In a message dated 6/14/2006 2:41:40 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Unfortunately, I didnt get very far into the museum before I had to run catch my plane. ********************* Alas! The place is beautiful all over....even before you walk in. The rounded undulating yellow rough hewn rock exterior has waterfalls and pools and is landscaped in maize and tobacco. Even though most of the stuff was made in the 20th century, it all reeks of tradition. I started on the top floor where the exhibits about the individual tribes and their views of the universe are. Tons of garments in every display. Many amazing articles of clothing there. My favorite is a parka from a northwestern Canadian tribe made of seal intestine. It looks just like a hooded parka you might find anywhere except it's composed of translucent horizontal strips...like wax paper. Probably waterproof as well. Also high on my list were these poncho-like shirts from a tribe in Brazil woven to shape in cotton with bands and areas of intricate geometric raised designs woven right in...white on white. Just beautiful. Not everything is modern though. Some Renaissance stuff may be found. I checked out the displays concerning the European "invasion". Lots of Conquistador swords. There's a whole wall of early Bibles printed in Indian languages....as there is also a whole wall of names of tribes that no longer exist at all. Some we know absolutely nothing about but the name. But I too had to leave before I did the whole museum. It's a unique museum with a singular style of displaying the goods. I highly recommend it! Across the Mall in the American History museum [I think] was an exhibit of pre-Columbian gold artifacts. That pure gold is amazing. It really glitters and looks like you could mash the masks and nose ornaments into a ball. The designs were beautiful. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
