Friday, September 2, 2011

Material Culture: 9/11 and Ground Zero

"Excavating Ground Zero: Fragments from 9/11" is Penn Museum's latest exhibition offering. Housed in a small room, some 15 objects retrieved from Ground Zero are displayed alongside video footage, photographs and information panels detailing the terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Centre.
Visitors are invited to respond to the exhibition and recount their own experiences in written form. The simple every day objects recovered from the site by archaeologists and anthropologists (a melted keyboard, glasses, a visitor badge, window glass) evoke remembrance of the ordinary people who lost their lives on that day.

The events of 9/11 are ingrained on the USA's collective conciousness. This display will hit a nerve for many, but its small-scale approach (rather than a multi-level exhibition) will hopefully create a more personal and intimate experience for visitors, avoiding a shock-factor show. See more: www.penn.museum

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