BRUNSWICK
“Animal Allies: Inuit Views of the Natural World,” a new exhibition that explores the relationship between humans and animals in the Inuit world, opens today at the Peary- MacMillan Arctic Museum on the Bowdoin College campus. The exhibit will run though April 6, 2014.
A release from the college describes the exhibit as follows:
Visitors venturing into the exhibit may find themselves looking a polar bear in the eye, learning to pronounce the Inuit names for various animals, marveling at Inuit carvings of beings that seem half animal and half human, or touching a narwhal tusk.
The exhibit explores the Inuit world view in which humans and animals are interdependent and connected in profound ways. Over many generations, Inuit have accumulated detailed information about all facets of their environment.
“Inuit have to understand their environment thoroughly to survive,” curator Genevieve LeMoine states in the release. “They are always watching and learning about animals, and passing this vast store of knowledge on to their kids. Increasingly they are sharing this knowledge with scientists as well.”
Visitors will learn about the behavior of seals, whales, polar bears, caribou and muskoxen by looking at contemporary
Inuit carvings and prints, and traditional implements and clothing, and by seeing what Inuit men and women have observed about these animals.
From a massive polar bear to a miniature carving of a shaman disguised as a walrus, the displays highlight an Inuit perspective of the animals on which they rely.
Inuit understanding of animals extends beyond the sorts of behavioral and population data typically collected by scientists.
“ Inuit communities are faced with a difficult balancing act, juggling often conflicting traditional cultural perspectives and western attitudes and practices about the environment and animals,” museum director Susan Kaplan said in the release.
The exhibit explores both challenging and successful collaborations between Inuit communities and scientists while highlighting information about the animals that is of interest and concern to everyone.
The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum is located on the first floor of Hubbard Hall on the Bowdoin College campus. The museum is open from 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Mondays and holidays.
Admission is free. For more information call 725-3416 or visit www.bowdoin.edu/arctic museum.
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