Current Exhibits
Botánica: A Pharmacy for the Soul Closes Thursday, July 2, 2009 Recreates a botánica, or store that sells items necessary for practicing a variety of Afro-Caribbean religions, based on the one owned by Curator Selina Morales's Puerto Rican grandmother from 1985 through 1991. Drawing on memories, family stories, recent ethnographic fieldwork in botánicas in New York and New Jersey, this exhibit tells a meaningful story of family, community, individuality, creativity, and faith. Read more about it.
Box It Up! Closes Sunday, November 16, 2008 Explores boxes from around the world, and their many uses (Kids' Gallery). Read more about it.
Hindustani Raga Music: Tradition, Evolution, and the Individual Closes Sunday, April 27, 2008 Describes the history of Raga music and how it has developed through the centuries. Read more about it.
Images of Native Americans: The Wanamaker Collection Closes Thursday, July 2, 2009 Presents selections from one of the largest and most important collections of images of Native Americans, and features an overview of the collection's history and its holdings. Read more about it.
The Ones that Got Away: Victorian Women Travel Writers Closes Sunday, May 18, 2008 Looks at 19th century travel literature by Isabelle Bird Bishop and Mary Kingsley, two women who used their work to escape from the traditional role of upper class ladies in Victorian Britain. Read more about it.
Sunken Cities and Shipwrecks: The Growing World of Underwater Museums Closes Friday, December 19, 2008 Delves into the world of underwater museums and addresses the related issues of treasure hunting and site preservation. Read more about it.
Thoughts, Things, and Theories...What Is Culture? Ongoing Examines the nature of culture through the exploration of cultural traditions surrounding life stages and universal needs. Read more about it.
Offsite Exhibits Images of Native Americans: The Wanamaker Collection at Indiana University (traveling throughout Indiana through June 30, 2009) Images from one of the largest and most important collections of photographs of Native Americans are featured in the traveling exhibit Images of Native Americans: The Wanamaker Collection at Indiana University, currently traveling through the state of Indiana. This exhibit, organized by the Mathers Museum of World Cultures at Indiana University Bloomington, is sponsored by the Moveable Feast of the Arts Program at IUB. Created through a generous gift from the Lilly Endowment Inc., the Moveable Feast of the Arts Program was initiated by the IU Office of the President in 2004 with administrative and financial oversight provided by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research. The program's mission is to showcase and extend IU's cultural resources to Hoosier communities and IU campuses across the state.
Online Exhibits The Mandara Margi: A Society Living on the Verge Online Exhibition This online exhibit, created and curated by Dr. James Vaughan, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Indiana University, portrays the lives of eastern Margi of Nigeria between 1959 and 1987. The photographs were taken during five periods and, with one exception, were all taken in the villages of Kirngu and Humbili.