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New Civil War museum at Appomattox features General Lee's sword and uniform

New Civil War museum at Appomattox features General Lee's sword and uniform Mar 26th, 2012 at 10:00AM: As we reported a year ago, a new Civil War museum has been under construction at Appomattox, Virginia. It is a branch of Richmond's Museum of the Confederacy and will commemorate the surrender of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and the aftermath of the Civil War. Now the Museum of the Confederacy-Appomattox is almost complete and will open March 31. Among the displays are ...

The art of William S. Burroughs on display in Germany

The art of William S. Burroughs on display in Germany Mar 24th, 2012 at 1:00PM: William S. Burroughs is most famous for his experimental novels about heroin and gay sex, yet he was active in many arts. Now a new exhibition at the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany, is focusing on his lesser-known artistic output. The exhibition, "the name is BURROUGHS -- Expanded Media," highlights the author's film, photography, collage and audio experiments. Much of ...

The Art Newspaper reveals most popular exhibitions and museums of 2011

The Art Newspaper reveals most popular exhibitions and museums of 2011 Mar 24th, 2012 at 11:00AM: The folks over at the Art Newspaper have just released some interesting stats about the art world of 2011. Collecting a huge amount of data from hundreds of museums and galleries, they've discovered some important trends. First off, the big shows are getting bigger. The top ten most popular art shows back in 1996, the first year they gathered figures, averaged 3,000 visitors a day. Last ...

'Egyptomania' grips Houston

'Egyptomania' grips Houston Mar 19th, 2012 at 2:00PM: The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, has just opened a new exhibition exploring the West's fascination with ancient Egypt. "Egyptomania" collects forty objects from the Egyptian revivals of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. This was the time when the West became widely aware of the great civilization of Egypt and started excavating there. Cutting open mummies became popular ...

Major Goya exhibition in Barcelona, Spain

Major Goya exhibition in Barcelona, Spain Mar 17th, 2012 at 10:00AM: The CaixaForum art gallery in Barcelona, Spain, has just opened a major exhibition on the famous Spanish artist Francisco de Goya. Best known for his dark paintings of witches and Napoleon's brutal invasion of Spain, Goya actually produced a broad range of work during a career that spanned almost seventy years and included paintings, drawings, prints and tapestries. He was very popular with ...

The Kensington Runestone and other Viking mysteries in America

Mar 16th, 2012 at 10:00AM: When I was in the fifth grade, my teacher asked me what I thought was an easy question. "Who discovered America?" "The Indians!" I replied. My teacher frowned at me and asked, "No, what EUROPEAN discovered America?" "Oh, Leif Erikson. He was a Viking." Obviously annoyed, my teacher told me, "No! COLUMBUS discovered America." "But the Vikings came here in the year 1000. ...

Marilyn Monroe exhibit opening in London

Marilyn Monroe exhibit opening in London Mar 9th, 2012 at 5:00PM: A new exhibit in London is dedicated to Marilyn Monroe, the icon of beauty from an era when "beauty" meant something other than "built like a fourteen-year-old anorexic junkie." Marilyn opens today at the Getty Images Gallery and will feature iconic photographs and original dresses from Monroe's many films. It also tells the story of how she rose as an aspiring actress to become one of ...

Top ten things to do in Brussels, Belgium

Top ten things to do in Brussels, Belgium Mar 6th, 2012 at 11:00AM: A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with some fellow travel writers and the conversation turned to Brussels. The general consensus seemed to be that Belgium's capital isn't worth visiting. I disagree. While it can't compete with London or Paris, it has its own charm and can easily fill up three or four days of a European tour. The mixture of Flemish and Walloon culture makes for a distinct ...

Upcoming exhibition will debunk Mayan prophecy of the end of the world in 2012

Mar 4th, 2012 at 2:00PM: An exhibition coming to Philadelphia will tackle this year´s hottest pseudo-archaeological topic: the Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012. "Maya 2012: Lords of Time" at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology will explain the Mayan civilization's complex interlocking calendar systems through interactive displays and a rich collection of art and ...

Center for PostNatural History showcases human-altered lifeforms

Center for PostNatural History showcases human-altered lifeforms Mar 2nd, 2012 at 1:00PM: We live in a world of genetically modified cotton, BioSteel™ goats, and pluots - in other words, a world where much of the nature surrounding us isn't actually so natural at all. For this new world, Pittsburgh now has a new museum, the Center for PostNatural History, which aims to explore the complex interplay between culture, nature, and biotechnology. Opening on March 2, the museum will ...

Genghis Khan exhibit in Chicago the biggest ever

Genghis Khan exhibit in Chicago the biggest ever Feb 27th, 2012 at 3:00PM: A new exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago spotlights the world's greatest conqueror. Genghis Khan brings together the largest collection of 13th century Mongol artifacts ever. The exhibition traces the career of Genghis Khan from his birth in 1162, to a noble but obscure family, through his conquest of an empire that was larger than the Roman Empire. In fact, it was the largest ever, ...

2012 is shaping up to be a big year for Islamic art

2012 is shaping up to be a big year for Islamic art Feb 27th, 2012 at 2:00PM: This year, several major exhibitions and new galleries are focusing on Islamic art. The biggest news comes from Paris, where the Louvre is building a new wing dedicated to Islamic art. This is the biggest expansion to the museum since the famous glass pyramid. The new wing will have room to display more than 2500 artifacts from the Louvre's permanent collection as well as notable loans. It will ...

Washington, D.C. breaks ground today for brand new National Museum of African American History and Culture

Washington, D.C. breaks ground today for brand new National Museum of African American History and Culture Feb 22nd, 2012 at 4:00PM: This morning, Washington, D.C. held a groundbreaking ceremony for their brand new National Museum of African American History and Culture that will be the Smithsonian Institution's 19th museum. The event, attended by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, marked Black History Month by celebrating a new kind of history museum that looks to educate people through a candid ...

Albania's National Museum faces up to Communist past

Albania's National Museum faces up to Communist past Feb 22nd, 2012 at 10:00AM: A new wing of Albania's National Museum in Tirana opened yesterday that's dedicated to the abuses of its former Communist government. Under the harsh rule of Enver Hoxha, shown here in a photo courtesy Forrásjelölés Hasonló, some 100,000 Albanians were executed or sent to prison or forced labor camps, this in a country of only three million people. Torture and ...

Sparta: Greece's ancient warrior city

Sparta: Greece's ancient warrior city Feb 8th, 2012 at 10:00AM: After having seen Athens and Corinth, I couldn't resist visiting one of the other great city-states of ancient Greece: Sparta. Sparta needs no introduction. It's a star player on the History and Discovery channels and that schlocky pseudo-historical film 300. While I wanted to see the ancient ruins where brave warriors once strode, my main reason for going was to explore nearby Mistra, a ...

The Athens War Museum

The Athens War Museum Feb 6th, 2012 at 9:00AM: This is a Heckler & Koch MP5 9mm submachine gun with gold plated parts. It was given by the Defense Minister of Kuwait to former Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, probably as a thank you for his nation's help in liberating Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. It's one of a case of Papandreou's personal weapons on display at the Athens War Museum. Greece has a long and proud ...

Greek museums face the economic crisis

Greek museums face the economic crisis Feb 1st, 2012 at 10:00AM: It's not easy being the caretaker of Greece's heritage these days. Greek museums are facing budget cuts, strikes, reduced staff, even loss of visitors due to riots. The National Archaeological Museum had many rooms closed during the peak tourist season last summer due to budget cuts, and strikes are regularly closing all publicly owned museums. Take the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens. ...

Training shuttle to be displayed in Seattle's Museum of Flight

Training shuttle to be displayed in Seattle's Museum of Flight Jan 22nd, 2012 at 9:00AM: It looks like the Space Shuttle, but it isn't. It's made of plywood, for one thing, and it can't fly. Yet it's a piece of aeronautics history and will soon grace Seattle's Museum of Flight. This training shuttle, more properly called the Full Fuselage Trainer, is a full-scale mockup that astronauts have used for practice since the 1970s. The museum originally hoped to get one of the four ...

Henry Ford Museum to unveil new exhibition of classic cars

Henry Ford Museum to unveil new exhibition of classic cars Jan 18th, 2012 at 12:00PM: Workers at the Henry Ford Museum are busy setting up a major new exhibition of 130 historically significant cars and trucks. Driving America opens on January 29 and focuses on the effect of the automobile on American culture through interactive touchscreen displays, artifacts, and personal accounts. There's even a mobile diner from 1946 that will be serving classic American diner food. Of ...

Five overlooked attractions in London

Jan 16th, 2012 at 9:46AM: London is full of great places to see. No matter what your interests are, this city has something for you. In fact it has so much there are some incredible attractions that are overlooked by the majority of visitors. Here are five you might want to visit. Kew Bridge Steam Museum The Kew Bridge Pumping Station, built in 1838, once supplied water and power to London through massive steam ...

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