“Mythic” Opens
Posted by: Loren Coleman on May 26th, 2007
The exhibition, “Mythic Creatures” opens at The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City on Saturday, May 26, 2007.
Two good articles on the exhibition and the opening are (click on the title of each article for the link):
“The Surprising Realities of Mythical Creatures,” LiveScience;
“Exploring the Nature of the Unnatural,” New York Times.
On some level, I was surprised to see Richard Ellis is a curator of the exhibition, while on another, I wasn’t. Richard has painted and illustrated various museums and books with some outstanding images of marine life, has a deep interest in the Kraken (giant squid), and has authored a book on Sea Monsters (which I have noted is rather more open-minded than Ellis’ heavily edited documentary television appearances makes him out to be).
The media has tended to use Ellis as the ultimate skeptic or debunker, but, indeed, he has written of the mystery of the “Great Sea Serpent” and how Steller’s Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) is the “skeleton in the closet” of cryptozoology. Unfortunately, his missteps in quotes used in commentaries via reality programming about cryptids are more well-known. I look forward to seeing what the AMNH and Richard Ellis have done with cryptozoology in this exhibition.
Of course, the use of “mythic” versus “legendary” or “folkloric,” perhaps, already gives us some clues about how the general public might experience it.
I will be delivering a presentation, “Introduction to Cryptozoology,” in conjuntion with this exhibition, on December 1, 2007, at the AMNH.
See you there.
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It’s a step in the right direction. Back when I was working at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, several co-workers and I tried very hard to get them to let us put together a cryptozoology exhibit. Despite our presentation consisting of illustrations and exhibit ideas, they opted for a show in tribute to Charlie Brown’s dog Snoopy.
Oh man, this sounds very neat. I wish there was something like this in California (We did get a bog body exhibit though, so I can’t complain).
It would be nice to see something directed towards the more realistic cryptids, which this new exhibit sounds like it might do, though alongside mermaids and dragons and what not.
Very cool!
Is there a museum book to accompany the exhibition? If so, can anyone advise me how I many obtain a copy?
Damn! Six years too late! I used to be an assistant registrar at AMNH. This would’ve been my dream exhibition. Oh well, I’m definitely going to go see it.