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ARCTIC AMBITIONS Anchorage—The foremost British explorer of the eighteenth century, Captain James Cook circumnavigated the globe twice before setting 1 course for the northern Pacifi c. Mostly celebrated for his explorations of the South Pacifi c, Cook and his men also braved the frozen Arctic searching for a northern route to Asia, the fabled Northwest Passage. Although they failed to fi nd it since it did not then exist, today the melting Arctic ice may well reveal what he sought. Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage, now at the Anchorage Museum, focuses on Cook’s journeys in the northeastern Pacifi c during 1778 and 1779. Art and artifacts combine to bring this exciting era of exploration and early cultural encounters to life. Highlights of the installation include Cook’s own journal, on loan from the British Library, which has returned to the North for the fi rst time in almost 250 years; Cook's sextant, issued by the Board of Longitude, as well as his nautical telescope, both loaned from the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich; and a Chugach spruce root potlatch hat acquired by the Cook expedition at Prince William Sound in 1778 and loaned by the British Museum. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the National Library of Australia are among other lenders. The Cook material is supplemented by other relevant artworks, including a drawing by John White of an encounter with the Inuit, dating from 1590. The exhibition also examines the legacies of Cook’s northern voyage, including changes to indigenous ways of life among the peoples he encountered. Intriguing issues came into play in the North because of Cook’s expedition that are still relevant today, including different nations’ claims to the region and its resources. Arctic Ambitions will be on view in Anchorage until September 7, after which it can be seen at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma from October 16, 2015–January 10, 2016. MUSEUM news RIGHT: Janiform headcrest. Boki or Keaka region, Cross River state, Nigeria. Early 20th century. Collection of Toby and Ba rry Hecht, Bethesda, Maryland. Baltimore Museum of Art, R.17545.8. DIVERGING STREAMS Baltimore—Along with the opening of its new galleries dedicated to its permanent collection of African art (see this section in our last issue), the Baltimore Museum of Art has also initiated a new gallery for shortterm thematic exhibitions of African art. The inaugural show is titled Diverging Streams: Eastern Nigerian Art and features some twenty headdresses, masks, and costumes from this culturally rich region of Africa. Together these demonstrate the exchange of art and ritual between the Igbo, Jukun, Igala, Ogoni, Boki, Idoma, Ibibio, and Ejagham, all living in the Benue and Cross rivers regions. The exhibition can be seen until November 1, 2015. ABOVE: John Webber, Portrait of Captain James Cook, England, c. 1780. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa. ABOVE RIGHT: After John Webber, Resolution Beating through the Ice, with the Discovery in the Most Eminent Danger in the Distance, 1792. Hand-colored etching. Collection of the National Library of Australia. BELOW LEFT: John Webber, Woman of Prince William Sound, 1778. Watercolor, pencil, paper. Collection of the Anchorage Museum.


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