Peep at the Arctic: Visions of Polar Exploration, 1818-1909
June 15 – September 15, 2014
The Travel and Exploration Collection is one of the most significant holdings in the Special Collections at the Athenæum with over 75 titles on the Polar Regions. This exhibition showcases Arctic imagery of journeys to discover the Northwest Passage, voyages to find the 1845 lost expedition of Captain John Franklin, attempts by explorers to reach the North Pole, and books about the Inuit inhabitants and zoology of the Arctic. The exhibition is enhanced by the amazing materials on loan from the private collection of Professor Russell Potter, Rhode Island College, that include two original nineteenth-century lantern slides of scenes based on illustrations directly from Dr. Elisha Kent Kane’s second voyage to locate Captain Franklin in 1855.
A Special Collaboration with the Wonder Show
Highlighted in the exhibit are the journals of Captain William Parry’s three voyages to discover the Northwest Passage and his shipboard publication The North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle from the 1820s. The shipboard newspaper was created to entertain the Arctic explorers while they wintered aboard ship, locked in by ice for ten months, two of which were in total darkness. Musical and theatrical entertainments were performed on board every fortnight at the Arctic Theatre Royal, and were documented in the Gazette along with the reviews. These Special Collections materials were the chief inspiration for a special collaboration with Providence artist, lanternist and founder of the Wonder Show, Carolyn Gennari. When Gennari learned that Parry’s second voyage was equipped with a magic lantern, she felt compelled to develop a Wonder Show on the topic.
The Wonder Show Presents The Arctic Theatre Royal, a magic lantern show about Arctic exploration, debuted at an off-site Athenæum Salon on June 11th at the Roger Williams National Memorial.
Wednesday, 9/10, 8-10 pm
The final performance of The Arctic Theatre Royal. Hosted by AS220 as part of their NightVisions series will be presented at: Grant’s Block, 260 Westminster Street. Free.
Thursday, 9/11, 5-7 pm
An Arctic Exhibition and Closing Celebration with The Wonder Show. At the Providence Athenæum. Free.
Please consult The Wonder Show website for upcoming event details.
Additional Resources
Travel and Exploration: A Catalogue of the Providence Athenæum Collection. (Providence, RI: Providence Athenæum, 1998)
Professor Russell A. Potter
The Wonder Show
The Arctic Theatre Royal Program
Thanks to the following contributors and supporters of the exhibition
The Rhode Island Council for the Arts and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanties; Carolyn Gennari, Artist, Lanternist and Founder of the Wonder Show; Russell Potter, Professor of English and Media Studies, Rhode Island College
Zarafa: Spectacle of the Giraffe, 1826 – 1839
February 7 – May 31, 2014
As a complement to the Salon series, the exhibition Zarafa: Spectacle of the Giraffe, 1826-1839 will document the historical, political, and social/cultural influence of the Pasha of Egypt’s gift of a giraffe to King Charles X of France in 1826. The “bel animal du roi” wintered in Marseille where she was met by the natural historian Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and escorted on foot by an entourage that included several exotic attendants and three cows, on the 560 mile journey to Paris. She created a growing spectacle as crowds gathered along the route to see the first giraffe in Europe in over 300 years, and her image appeared on decorative objects like ceramics and wallpaper, influenced hairstyles, and led to paint colors with such names as “belly of giraffe.” The exhibition culminates in the arrival of the first giraffe or “camelopard” onto American soil, which was on display in downtown Providence in 1839.
Thanks to the following contributors and supporters of the exhibition
Susan Jaffe Tane; John Hay Library, Brown University; Rachel Lapkin, Brown University; Morgan Library & Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Bridgeman Art Library; Gary Zebrun; Tina Lester; IO Labs
