. Free admission.

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Saturday, September 24, 1:00 - 4:00 pm
International Day of Peace

Origami Paper Cranes

Joining Peace Day Philly in honor of the United Nations 2016 International Day of Peace (officially September 21), the Penn Museum invites guests of all ages to create origami paper cranes—a symbol of peace—at an afternoon craft table. Guests can write their own messages of peace on the cranes, creating one crane to hang on a special peace display, and a second crane to share with a fellow museum visitor. Free with Museum general admission.

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Thursday, September 29, 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Young Professionals Event

Mummies and Martinis

Enjoy the dramatic backdrop of the Museum's collections during an after-work happy hour in the Egypt (Mummies) Gallery. Admission: $9 per person (includes one free drink for guests 21 and older).

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OCTOBER

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Saturday, October 1, 10:30am - 11:15 am
Young Families Event

Gallery Romp: Ancient Rome

Young children (ages 3–6) and their favorite grownups are invited to journey to ancient Rome during this first Saturday Young Families Event, part of the Ciao Philadelphia Italian Cultural Month celebration. Discover the origins of the seasons though the classic tale of Proserpina’s journey into the Underworld. Free with Museum general admission. Limited space is available; advance registration is encouraged at www.penn.museum/galleryromps.

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Wednesday, October 5, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
P.M. @ Penn Museum: Color between the Wines

Featured Artifact: Bull’s Head Lyre

Co-workers and friends can gather in the international galleries for this Adult Coloring Meet Up! Socialize and recharge with other adult coloring book enthusiasts while illustrating images and designs based on Penn Museum artifacts. Guests depart on a mini-gallery tour at 6:30 pm to get inspiration from world-renowned art and artifacts. Wine, beer, light dinner fare, and snacks are available for purchase in the Pepper Mill Café. Coloring materials are provided. Admission: $5 per person, includes art supplies and general Museum admission.

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Wednesday, October 5, 6:00 pm
Great Beasts of Legend Lecture Series

Anzu: The Lion-Headed Eagle Who Wanted to Rule the Universe

The Penn Museum’s popular monthly evening lecture series kicks off in October, with a fresh theme: Great Beasts of Legend. Throughout history, great beasts and monsters, fabled or not, have terrorized, enchanted, and eluded humans. Join leading Penn scholars on an exploration of some of the best stories from the around the world, and meet some memorable beasts, including Centaurs, Hobbits, and Sphinxes. Dr. Steve Tinney, Associate Curator, Babylonian Section, starts off the series with an in-depth look at Anzu, one of ancient Mesopotamia’s iconic monsters, a giant eagle with a lion’s head, depicted in art from as early as 2500 BCE. As a symbol of the gods and friend of heroes, Anzu's early career seems benign, but somewhere along the way his ambition gets the better of him. Dr. Tinney follows Anzu from artistic masterpiece to cosmic threat to his eventual ignominious demise by a fatal twist. Admission: nine lecture series subscription $40 ($15 Penn Museum members); $5 single lecture advance ticket ($2 Penn Museum members); $10 at the door.

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Thursday, October 6, 6:45 pm
Evening Lecture: Keynote Address

Archaeology and Conservation in Turkey

C. Brian Rose, the James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania, and Curator-in-Charge, Mediterranean Section, Penn Museum, offers a public keynote address at Engaging Conservation: Collaboration Across Disciplines, an international conservation symposium presented on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Penn Museum’s Conservation Department. Director of the Museum’s Gordion Archaeological Project in Turkey, where Penn Museum archaeologists have been making discoveries, and working with conservation colleagues to preserve and conserve fragile material culture for decades, Dr. Rose speaks about negotiating the interaction of archaeology and conservation in that country in the 20th and 21st centuries. Information about the full symposium is online. Lecture admission: $5; free for Penn Museum members.

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Sunday, October 9, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Family Second Sunday

Destination Ancient Rome: Mosaics

Mosaics were a common feature in public buildings and the homes of the wealthy in ancient Rome. Guests of all ages discover the many mosaics in the Penn Museum’s collections at a Look and Learn tour through the gallery at 1:00 or 3:00 pm. Then, guests are invited to create an original mosaic inspired by the Ancients! Drop in program. Free with Museum general admission.

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Sunday, October 9, 2:00 pm
Second Sunday Film Series: Language is Culture

Chinese Restaurants—Canadian Plains (2005)

The Penn Museum’s annual Second Sunday Film Series is held in conjunction with the 2016-2017 Penn Humanities Forum on Translation. This year’s culture films are curated around the themes of translation, accents, and languages. The series kicks off with Chinese Restaurants—Canadian Plains, a short film by director Cheuk Kwan, who joins Josephine Park, Associate Professor, English and Asian American Studies at Penn, for a post-screening discussion. The film follows the charming and gregarious Jim Kook, who came to the prairie town of Outlook, Saskatchewan as a “paper son” using a dead Chinese Canadian’s identity. Kook became fluent in the language and culture of the plains of Canada, in the process making himself and his New Outlook Café essential to the town for 40 years. Free with Museum admission.

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Thursday, October 13, 6:00 pm
DIY Craft Night

Make, Shake, and Take: Sekere

Bring along some friends for a craftsy, fun, and musically inspired evening, while making a personal sekere, working with sekere musician Omomola Iyabunmi, founder of the Women’s Sekere Ensemble. The sekere is a traditional West African percussion instrument made from a dried gourd with beads woven into a net that covers the gourd. Visit the Museum’s Africa Gallery and be inspired by the variety of handmade percussion instruments on display. Admission: $45 per person (includes one drink—wine, beer, or soda).

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Sunday, October 16, 3:30 pm
Afternoon Lecture

Crafts and Consumerism in Predynastic Egypt

Dr. Emily Teeter, Egyptologist, Research Associate, and Coordinator of Special Exhibits at the Oriental Institute, Chicago, speaks at this American Research Center in Egypt – Pennsylvania Chapter, program. A close look at artifacts of Egypt’s Predynastic Period (ca. 4500-3100 BCE), Dr. Teeter asserts, have the potential to tell us much about life and society in the era before writing. Changing styles of stone vessels, the decoration of painted pottery, and the choice of specific materials all attest to early consumerism, links between craftsmen and the market, and to claims of status through personal possessions. The rich archaeological record documents an ancient society marked by surprising similarities to today’s consumerism. Admission: $10 for the general public, $7 for Penn Museum members and PennCard holders, $5 for students with ID, and free for ARCE members and children under 12.

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Sunday, October 16, 3:00 pm
Afternoon Concert

Relâche in Residence: Very New Sounds for Very Old Texts and Film

Relâche, the internationally renowned new music ensemble, kicks off its 2016–2017 concert series at the Penn Museum with new music to accompany some old silent film favorites—and a new commission inspired by 4,000-year-old texts from the Penn Museum's collection of Sumerian cuneiform tablets. The ensemble performs the world premiere of Sumer Redux, the new commission by the company’s composer and bassoonist Chuck Holdeman. The three fantastical Méliès silent films ca. 1903, The Merry Frolics of Satan, Hydrotherapie Fantastique, and The Damnation of Faust, are screened with new music by Phillip Johnston. A Relâche premiere by Paul A. Epstein rounds out the program. Admission: $15 adults; $10 Penn Museum members; $5 students with ID. Ticketed guests may visit the Museum galleries from 2:00 to 3:00 pm (Admission to the special exhibition, The Golden Age of King Midas, is available for an additional fee.)

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Wednesday, October 19, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Homeschool Day

Archaeological Adventures: Encountering Ancient Egypt

What better way to celebrate Halloween than learning about mummies? Homeschool groups can take a gallery tour that features our giant Sphinx and real mummies in the Penn Museum’s collection. Visit conservators In the Artifact Lab, join a hands-on workshop about ancient Egyptian embalming, or make your own “false door.” Choose an artifact to study closely through sketches and complete an “object biography” about it. Homeschool Day admission and program costs: $12 per child/adult. One adult per family is free and children 3 and under are free. Advance reservations are required; call (215)746-6774 for more information.

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Friday, October 28, 12:30 pm
Pop Up Concert in the Galleries

Penn Flutes: Halloween in the Air

The Penn Flutes ensemble transports guests on a musical spooky adventure featuring Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt Suite, Danse Macabre, and Music for Pieces of Bone! An all-flute ensemble directed by Michele Kelly, Penn Flutes “pops up” for a short concert that reverberates in the galleries. Founded in 2000, this ensemble of Penn students and other members of Philadelphia’s music community presents widely throughout the Philadelphia region, often featuring new works for flute ensembles. Free with Museum admission.

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Saturday, October 29, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
World Cultures Series: Mexico

Day of the Dead

The Mexican Cultural Center, the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia, and the Penn Museum present this Day of the Dead celebration. Enjoy Mexican culture and the rich traditions of Día de los Muertos at this family-friendly afternoon filled with music and dance, puppetry and storytelling, and arts and crafts. The centerpiece of the afternoon, presented in the Museum's majestic Rotunda, is a traditional Day of the Dead altar created by artists from the Mexican Cultural Center and the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia, built just for the celebration, with dedications to those who died placed upon the ofrenda (altar). Community groups build and display their own altars, which compete for prizes. Costumed guests under 12 receive half-price admission to the celebration. Guests dressed in a Day of the Dead-themed costume such as La Catrina, or as a traditional Mexican icon like Frida Kahlo, can join a parade and costume contest! Free with Museum general admission.

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ONGOING OFFERINGS

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Fridays, 1:30 and 2:00 pm

Unearthed in the Archives

Take a trip through Museum (and world) history in the Penn Museum Archives. Informal weekly chats investigate the many interesting and unusual documents safeguarded in this vast collection. Guests can look for a new experience each week, based on expedition records, vintage photographs, manuscripts, personal letters, and much more.

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Tuesdays through Fridays, 11:15 - 11:45 am and 2:00 - 2:30 pm
Saturdays and Sundays, 12:30 - 1:00 and 3:30 - 4:00 pm

In the Artifact Lab: Conserving Egyptian Mummies

Lab conservators open their window and are ready to answer questions about their conservation projects—anything from studying, documenting, cleaning, or mending an elegant ancient coffin lid, elaborately wrapped animal and human mummies, or working on other artifacts from the Museum's collections.

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Saturdays and Sundays, 1:30 pm

Gallery Tours

Penn Museum docents share stories behind the collections, special exhibitions, and cultures presented in the galleries on 45-minute gallery tours that leave from the Kamin Main Entrance desk most weekend afternoons. Topics change. Check the Museum calendar for current schedule: www.penn.museum/events-calendar

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About the Penn Museum

The Penn Museum (the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) is dedicated to the study and understanding of human history and diversity. Founded in 1887, the Museum has sent more than 350 archaeological and anthropological expeditions to all the inhabited continents of the world. With an active exhibition schedule and educational programming for children and adults, the Museum offers the public an opportunity to share in the ongoing discovery of humankind's collective heritage.

The Penn Museum is located at 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (on Penn's campus, across from Franklin Field). Public transportation to the Museum is available via SEPTA's Regional Rail Line at University City Station; the Market-Frankford Subway Line at 34th Street Station; trolley routes 11, 13, 34, and 36; and bus routes 21, 30, 40, and 42. Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and first Wednesdays of each month until 8:00 pm, with P.M. @ PENN MUSEUM evening programs offered. Closed Mondays and holidays. Admission donation is $15 for adults; $13 for senior citizens (65 and above); free for U.S. Military; $10 for children and full-time students with ID; free to Members, PennCard holders, and children 5 and younger. For the special exhibition The Golden Age of King Midas opening February 13, there is an additional $5/person charge (Free for Penn Museum Members, PennCard holders and children under 6). Hot and cold meals and light refreshments are offered to visitors with or without Museum admission in The Pepper Mill Café; the Museum Shop offers a wide selection of gifts, books, games, clothing and jewelry. Penn Museum can be found on the web at www.penn.museum. For general information call 215.898.4000. For group tour information call 215.746.8183.

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Photos, top to bottom: "The Eumenides," a Fringe Festival offering at the Penn Museum, runs Saturday, September 10 at 8:00 pm and 9:45 pm. Directed by Marcia Ferguson, the production is staged across the Museum's third floor galleries (Photo: Brooke Sietinsons). Scene from "Mustang," a 2015 Turkish film about five orphaned sisters. The Penn Museum and the Turkish American Friendship Society of the U.S. present the film Sunday, October 2, as part of a Turkish film festival. (Photo courtesy of Nihal Koldas). A Roman armor station inside the Penn Museum. Ancient Italian culture is the focus of the Museum's International Archaeology Day, Saturday, October 15, in conjunction with Ciao Philadelphia 2016 month-long celebration of Italy. (Photo: Penn Museum). Guests can explore ancient serving vessels for alcohol and other ancient treasures from the Republic of Turkey in The Golden Age of King Midas at a tutored wine tasting of ancient grape varieties Wednesday, October 19 at 6:00 pm (Photo: Penn Museum)