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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.

Xuanzang and the Silk Road Pt. 4

By: Stephen Lang

Back in June of 2010 I wrote about travelling to the Nara National Museum for an exhibition about China’s influence on Japan during the Tang Dynasty. see:  http://penn.museum/blog/museum/crating-and-packing/ During my trip I visited a temple called Yakushi-ji Temple.    Near the entrance there was one object that  caught my eye, a replica of the pedestal […]

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Inside Info: The Silk Road Exhibition

By: Josh

Hi! Social Media Josh here. Just got done my lunch break and decided to hop upstairs and pay a visit to the Secrets of the Silk Road Exhibition. The staff here really did an amazing job. The atmosphere, artifacts, music and mummies provide an experience that can’t be matched. The interactive portions all provide hands-on […]

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Archival travelogue films: China!

By: Kate Pourshariati

In preparation for the Chinese New Year celebrations we have pulled some archival travelogue footage from two collections; Kate and Arthur Tode, and Mrs. J. Shipley Dixon. As you will see, the films are remarkable for their view of pre-revolutionary period China, both 1930 “Canton” (Guangzhou) and 1945(?) “Peking” (Beijing). The filmmakers in both cases […]

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Not a hoax! “Matto Grosso” and “The Kid”

By: Alessandro Pezzati

Missing sibling film re-united with Matto Grosso: The Great Brazilian Wilderness (1931) Three weeks ago you were introduced to Tari, the cute Bororo boy who appears in one of the Penn Museum’s films.  He also had a starring role in his own short film, which was only recently rediscovered.  You will be able to see […]

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